Press Releases 2012

Rurelec Submits Bolivian Claim of US $142 million to Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague

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Published: Friday, 02 March 2012 10:29

Rurelec PLC, (AIM:RUR) the electricity utility which owns and operates power generation capacity in Latin America announces that it has submitted its Statement of Claim to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague in the context of its ongoing arbitration against the Plurinational State of Bolivia ("Bolivia") commenced on 24 November 2010 pursuant to the UK-Bolivia investment treaty.  The value of the claim for the expropriation of its controlling share stake in Empresa Guaracachi SA ("Guaracachi") and other associated assets has been assessed by its independent valuation experts at US $142.3 million.

The Government of Bolivia agreed to full transparency relating to documents filed in the arbitration process and the hearings, which will be held in public.  The parties are bound by the decision of the arbitration tribunal, which is not appealable on the merits.  In accordance with the process laid down in the 2010 Arbitration Rules of the United Nation Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Tribunal's rulings, if no earlier settlement is reached, the final hearing of the arbitration panel following submission of all written submissions is scheduled for April 2013.

Details of the claim will be posted on the PCA and Rurelec websites:

www.rurelec.com and www.pca-cpa.org

Speaking today, Peter Earl, Chief Executive of Rurelec, said: "I am pleased to report that the US $142.3 million independent valuation of our total claims vindicates our efforts to seek full compensation for the loss of Guaracachi.  We hope that Bolivia will now pay the compensation that it owes Rurelec for the nationalization of Guaracachi to enable the Rurelec group to reinvest in replacement power generation assets in Latin America.

He added. " In the event of a settlement, we are committed to using part of nay proceeds to a significant buy-back of Rurelec shares in order to reverse some of the equity dilution suffered by shareholders since the nationalisation of our Bolivian assets on 1st May 2010. We now look forward to a time when Rurelec can focus on paying dividens from operating power plants rather than seeking redress for wrongs suffered."

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