From Dow Jones via The Wall Street Journal:
CARACAS — Venezuela’s state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela (E.PVZ) failed to file its annual 2002 financial report to the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission before the deadline expired Tuesday and will need at least another month, said a company spokesman late Tuesday.
External audit of the report required more time, said the spokesman. “We now aim to have it ready by the end of October,” he added. The SEC filing is required given the fact several wholly-owned units operate in the U.S. and had to be filed on Tuesday.
PdVSA had already asked for an extension of 15 days after it failed to meet the first deadline, which expired June 30. Extensions from the SEC aren’t uncommon and are usually granted, and financial market participants aren’t likely to worry too much over a small delay. However, the failure to meet the Sept. 30 deadline will raise some eyebrows in the global and domestic financial community.
A loss in credibility in the financial market could make borrowing more expensive while a fine is also possible.
PdVSA asked for the delay in the filing because of the disruption of their accounting system due to a two-month strike that started in December last year. The strike was aimed at the ouster of President Hugo Chavez from office. After surviving the strike, Chavez dismissed about 18,000 PdVSA workers, or about half the staff. While replacement workers, retirees, and those who stayed on their jobs eventually managed to bring operations at the oil fields almost back to normal, some observers note that not all of the company’s units are back up to speed.
About 87% of the 1,400 people who had been employed at the finance department before the strike started have been fired. The government said it wouldn’t hire back any of the workers that were fired due to their participation in the strike.
Now, on July 1st. the Minister of Energy and Mines said that PDVSA had asked the SEC for a thirty day extension. I called him ignorant at the time. It is now 90 days later and nothing has been filed. I bet it will not happen in October either, these audiing companies will not risk their reputation certifying PDVSA’s finances, without being extremely careful about them. Actually, I am very eager to see the financials, I would bet the notes by the Auditors will provide a rare glimpse at corruption and mismanagement at the oil company. In fact, the 2003 financials should be even better if we want to send to jail all the corrupt and incompetent people at PDVSA!
The Devil's Excrement 
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