ALMATY. Jan. 22 (The Conway Bulletin) — Guernsey-based Tethys Petroleum said it will seek alternative funding after Kazakhstan-based Olisol missed a payment on a share deal agreed last year.
In a press statement, Tethys said it had received just $5m of the $15m promised by Olisol. According to Tethys, privately-owned Olisol missed the Jan. 22 deadline to send a $2m tranche of its commitment to secure a stake in the company.
Olisol has said the delay was due to currency controls in Kazakhstan linked to the sharp depreciation of the Kazakh tenge over the few past months.
And Tethys is still hopeful that it will receive Olisol’s funding.
“Should the overdue funds under the interim facility arrive in a timely manner however, Tethys will continue to work with Olisol to close the wider transaction,” Tethys, which is involved in oil and gas projects across Georgia and Central Asia, said.
Tethys needs cash to meet its debt deadlines. Last year it missed a couple of consecutive cash calls at its project in Tajikistan, the Bokhtar exploration block. Its partners in the project, China’s CNPC and France’s Total, have called on it to drop out. The Tajik government has also said it would be interested in taking a stake in Bokhtar.
ENDS
This story was first published in the weekly Conway Bulletin newspaper on Jan. 29 2016