US Extends Wind Down Period for Divesting in Venezuela Bonds - Treasury

17:16 GMT, 11 February 2019

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States has extended until March 11 the period of time in which companies can conduct limited transactions to wind down their debt dealings with Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA, the US Treasury Department said in a notice on Monday.

Sputnik

"The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing General License 3C, 'Authorizing Transactions Related to, Provisions of Financing for, and Other Dealings in Certain Bonds,' and General License 9B, 'Authorizing Transactions Related to Dealings in Certain Securities.' Additionally, OFAC is revising FAQs 650, 661, and 662," the notice said.

The new licenses are valid until March 11, 2019. They will allow companies to conduct limited transactions related to debt dealings or equity in PDVSA to settle trades that were placed prior to February 1, 2019.

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Prior to that, in January, Washington had frozen $7 billion in assets belonging to PDVSA in order to make some of the money available to Venezuela's self-proclaimed acting president, Juan Guaido.

Tensions in Venezuela escalated when Guaido declared himself interim president on January 23, disputing last year's re-election of incumbent President Nicolas Maduro. Guaido's declaration was almost immediately recognized by the United States and some of its allies.

Russia, China, Mexico, Turkey and Uruguay have said that they consider Maduro to be Venezuela's legitimate president.