{"id":220368,"date":"2024-09-24T21:50:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T21:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/09\/24\/trafigura-judgment-debt-ghana-remains-committed-to-honoring-its-obligations-finance-ministry\/"},"modified":"2024-09-24T21:50:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T21:50:50","slug":"trafigura-judgment-debt-ghana-remains-committed-to-honoring-its-obligations-finance-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/09\/24\/trafigura-judgment-debt-ghana-remains-committed-to-honoring-its-obligations-finance-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"Trafigura judgment debt: Ghana remains committed to honoring its obligations \u2013 Finance Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Ministry of Finance has said that the Government of Ghana remains committed to honoring its obligations under the Settlement Agreement with Trafigura with the view to bring this matter to closure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ministry said that the government has made the necessary arrangements to pay-off the outstanding claims agreed with Trafigura after several rounds of negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has come to our attention that a letter received today, 24 September 2024 about our engagement with Trafigura is circulating in the media creating the impression of the govemment\u2019s inaction on a yet-to-be-executed Settlement Agreement. As may have been noticed, the said letter references on-going engagement on pathways towards settling the claims.
The Ministry of Finance wishes to state that we have made the necessary arrangements to pay-off the outstanding claims agreed with Trafigura after several rounds of negotiations. We are therefore surprised at the circulation of this letter on social media.
The Government of Ghana remains committed to honoring its obligations under the Settlement Agreement with Trafigura with the view to bring this matter to closure,\u201d the statement issued on Tuesday September 24 said.<\/p>\n

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pic.twitter.com\/VnnyyvtGf7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ministry of Finance, Ghana (@MoF_Ghana) September 24, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Oil trader Trafugura had written to the Ministry of Finance threatening to seize Ghana\u2019s assets in South Africa over the judgment debt.<\/p>\n

The company in a petition dated September 23, expressed frustration over the government\u2019s delay in resolving the debt, despite multiple attempts at negotiation.<\/p>\n

in their petition, they said \u201cFurther to our letter of September 20th 2024, to which we have not yet received a response, we can confirm that we have today filed the relevant papers to commence enforcement of the arbitral award in South Africa. As a courtesy, we have enclosed at Annex 1 the filings with this letter as service on the Government of Ghana through diplomatic channels may take some months.
In addition to the 16 banks based in the United States that GPGC has subpoenaed, we plan to issue further subpoenas to US-based corporations with ties to the Government of Ghana later this week, with further action to follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would nevertheless like to reiterate the message of our previous correspondence, that we would prefer not to take any further enforcement action and instead to resolve the matter amicably by fully executing the settlement agreement, as soon as possible, ideally within this week, and receiving payment in accordance with the agreed schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Following the failure of the Government of Ghana to fully comply with an earlier tribunal decision from the United Kingdom, a District of Columbia Court in the United States has awarded a\u00a0 $111,493,828.82 judgment debt against Ghana in favour of the Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC).<\/p>\n

The court, in granting the Motion for Default Judgment in favour of GPGC, also ordered Ghana to pay mandatory post-judgment interest.<\/p>\n

It is recalled that a court in the United Kingdom in 2021 awarded a $140 million arbitral against Ghana for the termination of a power deal with GPGC.<\/p>\n

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The government was accordingly ordered by the court to make full payment of the value of the Early Termination Payment of $134,348,661 together with the \u201cMobilisation, Demobilization and preservation and maintenance costs\u201d of the value. The court also ordered Ghana to pay all the interest that has accrued from it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n