WILLEMSTAD – The important American OFAC license of Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK) for Curaçao is set to expire later this year. This is even more reason for the government-owned company, which owns all petroleum installations and lands, to keep a significant distance from Knob Trading SA, the suspected owner of the – now officially acknowledged – Venezuelan PdVSA oil stored in Bullenbaai.
The OFAC license, overseen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and part of the United States Treasury Department, for RdK will end in 2023. "For this reason, it is now back in the Washington mill for an extension," said lawyers Eric de Vries and Lucas Drissen of HBN Law & Tax on behalf of RdK and RdK's subsidiary Curaçao Refinery Utilities (CRU) in the lawsuit against Caribbean Refinery Petroleum (CPR), lessee of storage tanks at Bullenbaai.
CPR has been unable to pay for a while now, and CPR's director Erchenel Doran has proposed that CPR's customer, Knob Trading (based in Panama), settle the CRU/RdK invoices. However, the government corporation wants nothing to do with this: "It is crucial for RdK – and consequently CRU – to stay far away from payments by parties like Knob." This is also why the 'compliance' section of the agreement with CPR extensively addresses such matters and 'absurd proposals' like those from CPR/Doran.
"CRU wants to be paid, but not at the cost of losing OFAC license," say the attorneys, adding, "Between dream and deed, laws and practical obstacles stand in the way." As reported earlier, CRU/RdK only realized later that the fuel oil was 'PdVSA oil,' with all its associated risks.
Moreover, Knob has "not even offered to settle the entire debt of CPR," and "there is no indication that Knob would even be capable of making any payment to CRU." "After all, CRU/RdK banks with MCB Bank, and there would be no reason to believe that MCB Bank would accept and transmit a payment from Knob to CRU, especially when MCB Bank apparently terminated its banking relationship with CPR due to earlier payments from Knob to CPR."
According to RdK's legal representatives, this exercise would "likely lead nowhere, except probably to the termination of the bank relationship with RdK/CRU by MCB Bank." "Such a risk cannot reasonably be expected of CRU either."
CPR/Doran sees this differently. They believe that "CRU itself has fallen into default towards CPR as creditors." "The fact is that CPR initially attempted to reach a solution with CRU, including payment. In response, Mr. Hans Vissers, Financial Group Controller at CRU, informed CPR that CRU would only accept payment from CPR."
"Reference is made, among other things, to the situation that a third party involved – Knob – by letter dated June 6, 2023, made a settlement proposal to CRU, which included a proposal for the full payment of CPR's debt. CRU did not accept this proposal and thereby refused payment. In fact, CRU did not respond to this proposal at all," as stated by the lawyers on behalf of Doran. CPR subleases the tank capacity leased from CRU (in part) to Knob, "with the knowledge of CRU." "CRU therefore knows who Knob is and what its role is in this matter."
CPR points out that the same Vissers of CRU/RdK, as recent media statements show, would indeed be willing to accept payments from another third party – Socap Corp (owned by Raul Socorro) – to settle CRU's debt. "Why is Socap allowed to pay for CPR, but a proposed party by CPR, whose existence CRU is well aware of – namely, Knob – is not?"
"Truly Unaware" According to the lawyers of CRU/RdK, "CPR demonstrates a true lack of awareness of what is happening (in the world) and what it is actually asking of CRU." CRU reiterates, first and foremost, that Knob has never offered to pay the full outstanding amount to CRU. In an email dated April 26, 2023, Doran states that Knob would be willing to pay an amount of $1.2 million to RdK.
In response to that email, the Financial Group Controller of RdK states that "the outstanding amount is many times higher" and furthermore, "every payment should be processed through a contractual party of CRU, as it should." "Processing payment through the known contractual party is already customary in normal legal transactions, but here it is even necessary due to various compliance regulations."