Today Crystallex filed the legal rebuttal to the position taken by the Director General of Permits in the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. We anticipate that our partner the CVG will be filing their rebuttal in due course. The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources Director General who issued the letter has, under the administrative law of Venezuela, 15 business days to reply formally. If there is no reply, under law the answer is deemed to be negative. At that time, the Company has the legal right to appeal directly to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources who also has a set time (90 business days) to issue a finding. If at that time the answer is negative, Crystallex has a number of legal avenues to pursue both in and out of Venezuela in order to protect its shareholders' rights.
The communication from this Director General of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources is in conflict with the Las Cristinas Environmental Impact Study approval, Construction Compliance Bond Request and Environmental Tax request issued by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. Both the posting of the Bond and payment of the requested Tax were satisfied in 2007 and Crystallex received receipt of acceptance. This communication appears to be in opposition to all mineral mining in the Imataca Region. In the opinion of Crystallex's management, the communication in question also leaves a number of current and historic projects standing contrary to the communication. In addition, Crystallex believes that the content of the letter contradicts Presidential Decrees, National Assembly Resolutions, Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources Resolutions, and Ministry of Basic Industry and Mines ('MIBAM') Resolutions.
The communication from this Director General of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources is in conflict with the Las Cristinas Environmental Impact Study approval, Construction Compliance Bond Request and Environmental Tax request issued by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. Both the posting of the Bond and payment of the requested Tax were satisfied in 2007 and Crystallex received receipt of acceptance. This communication appears to be in opposition to all mineral mining in the Imataca Region. In the opinion of Crystallex's management, the communication in question also leaves a number of current and historic projects standing contrary to the communication. In addition, Crystallex believes that the content of the letter contradicts Presidential Decrees, National Assembly Resolutions, Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources Resolutions, and Ministry of Basic Industry and Mines ('MIBAM') Resolutions.
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