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After Venezuela’s government and its political opposition agreed on electoral guarantees for 2024 presidential elections, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued four general licenses suspending select sanctions:

  • General License 44 temporarily authorizes all transactions related to Venezuelan oil and gas sector operations, including producing, lifting, selling, and exporting oil or gas from Venezuela and new investment in oil or gas sector operations. The authorization includes transactions involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) or any entity in which PdVSA directly or indirectly owns a 50% or greater interest.

    The license expires on April 18, 2024. OFAC will only renew the license if Maduro’s government follows through with its commitments and continues taking measurable steps toward democratic elections in 2024.

  • General License 43 authorizes transactions involving CVG Compania General de Mineria de Venezuela CA (known as Minerven), the state-owned gold mining company.
  • General License 3I and General License 9H remove the secondary market trading bans on buying certain Venezuelan sovereign bonds, as well as pre-2017 PdVSA bonds or equity.

Continue Reading Overview: U.S. eases Venezuela-related sanctions after election deal

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