By Pietro D. Pitts and Nathan Crooks
Bloomberg
A World Bank arbitration court ruled that Venezuela must pay $740 million to Gold Reserve Inc. (GDRZF) for taking its Brisas gold and copper project in 2008.
A three-member panel concluded the company was owed $713 million for the project, $22.3 million for interest and $4 million for legal and technical costs, Spokane, Washington-based Gold Reserve said yesterday in a statement. Payment of the award is due immediately and the company said it has commenced steps to ensure collection.
“We feel vindicated by the tribunal’s clear conclusion that the Venezuelan government acted unlawfully,” Gold Reserve President Doug Belanger said in the statement. “There are well documented procedures in place for identifying and attaching sovereign commercial assets.”
Former President Hugo Chavez nationalized assets in Venezuela’s energy and mining industries to increase state control over the economy before he died in 2013. The nation is now involved in 28 unresolved cases filed at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, by companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and ConocoPhillips. (COP).