Pemex issued the following announcement on July 24.
Regarding the deployment published on July 19 in the American newspaper The New York Times signed by Juan P. Morillo, legal representative of Oro Negro, as well as the US and European shareholders of said company, in which accusations are issued related to the litigation against Petróleos Mexicanos, Pemex requires the following :
1. Oro Negro affirms that it has supposed recordings of high ex-officials of the company admitting an intentional affectation to Oro Negro because it refused to pay bribes. Faced with this, Petróleos Mexicanos urges Oro Negro to deliver the recordings to the corresponding authorities so that, where appropriate, their authenticity and relevance can be evaluated. On this point there would also be a public explanation of why this information was not disseminated and denounced previously, given the numerous opportunities where it would have been extremely relevant.
2. Oro Negro claims that it was "destroyed" by the Mexican government, not only for not paying bribes, but for a conspiracy of certain bondholders interested in the bankruptcy of the company, in order to take over the oil rigs. The facts belie this version, since in 2016 and 2017, Pemex offered the same terms to Oro Negro as to many other suppliers of oil platforms. However, the other companies accepted the terms proposed by Pemex, while Oro Negro decided not to do so. In summary, Pemex denies any discrimination against Black Gold.
3. Pemex will continue to defend itself against the unfounded lawsuits filed against it and against the Mexican government, mainly because in good faith and within its legal powers, it sought to renegotiate its contracts with Oro Negro and other oil platform companies after the oil market slowdown. Unlike all other suppliers, Oro Negro took the unilateral decision to reject the terms of Pemex and decided to start the process to declare bankruptcy.
4. Like any company in the oil sector, Pemex depends on a large number of national and international companies for the supply of oil services and has a long history of successful work with companies with national and international recognition.
We regret that Oro Negro has not been able to meet the reasonable expectations of its clients, investors, creditors and employees, but that does not mean that it can be accepted that Pemex is perniciously involved in its corporate problems.
Pemex has the firm belief that Oro Negro deploys a strategy in international media to compensate for a series of strategic errors that the company has committed and for the deficiencies of its legal case against Pemex.
In response, Petróleos Mexicanos will defend itself before Mexican and international courts, with full confidence that the result of the legal process will be favorable.
Original source can be found here.
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