Petrokazakhstan Inc. - Update on Antimonopoly Case
14 Juillet 2005 - 4:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Petrokazakhstan Inc. - Update on Antimonopoly Case CALGARY, July 14
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PetroKazakhstan Inc. (the "Company")
informs the shareholders that the City Court of Astana has rendered
a decision in a case involving alleged civil antimonopoly
violations relating to seven Kazakhstan- based companies owned by
the Company and engaged in the distribution of petroleum products
on the Kazakhstan domestic market. The Company has not received the
written decision of the Court, but the judge has verbally announced
a decision adverse to the group distribution companies for an
aggregate amount of 7.48 billion Kazakhstan Tenge (approximately US
$55.4 million). The judgment may be appealed to the Supreme Court
of Kazakhstan. This judgment is the result of a joint investigation
conducted in late 2003 by the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan
for Regulation of Natural Monopolies and Protection of Competition
("ARNM") and the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the
Struggle Against Economic and Corruption Crimes (the (the
"Financial Police"). The investigation resulted in a civil claim
against the seven distribution companies for an aggregate amount of
13 billion KZT (currently approximately US $96 million). The case
has been in the court system since December, 2003 and has already
been to the Supreme Court on an earlier appeal. The Kazakhstan
press also quoted the Chairman of the Financial Police, as stating
that negotiations aimed towards a settlement of this matter and
related criminal charges against two PetroKazakhstan executives
were underway. The Company confirms that such negotiations have, in
fact, been on-going and remains hopeful that a final settlement of
all issues can be achieved. The Company does not view the judgment
in this case as an obstacle to settlement of both the civil and
criminal cases. The Company's position was described in an earlier
news release dated April 4th, 2005. PetroKazakhstan Inc. is a
vertically integrated, international energy company, celebrating
its eighth year of operations in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is
engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production
of oil and gas, refining of oil and the sale of oil and refined
products. PetroKazakhstan shares trade in the United States on the
New York Stock Exchange, in Canada on The Toronto Stock Exchange,
in the United Kingdom on the London Stock Exchange and in Germany
on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol PKZ. As of December 27,
2004, PetroKazakhstan shares began trading on the Kazakhstan
exchange under the symbol CA_PKZ. The Company's website can be
accessed at http://www.petrokazakhstan.com/. The Toronto Stock
Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information
contained herein. DATASOURCE: PetroKazakhstan Inc. CONTACT: Ihor P.
Wasylkiw, Vice President Investor Relations, (403) 221-8658, (403)
383-2234 (cell); Jeffrey D. Auld, Vice President, Treasurer, + 44
(1753) 410-020, + 44 79-00-891-538 (cell)
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