Rurelec PLC Final Agreement Releases Bolivian Payment (4311I)
May 30 2014 - 2:17AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMRUR
RNS Number : 4311I
Rurelec PLC
30 May 2014
30(th) May 2014
Rurelec PLC
("Rurelec" or "the Company")
Signature of Final Agreement Signed in Cochabamba Releases
Payment from Bolivia
Rurelec PLC, the developer, owner and operator of power plants
internationally, announces that it has signed a final agreement
with the Plurinational State of Bolivia which releases an immediate
compensation payment of funds to the Company. Bolivia will today
initiate the transfer of US $31.534 million in full and final
settlement of all liabilities to Rurelec.
The agreement was signed in Bolivia by the Minister of
Hydrocarbons and Energy, Juan Jose Sosa, and the General Manager of
ENDE, Arturo Iporre, in the presence of Hector Arce, the Attorney
General of Bolivia.
The compensation payment comes four years after Bolivia
nationalised Rurelec's controlling stake in Empresa Guaracachi
SA.
Immediately after the signing, the following statement was
issued by Peter Earl, CEO of Rurelec, to the assembled Bolivian
Press in Cochabamba:
"As Chief Executive of Rurelec, I would like to congratulate
President Morales and the negotiating team led by Procurador Hector
Arce in arriving at a financial compensation deal which is very
good indeed for Bolivia. ENDE has acquired a controlling stake in
Guaracachi for US $31.5 million dollars.
Guaracachi is a wonderful company with the largest market share
in Bolivia and a collection of the best gas turbines and engines in
the world including the country's first combined cycle plant, which
I had the personal privilege to initiate.
Rurelec has always been a strong supporter of Bolivia. Under the
presidency of Evo Morales we constructed over 170 MW of new
capacity when all the other private sector generators refused to
install even one MW. We are proud that our investment in Bolivia
since 2006 ensured the uninterrupted growth of Bolivia and has
contributed to the amazing success of Bolivia today as the
continent's highest growth economy.
Bolivia is a country of talented people and great natural
resources. I am personally proud that over the last twenty one
years of coming to Bolivia, originally with UNDP and later as CEO
of Rurelec, that Bolivia has prospered and is a far stronger, more
respected country than it was in 1993.
My only sadness is that it has taken so long to reach a
settlement for the nationalisation of Rurelec's shares in
Guaracachi. I support the right of every country to nationalise
strategic assets. However to treat loyal supporters of the Morales
Revolution with the bad treatment we have experienced over the last
four years is unfair. We have received compensation of less than
two times EBITDA and, before the arrival of Procurador Arce, we had
no alternative but to go to international arbitration when all we
wanted was a friendly negotiation and a handshake from President
Morales. We are not enemies of Bolivia but friends. However at
times we have not been treated that way, and my shareholders in
Britain will take a great deal of convincing before they invest any
money in Bolivia in future.
Nonetheless, I wish Bolivia well. Britain helped Simon Bolivar
to achieve victory in the struggle against colonial oppression.
Britain remains a close friend of Bolivia today. I hope that in
future I and my hard working team of Britons and Bolivians working
together to expand the power system of this wonderful country will
come to be regarded as friends and loyal supporters who contributed
to the economic success story of the Morales Presidency."
- Ends -
For further information please contact log on to our website
www.rurelec.com or contact:
Peter Earl, CEO, Rurelec PLC Tel: 020 7793 5610
Ana Ribeiro, Head of Communications
------------------------------------- -------------------
Paul Shackleton & David Hart Tel: 020 7776 6550
Daniel Stewart & Company Plc
------------------------------------- -------------------
James Joyce and Nick Field Tel: 020 7220 1666
W.H. Ireland
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This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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