Caracas, January 30 - Neftegaz.RU. The President of the National Assembly and Venezuela's self-declared interim president Juan Guaidó has ordered congress to appoint new boards of directors to state oil company PDVSA and its US subsidiary Citgo.
He said his government was aiming to «guarantee the biggest transparency and control» for PDVSA, adding that it was preparing to «start the process to name the boards of directors of PDVSA and Citgo to allow the recovery of our industry that is going now through a dark moment.»
«We've previously denounced the international corruption of PDVSA and how it was turned into a network to finance corruption,» Guaidó added.
The sanctions prohibit most American businesses from engaging in transactions with PDVSA. The measures put roughly 500,000 bpd of Venezuelan oil exports at risk. Venezuela is very reliant on the U.S. for its oil revenue. The country sends 41% of its oil exports to the U.S.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton said the sanctions would block $7 billion ($9.8 billion) in PDVSA's assets, «plus over $11 billion in lost export proceeds over the next year».
Citgo, the U.S.-based subsidiary of PDVSA, would be allowed to continue to operate, but its revenues will be diverted into a special account, presumably to be controlled by the fledgling government of Juan Guaidó.
