Crystallex v Venezuela: the Las Cristinas award and the PDVH share sale

The Las Cristinas claim

As reported by Martin Dietrich Brauch of IISD Investment Treaty News, Crystallex held rights to the Las Cristinas gold deposit in the Imataca National Forest Reserve under a 2002 Mining Operation Contract with the state company CVG ². CVG terminated the contract on 3 February 2011 ². ICSID registered the request for arbitration on 9 March 2011 ¹.

Venezuela proposed the disqualification of arbitrator Florentino P. Feliciano on 18 November 2013, and he resigned ¹. Laurence Boisson de Chazournes replaced him on 19 December 2013 ¹. Hearings ran in Washington, D.C. in November 2013 and February 2014, with a quantum hearing in Paris on 22 November 2014 ¹.

The award of 4 April 2016

The tribunal rendered its award on 4 April 2016 ¹. italaw records the outcome as in favour of the claimant ³. As reported by Brauch, the tribunal found that Venezuela breached fair and equitable treatment, citing frustrated expectations, the April 2008 permit denial and contradictory statements about the termination ². It found an indirect expropriation without compensation ². It rejected the full protection and security claim ².

Crystallex claimed US$3.16 billion plus interest ². The tribunal awarded US$1.202 billion, plus pre- and post-award interest at the average six-month USD LIBOR plus 1% a year, and ordered each party to bear its own legal costs, as reported by Brauch ². The ICSID case page lists no request for rectification or interpretation ¹.

Confirmation in the United States

Crystallex petitioned the US District Court for the District of Columbia to confirm the award on 7 April 2016 ³. italaw lists a memorandum opinion of that court granting the petition, dated 25 March 2017, and a Venezuelan notice of appeal dated 21 April 2017 ³. It lists a judgment of the D.C. Circuit dated 14 February 2019 ³. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued an endorsement on recognition of the award on 20 July 2016 ³.

The Delaware attachment of PDVH shares

According to a motion filed by Venezuela, PDVSA, PDV Holding and CITGO in the Third Circuit on 1 December 2025, Crystallex sought to attach PDVSA's shares of PDV Holding in the District of Delaware ⁴. The district court held that PDVSA was the Republic's alter ego, so it was not immune, and granted the attachment ⁴. The Third Circuit affirmed that ruling in 2019 ⁴. italaw lists the Third Circuit opinion as dated 29 July 2019 ³.

The motion states that the district court later denied a motion to quash, that the Third Circuit dismissed the interlocutory appeal in 2022, and that the district court granted attachments to other creditors holding more than US$20 billion in judgments in 2023 ⁴.

The sale order and appeals

In Case No. 17-mc-151, Judge Leonard P. Stark approved a sale of PDV Holding shares to Elliott Investment Management affiliates for about US$5.9 billion, according to the Venezuela parties' motion ⁴. IISD Investment Treaty News reports that the bidder was Amber Energy and that the judge approved the bid on 25 November 2025 ⁶. The Venezuela parties argued that the attachments were invalid without a showing of fraud and that the Special Master and his advisers should be disqualified ⁴. They said Elliott's bid was about US$2 billion lower than Gold Reserve's ⁴.

The Third Circuit docket, No. 25-3347, was opened on 2 December 2025 and consolidated with related appeals ⁵. Issues include whether the court erred in selecting Amber Energy, whether Crystallex's writ is valid and whether the sale breaches Delaware's highest-bidder rule, a point raised by Gold Reserve ⁵. Oral argument was set for 10 August 2026 ⁵. IISD reports that OFAC clearance for the sale remained outstanding as of April 2026 ⁶. No Third Circuit decision on the sale is confirmed in the sources opened for this page ⁵.