Guyana’s local content secretariat, which is the oversight body tasked with verifying local companies seeking to operate in Guyana’s nascent oil and gas industry, has confirmed that Ramps Logistics Guyana re-submitted an application for a local content certificate.
Based on a press release issued by the company, the application was submitted on Thursday. On Friday, the Secretariat’s Director Martin Pertab confirmed this.
The company said that its updated application for the certificate includes the nine additional items requested by the Secretariat. With this submission, the company said it awaits a “speedy resolution to this unfortunate situation”.
Recently, Head of the now divested Trinidad-owned company, Shaun Rampersad begged the Secretariat for reasons for the denial and noted that the company was ready to remedy its shortcomings, as it stands to lose in a major way.
The company, which hosted a press conference to talk about it being denied the certificate, was confident that it satisfied the requirements to be added to the local content registry.
But in a letter to the company’s attorney, C.V Satram, Pertab said that from the list of documents submitted, the certificate could not be granted for a number of reasons.
Among them is the fact that Ramps Logistics submitted Articles of Incorporation (without the schedule on share transfer restrictions annexed, although the said Article expressly referred to such an annexure) which only authorised the issue of 100 ordinary shares at the price of $1.00 GYD each.
Pertab claimed that other documents submitted by Ramps Logistics purports that Deepak Lall– who the company said it sold 51 per cent were sold for $210 million- ultimately exercises voting rights representing 51% of the total number of issued shares at a value of $1,000,000USD, while Ramps Logistics Limited (“Ramps Trinidad”) exercises voting rights representing 49% of the total issued shares at a value of $960, 680USD.
Based on the information provided, however, it is believed that the company does not satisfy the 51 per cent beneficial ownership required under Guyana’s Local Content law.
Pertab went on to detail that no signed, filed and certified Company Resolutions, nor extracts of the share register or a share certificate were submitted to the Secretariat which authorised and evidenced the sale, transfer or issue of the number of shares allegedly issued to Guyanese national, Deepak Lall, nor Ramps Trinidad.
The most recent annual return showing the information required in relation to the allotment and issue of shares was not submitted to the Secretariat.
Ramps Logistics only, reportedly, submitted a draft of an unsigned financial statement which still did not set out the total number of shares issued and who were allocated those shares.
Ramps Logistics submitted a Notice of Change of Directors filed with the Commercial Registry and signed by the certified clerk as a true and certified copy detailing five Directors. The initial submission contained information showing that only 40 per cent of the Board of Directors were Guyanese.
But Pertab said Ramps Logistics resubmitted another Notice of Change of Directors, which included Deepak Lall, to increase the initial 40 per cent of Guyanese nationals to 60 per cent with three Guyanese nationals and two non-Guyanese nationals sitting in the executive management of Ramps Logistics.
Even with that change, the requirement of 75 per cent Guyanese in executive management, as stipulated in Section 2 of the Act, was not met.
Several other reasons were preferred in the letter by Pertab, who said as a consequence of the review, and based upon the foregoing observations, the application of Ramps Logistics was refused.
If these concerns are true, it could cause the company to be fined $10 million if the information provided was false or misleading.
Ramps, in its press release issued on Thursday, however noted that it is keen on working with the Secretariat to resolve all issues. Pertab told the News Room that the Secretariat does not have an estimated timeframe for when it will respond to the company.