Caracas ordered to pay Tenaris US$172.8 million for takeove

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Caracas ordered to pay Tenaris US$172.8 million for takeover

A World Bank tribunal has issued an arbitration award ordering Venezuela pay steelmaker Tenaris some US$172.8 million for the takeover of its Matesi Materiales Siderúrgicos SA unit, adding pressure on the cash-squeezed country. Venezuela has six months to pay Tenaris an US$87.3 million award plus about US$85.5 million in interest payments, a tribunal at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) said in its decision. Venezuela faces some 20 major arbitration awards, most stemming from high-profile nationalizations during the presidency of the late leftist Hugo Chávez. It has requested various reviews or annulments of recent ICSID decisions, which critics see as attempts to stall the payment of fines amid a biting recession. It was not immediately clear if the OPEC country would contest the decision in favour of Tenaris, the world’s top producer of seamless steel pipes for the energy industry.

—Reuters