KOTA KINABALU: There is a question mark hanging over the validity of claims by lawyers of the Sulu heirs when it comes to the seized assets of two PETRONAS companies in Luxembourg.
According to sources, PETRONAS sold off its shares in PETRONAS Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) and PETRONAS South Caucasus in January of this year.
A background check by the Star found that the 15.5% stake in Azerbaijan's largest gas field in the Caspian Sea held by PETRONAS Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) was sold to Azerbaijani oil company SOCAR (who bought 4.35%), the British BP (1.16%) and Russian Lukoil (9.99%).
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed had in October last year said that the PETRONAS sale of the Abzerbaijan state was part of a commercial decision of the company.
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The London-based Financial Times reported that self-claimed Sulu heirs had invoked the controversial Paris Arbitration Court decision to award US$14.92bil to the heirs in their claims against Malaysia.
The eight Sulu heirs based in the Philippines are represented by London-based Elisabeth Mason, who is the lead counsel for the eight claimants.
In the report, the Financial Times quoted lawyers for the Sulu heirs, who said that bailiffs in Luxembourg had seized PETRONAS Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) and PETRONAS South Caucasus companies on behalf of their clients on Monday (July 11).
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Both companies had been registered in Luxembourg.
They claimed that the Malaysian government-owned PETRONAS subsidiaries in Azerbaijan could be worth more than US$2bn.
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However, Sabah and Putrajaya do not recognise any claim by the defunct Sulu Sultanate.
The Malaysian government stated that it did not recognise the arbitration award by Gonzolo Stampa, whose decision came amid superior courts in Spain and France issuing a suspension order on the case.
Malaysia has since filed an appeal to over Stampo's award for the Sulu heirs in Paris where Malaysia was not represented during the Paris arbitration proceedings in March this year.
Stampa, who was stopped by superior courts in Madrid from carrying out a hearing for the Sulu heirs, then sat in Paris Arbitration Court to give the award, ruling that the 1878 treaty was a commercial “international private lease agreement”.
By not paying the cession money since 2013, Stampa said Malaysia had breached the agreement and would have three months to pay up failing which interest would be charged if the decision was not accepted.
The Malaysian government has submitted notices to 168 countries on a possible unilateral legal claim by the heirs of the defunct Sulu Sultanate following Stampa's decision.
In May, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said that a diplomatic process to inform the signees of the New York Convention of a possible attempt by the Spanish arbitrator Stampa or other parties to bring a unilateral claim to their courts.
Meanwhile, PETRONAS has issued a press statement on the alleged seizure of PETRONAS' Assets in Luxembourg:
PETRONAS refers to the Financial Times’ report titled ‘PETRONAS subsidiaries seized as lawyers press $15bil claim on Malaysia’.
We confirm that our two subsidiaries mentioned in the report have been served with ‘Saisie-arret’ on 11 July 2022.
PETRONAS wishes to clarify that these subsidiaries, PETRONAS Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) S.a r.l. and PETRONAS South Caucasus S.a r.l., have previously divested its entire assets in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the proceeds from the exercise have been duly repatriated.
PETRONAS views the actions taken against it as baseless and is working vigorously to defend its legal position on this matter.
