Langotsky drops claim against Ratio over Leviathan discovery

Yossi Langotsky  picture: Eyal Yitzhar
Yossi Langotsky picture: Eyal Yitzhar

Yossi Langotsky, who now admits he has no case against Ratio, is exposed to NIS 3 million costs.

Geologist Joseph (Yossi) Langotsky has withdrawn his lawsuit against Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L), which holds 15% of the Leviathan gas exploration license. Langotsky had claimed that he was responsible for the Leviathan natural gas field discovery and was entitled to recompense for it. He has now admitted to the court that he has no basis for a claim against Ratio.

The court has accepted Langotsky's request to withdraw his suit, and has determined that he should pay the state's costs of NIS 30,000. No agreement has been reached however on the costs Langotsky should pay to Ratio and to Ligad Rotlevy and Eitan Eisenberg, the other defendants in the affair, and he remains exposed to costs amounting to NIS 3 million.

The lawsuit was filed in the Central District Court four years ago by Langotsky, Tamar Oil Exploration Ltd., and LYA Explorations Ltd. They alleged that in 2004 they gave Ratio's geologist Eitan Eisenberg business information that led to the realization that, among other things, there was a good chance of finding oil and gas in commercial quantities in the deep water off the northern coast of Israel. The plaintiffs claimed that the information was provided to the defendants under a confidentiality agreement, but that the defendants had breached the terms of the agreement and applied for an early permit with priority rights for the Ratio Yam licenses in the Gal B area. Ratio rejected the claims out of hand, and this week, before final summings up in the hearing, Langotsky told the court that he had reached the conclusion that he had no case against the defendants, and that he therefore sought to have his claim dismissed. The sides have been requested to prepare tables of their costs for the judge to decide how much to award the defendants.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court upheld an arbitrator's decision to oblige Beny Steinmetz to pay Langotsky NIS 50 million for breach of an agreement with him to finance his share of the drilling for gas in the Tamar field, which is now the main supplier of natural gas to the Israeli market.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 23, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

Yossi Langotsky  picture: Eyal Yitzhar
Yossi Langotsky picture: Eyal Yitzhar
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