by Venezuelan court enforces embargo against Teixeira Duarte for commercial debts
Teixeira Duarte has been in Venezuela since 1978 (45 years ago), where it developed several projects, mainly in the field of civil construction.
Venezuelan court officials have imposed a preventive embargo on construction company Teixeira Duarte Engenharia e Construções SA over commercial debts, the Venezuelan press reported Thursday, but the company says the claims are “fraudulent.”
According to the digital newspaper Notícias de Barquisimeto, the court decision was executed on March 1, at the premises of the company “Tegaven – Teixeira Duarte e Associados”, a local branch of the Portuguese construction company for unpaid debts of the parent company, based in Portugal, in businessman from Venezuela, whose name was not disclosed.
The court ruling, partially revealed by the Venezuelan press, reads that the “preventive measure of embargo of movable property” must cover the value of $4.8 million, double the requested amount of $2.4 million plus costs of the court case. .
Contacted by Lusa, an official source of the Portuguese company said that “the precautionary measure of arrest for Teixeira Duarte in Venezuela was promoted by a Venezuelan citizen and was based on fraudulent allegations, while Teixeira Duarte’s corresponding judicial response is ongoing.”
The group also guaranteed that “the aforementioned situation is not capable of affecting Teixeira Duarte’s accounts”. The company did not confirm the values promoted by the Venezuelan press.
In October 2021, the Venezuelan state-owned company Bolivariana de Puertos SA (Bolipuertos), which manages several shipping terminals in the country, ended the “strategic alliance” with the Portuguese construction company Teixeira Duarte in the management of the La Guaira seaport, north . of Caracas.
Bolipuertos’ decision was confirmed to the Lusa agency by a source from the Portuguese construction company in Portugal, who said that Teixeira Duarte does not agree with the decision of the Venezuelan state company.
According to the source, “the aforementioned decision is essentially based on the claim that there is an obligation contained in the business plan and the management contract regarding the development of transshipments and a business hub aimed at the development of international trade in Venezuela.”
However, according to a diplomatic source, in Caracas, Teixeira Duarte handed over the management of the Venezuelan shipping terminal to Bolipuertos, which should not happen until 2037, according to the agreement signed between the two companies.
On January 17, 2017, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signed a “strategic alliance” between Bolipuertos and Teixeira Duarte Engenharia e Construção, to turn La Guaira into the first major port in South America and the Caribbean.
According to the then Minister of Transport of Venezuela, Ricardo Molina, Teixeira Duarte invested US$40 million (€34.36 million at current exchange rates) in the La Guaira port improvement and expansion project.
Teixeira Duarte has been in Venezuela since 1978 (45 years ago), where it developed several projects, mainly in the field of civil construction.
In 2008, with the signing of a bilateral cooperation agreement between Portugal and Venezuela, it carried out what is considered the company’s first major infrastructure project, the Expansion and Modernization of the Port of La Guaira, in which five thousand professionals, 200 from Portugal and the rest from Venezuela.
The project had a budget of almost 400 million dollars (377.5 million euros).
The construction company operated a quarry, Conluvar, on the Naiguatá riverbed in the Venezuelan state of Vargas, and a cement brick factory, both created to support the construction of La Guaira port.
The negotiations also included the extension project of the Cota Mil (Caracas) highway, whose works have been stalled for several years, and which would connect the city of Caracas with the neighboring state of La Guaira.
Also in 2014, Bolipuertos and Teixeira Duarte signed an agreement to develop the engineering, construction and rehabilitation and expansion project of terminal silos in the Venezuelan ports of Puerto Cabello and Maracaibo.
In September 2019, the Venezuelan Public Ministry requested from Bolipuertos copies of several documents, including those related to the approval of accounts reports and the “Strategic Alliance” with Teixeira Duarte, as part of an investigation into the management of the construction company, Portuguese .
