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Derwick Associates

Native name	Derwick Associates de Venezuela SA
Industry	Energy
Founder	Leopoldo Betancourt López Pedro Trebbau López
Headquarters	Venezuela
Products	Electrical power Natural gas
Services	Engineering Power-plant construction
Website	derwickassociates.com

Derwick Associates is a Venezuelan engineering company. During an energy crisis in Venezuela in 2009-2010, Derwick won several contracts to construct and provide supplies for a number of power plants in that country.

Corporate history

Derwick is currently registered in Barbados, Venezuela and Spain, and has also been registered in the U.S. In Barbados, where it was registered on May 27, 2009, the company is identified as Derwick Associates Corporation. In Venezuela, where it was registered on October 28, 2009, it is called Derwick Associates de Venezuela SA. In Spain, where according to various accounts it was incorporated on either January 13 or January 25, 2011, it is called Derwick Associates International SRL. In the U.S., it was registered on December 2, 2010, under the name Derwick Associates USA LLC.

Directors

The following individuals are listed as directors of the firm: Pedro Trebbau López, Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt López, Gonzalo X. Guzman López, Edgar Romero Lazo, and Iker Candida.

Venezuelan power station contract

The firm was awarded 12 contracts for such installations in Venezuela during a 2009-2010 energy crisis in that country. Four contracts were awarded by Electricidad de Caracas (which in December 2011 became part of Corpoelec), five by Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA, with the contract negotiated by Bariven, a division of PDVSA), and one by the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG).

Bariven awarded contracts in 2010 amounting to more than $760 million for power plants to Derwick and two other intermediaries. Of that sum, the contracts awarded to Derwick amounted to $209 million. The $760 million sum included surcharges of over $403 million, of which just under $87 million were surcharges paid to Derwick. There were allegations by a journalist of double billing by Derwick for the same parts, although none of these allegations were backed up by evidence. The same journalist falsely claimed that in five of the contracts, Derwick failed to meet completion dates.

In February 2013 it was reported that Derwick had been largely responsible for the recent increase in generating capacity in the Caracas metropolitan area.

Donations

In January 2012, Derwick donated funds for the construction of a football field in Sucre.

Legal activity

On September 13, 2012, Derwick Associates Corp. and its co-founders, Leopoldo Betancourt López and Pedro Trebbau López, filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, charging that it had suffered severe damage to its reputation as a result of actions by the Caracas-based bank Venezolano de Credito SA Banco Universal, by the bank's president and chairman, Oscar García Mendoza, and by Rafael Alfonzo Hernandez, a member of the bank's board. The suit, according to one account, “alleged defamation of Derwick, Betancourt and Trebbau; tortious interference with contract and with business relationships; deceptive and unfair trade practices; and civil conspiracy. The company is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions as well as monetary damages.”

The amount of damages specified in the lawsuit was $300 million. The premise of the lawsuit was that García Mendoza and Alfonzo Hernandez were connected with the anonymous Spanish-language website www.wikianticorrupcion.org, which had accused Derwick of criminal corruption. Betancourt López said: “This legal action is not against freedom of expression, but against the practice of anonymous defamation. We have been the object of a campaign based on absolutely false charges.” García Mendoza denied that he, the bank, or Alfonzo Hernandez had done any of the things they were charged with.

References

1. ^ César Batiz (September 26, 2011). "Compras con sobreprecio en la emergencia eléctrica". Ultimas Noticias. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
2. "Ipys premia serie "Trampas Eléctricas" de ÚN". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
3. César Batiz (September 18, 2011). "Bariven compró con sobreprecio". Soberania. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
4. César Batiz (September 27, 2011). "Bariven adquirió equipos eléctricos con $403,7 millones de sobreprecio". Soberania. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
5. César Batiz (August 7, 2011). "Cable pelao en la electricidad". Soberania. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
6. ^ "Defamation Suit Seeks $300 Million in Damages From Venezuelan Bankers". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
7. "Con la verdad por delante". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
8. National Contractros Registry of Venezuela, Contract Details for Derwick Associates, retrieved 13 Feb 2013.
9. "Mesa de unidad exige investigar plan de inversiones electricas". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
10. El Nacional, 04 Feb 2013, 70% de nueva generación en 2012 se dirigió a Caracas, Zulia y Anzoátegui Retrieved 13 Feb 2013.
11. "Ocariz entrega quinta cancha de futbol de grama artificial en sucre". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
12. ^ "Derwick Associates demanda a Banco Venezolano de Crédito y a Oscar García Mendoza". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
13. "Demandan al Banco Venezolano de Crédito y a su presidente". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
14. "Oscar García Mendoza: "Tomaremos las acciones que sean necesarias"". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
15. "PERFIL: El banquero que no negocia con la revolución". Retrieved November 25, 2012.

• Companies of Venezuela
• Construction and civil engineering companies
• Companies established in 2003