GOLD Reserve Announces Portugal Court Enters Judgment Against Venezuela Confirming Arbitration Award Valued IN Excess of $1.1 Billion
February 24, 2025 TSX.V: GRZ
NR-25-03
GOLD RESERVE ANNOUNCES PORTUGAL COURT
ENTERS JUDGMENT AGAINST VENEZUELA CONFIRMING ARBITRATION
AWARD VALUED IN EXCESS OF $1.1 BILLION
Pembroke, Bermuda – Gold Reserve Ltd. (TSX .V: GRZ) (OTCQX: GDRZF) (“Gold
Reserve” or the “ Company”) is pleased to announce an important development in its
ongoing efforts to recognize and enforce its arbitral award dated September 22, 2014 (the
“Award”) against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (“Venezuela”).
On February 20, 2025 , the Lisbon Court of Appeal issued an Order granting the
Company’s application to confirm the Award in Portugal, and enter ed judgment for the
Company against Venezuela in the amount of $713,032,000 plus (i) pre-award interest in
the amount of $22,299,576, (ii) post-award interest on the total amount awarded, inclusive
of pre-award interest, at a rate of LIBOR plus 2%, compounded annually, from September
22, 2014, until payment in full; and (iii) $5 million in legal fees and costs (collectively, the
“Judgment”).
The total amount of Judgment at present, inclusive of interest, exceeds $1.1 billion.
The Judgment supports the Company’s ongoing efforts to enforce the Award in Portugal.
In connection therewith, the Company has obtained attachment orders against multiple
bank accounts in Portugal holding in total more than $1.4 billion. Recovery is not certain
in the Portugal legal proceedings due to multiple factors. Among other considerations ,
further court orders are required to attempt to collect against any of the attached funds,
and the priority of the Company’s attachments on each bank account is not identical and
is not definite, as is the priority of the Company’s attachments vis-à-vis other creditors.
The Company’s recognition and enforcement efforts in Portugal are in addition to those
being undertaken in the United States, including the Company’s ongoing participation in
the sales and bidding procedures established by the U.S. District Court for the District of
Delaware for the sale of the shares of PDV Holdings, Inc. (“PDVH”), the indirect parent
company of CITGO Petroleum Corp. Any recovery in the Delaware proceedings will offset
the amount that can be recovered on the Award in the Portugal legal proceedings, and
vice versa.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking statements
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable
U.S. federal securities laws and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of
applicable Canadian provincial and territorial securities laws and state Gold Reserve’s
and its management’s intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions for the
future. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates
and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are
inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and
contingencies. They are frequently characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan",
"continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will",
"potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other similar words, or statements that certain
events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements contained in this
press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Bid.
We caution that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other risks that may cause the actual events, outcomes or results of
Gold Reserve to be materially different from our estimated outcomes, results,
performance, or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking
statements, including but not limited to: the Judgment is subject to appeal by
Venezuela; the Company may not succeed in collecting against any of the funds
attached in Portugal; further court orders are required to attempt to collect against any
of the funds that are attached in Portugal; the priority of the Company’s attachments on
each bank account in Portugal is not identical and is not definite, the priority of the
Company’s attachments in Portugal vis-à-vis other creditors is not identical and is not
definite; regulatory approvals may be required to collect on any funds in Portugal, and
the existence of such approvals cannot be assured; in the Delaware proceedings, the
discretion of the Special Master to consider the Bid, to enter into any discussions or
negotiation with respect thereto and that the Special Master may reject the Bid at any
time; the Special Master may choose not to recommend a Stalking Horse Bid or Final
Bid to the Court; the failure of the Company to negotiate the Bid, including as a result of
failing to obtain sufficient equity and/or debt financing; that Bid submitted by the
Company will not be selected as the “Stalking Horse Bid” or the “Final Recommend Bid”
under the Bidding Procedures, and if selected may not close due to the Sale Process
not being completed, including as a result of not obtaining necessary regulatory
approval to close on the purchase of the PDVH shares, including but not limited to any
necessary approvals from the U.S. Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”), the U.S.
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission or the TSX Venture Exchange; failure of the Company or any other party to
obtain any required shareholders approvals for, or satisfy other conditions to effect, any
transaction resulting from the Bid; that the Company forfeit any cash amount deposit
made due to failing to complete the Bid or otherwise; that the making of the Bid or any
transaction resulting therefrom may involve unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; that,
prior to or as a result of the completion of any transaction contemplated by the Bid, the
business of the Company may experience significant disruptions due to transaction
related uncertainty, industry conditions or other factor; the ability to enforce the writ of
attachment granted to the Company; the timing set for various reports and/or other
matters with respect to the Sale Process may not be met; the ability of the Company to
otherwise participate in the Sale Process (and related costs associated therewith; the
amount, if any, of proceeds associated with the Sale Process; the competing claims of
other creditors of Venezuela, PDVSA and the Company, including any interest on such
creditors’ judgements and any priority afforded thereto; uncertainties with respect to
possible settlements between Venezuela and other creditors and the impact of any such
settlements on the amount of funds that may be available under the Sale Process; and
the proceeds from the Sale Process may not be sufficient to satisfy the amounts
outstanding under the Company’s September 2014 arbitral award and/or corresponding
November 15, 2015 U.S. judgement in full; and the ramifications of bankruptcy with
respect to the Sale Process and/or the Company’s claims, including as a result of the
priority of other claims. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of
the Company’s forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of the risk
factors affecting the Company’s business, see the Company’s Annual Information Form
on Form 40-F and Management’s Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December
31, 2024 and other reports that have been filed on SEDAR+ and are available under the
Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca and which have been filed on EDGAR and are
available under the Company’s profile at www.sec.gov/edgar.
Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward- looking statements. All
subsequent written and oral forward- looking statements attributable to Gold Reserve or
persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Gold
Reserve disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any
forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of assumptions or factors, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, subject to its disclosure obligations
under applicable rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and
applicable Canadian provincial and territorial securities laws.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES
PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE
EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY
OF THIS RELEASE.
For further information regarding Gold Reserve Ltd., please contact:
Rosebank Centre, 5th Floor, 11 Bermudiana Road, Pembroke HM 08, Bermuda