Completion of Damages Claim Funding

RNS Number : 1600N

Ascent Resources PLC

30 May 2022

 

30 May 2022

Ascent Resources plc

("Ascent" or the "Company")

Completion of "No win No fee" Damages Claim Funding

Ascent Resources Plc (LON: AST), the onshore Caribbean, Hispanic American and European focussed energy and natural resources company, is delighted to announce its official entry into a binding damages-based agreement - essentially a "no win no fee" funding arrangement - to appoint Enyo Law LLP ("Enyo") to pursue the Company's Energy Charter Treaty ("ECT") and UK-Slovenia Bilateral Investment Treaty ("BIT") arbitration claim against the Republic of Slovenia.

Enyo - the specialist arbitration and litigation legal firm who filed both of the Notice of Disputes on behalf of the Company and represented it in last year's pre-arbitration negotiations with the Republic of Slovenia - will be advancing the disbursements which are expected to be incurred in the pursuit of the claim and will only be paid out of a portion of the proceeds of the arbitration in the event of a successful damages award or execution of a binding settlement agreement (if achieved sooner).

The closing of this funding allows the Company to securely initiate the arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Slovenia in relation to the significant damages by the Company's Slovenian investment as a result of Slovenia's breaches of the protections established by the ECT and BIT, i ncluding, inter alia the prohibition of expropriation, the guarantee that the investments would be accorded fair and equitable treatment and Slovenia's guarantee that the management, maintenance, use, enjoyment or disposal of the investments would not be impaired by arbitrary, unreasonable or discriminatory measures.

Notwithstanding the size of the Company's damages, in its view, having increased (for reasons including the increased gas price and the consequences of the recent legislative changes in Slovenia) and remaining significantly in excess of a hundred million Euros, it should be cautioned that in the event the Company is successful in its claim any amount actually received by the Company may be significantly lower.

Andrew Dennan, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Today's completion of the 'no win, no fee' damages based agreement allows the Company to immediately advance its material damages claim against the Republic of Slovenia in an international forum, as we seek redress for shareholders after many years of frustration, arbitrary decision-making against the Company's investment and delays being imposed on the project. This impact has recently been amplified with our investment effectively being expropriated by virtue of the new amendments to the mining law which specifically target the destruction of our full investment value.

We are delighted to have secured this arrangement on behalf of our shareholders and which now positions Ascent's equity holders with material upside exposure to a claim seeking damages of  several hundred million dollars."

Enquiries:

Ascent Resources plc Andrew Dennan	Via Vigo Communications
WH Ireland, Nominated Adviser & Broker James Joyce / Sarah Mather	0207 220 1666
Novum Securities, Joint Broker Jon Belliss	0207 399 9400

 

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