|
|
Enron Mail |
George;=20
I think that Mr. Tawil=01,s report caught the substance of the meeting at t= he=20 embassy so I will not be adding much more detail. I will echo that everyon= e=20 attending the meeting seemed very interested in learning more about the sta= mp=20 tax issue, how the provinces are pursuing the issue, what the government is= =20 saying as well as what it is actually doing to solve the issue. In fact= =20 they are interested in having everyone at the embassy get up to speed on th= is=20 issue so that each of them can raise the issue with their counterpart in th= e=20 Argentine government. As mentioned in Mr. Tawil's report they will review= =20 the information that was delivered to them and will likely request addition= al=20 information from Enron regarding this issue. At one point during the meeti= ng=20 Mr. Thompson asked and left open the question of what else can the Embassy = do=20 to help on this issue. They are already trying to raise the general issue = of=20 stamp taxes at each level of the government they get the chance to meet=20 with. I would suggest that if we do not hear from either Mr. Thompson or M= r.=20 Climan in the next little while that Enron should request a follow up meeti= ng=20 to discuss the tax issue in more detail. With respect to the visit of Secretary Daly, they were not sure if the stam= p=20 tax issue will be one of the issues the Secretary will have on his agenda b= ut=20 they indicated that it will likely be a topic in other contemporaneous=20 meetings. There will likely be between 15 and 20 companies in the delegati= on=20 coming with the Secretary. One third will be energy companies, one third= =20 will be telecom companies and the other third will be a mix representing=20 other industries. Mr. Thompson expressed some concern that Enron did not previously notify th= e=20 Embassy that we had given notice to the Argentine government that we were= =20 initiating the 6-month negotiation period under the BIT. They thought that= =20 they are most effective in providing help in these types of situations when= =20 they are notified at the inception of the dispute while there is time to ma= ke=20 a difference. It seems to me that it would still benefit us to establish a= nd=20 maintain contact with the embassy on this issue to keep them informed of th= e=20 status of the negotiations with the government and, if and when applicable,= =20 inform them as to whether we are intending to pursue arbitration. =20 My impression from the meeting is that they would be very receptive to more= =20 frequent contact regarding not only tax issues but any other issue we may= =20 have. It is my understanding from speaking with Jeff Kabel that Mr. Clima= n=20 has previously expressed a desire to learn more about the energy sector in= =20 Argentina and how it works. This may provide us with the opportunity to=20 create a closer relationship with the key personnel at the embassy.=20 Please feel free to distribute my comments to whoever else you feel should= =20 see them. Regards, Brent
|