Gold Reserve offered an update on recent developments in the United States in relation to its efforts to collect $740 million arbitral award rendered against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in September 2014. At the end of November, Gold Reserve filed a petition with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to confirm the award. On April 15, after various attempts to avoid service, Venezuela was forced to agree to accept service and further agreed to respond to the petition on or before June 12, which it did, by filing a motion to dismiss the petition. The arguments raised by Venezuela are essentially the same as those invoked in its applications to annul the award and the reconfirmation of the award that are pending before the Paris Court of Appeal. In the alternative, Venezuela is asking for a stay of enforcement of the award pending the determination of the applications to annul by the Paris Court of Appeal, the hearings of which are scheduled on November 3.
By agreement with Venezuela, the company expects to file its response by July 2, with Venezuela filing a reply by July 15. The company intends to request that the D.C. Court set a hearing date as soon as practicably possible. Once the award is confirmed, it will be enforceable in the United States as a judgment of the court.
Gold Reserve’s President Doug Belanger said, “We have already addressed the arguments raised by Venezuela in the context of its applications to annul the award that will be heard by the Paris Court of Appeal on November 3, and, therefore, we are confident that they lack merits and that the company will prevail, as it always has, since the inception of the arbitration proceedings.”
