3rd Feb 2014 07:00
3 February 2014
Rurelec PLC
("Rurelec" or "the Company")
Rurelec Wins Historic Bolivian Compensation Award
US $41 million Due to Rurelec
Rurelec PLC (AIM: RUR), the owner, operator and developer of power generation capacity internationally, today announces that an international arbitral tribunal constituted according to the Rules of Arbitration of the United Nations Committee on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) with a legal seat in The Hague has upheld Rurelec's claim that Bolivia's expropriation of Rurelec's 50.001% participation in Empresa Guaracachi SA on 1 May 2010 was in breach of its obligations under the Bilateral Investment Treaty between the United Kingdom and Bolivia. This is the first such arbitration award granted by an international court against Bolivia.
The Tribunal concluded that the expropriation was unlawful and calculated aggregate compensation in the amount of US$35,539,598 (approximately £21.6m) as of 31 January 2014, now increasing by daily compounded interest at the rate of 5.6331% a year until the date of payment. The award is higher than the £20.582 million which Rurelec paid to acquire its controlling stake in Guaracachi in 2006.
In accordance with the Bilateral Investment Treaty and the UNCITRAL rules, the award is final and binding on Bolivia and shall be carried out without delay. Rurelec is confident that Bolivia will comply with its obligations towards Rurelec and the United Kingdom under the Treaty and looks forward to prompt settlement of the amount awarded.
This award brings to an end a process started on 1 May 2010 when the Plurinational Government of Bolivia nationalised all of the Bolivian generation interests of Rurelec. It represents a vindication of the Rurelec management's efforts to obtain justice for its shareholders.
A further US $5.5 million remains due to be paid to Rurelec by Guaracachi itself in the form of declared but unpaid dividends going back to the time before nationalisation. This takes total payments now due to Rurelec to US $41 million (£24.9m).
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For further information please log on to our website www.rurelec.com or contact:
Peter Earl, CEO, Rurelec PLC
Ana Ribeiro, Head of Communications | Tel: 020 7793 5610 |
Paul Shackleton & David Hart
Daniel Stewart & Company Plc | Tel: 020 7776 6550 |
Jon Belliss & Guy Peters,
XCAP Securities | Tel: 020 7101 7070 |
James Joyce and Nick Field
W.H. Ireland | Tel: 020 7 220 1666 |
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