Embattled Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista has vowed to pay off "every last cent" of debt owed by his flagging mining and energy empire.
In an open letter published by Brazilian daily O Globo Friday (Jul 19), the 56-year-old entrepreneur said he was a "long way" from renouncing his position as CEO and chairman of the EBX group.
"I have a lot of energy to roll up my sleeves and take on new projects," Batista wrote. "Every day my head buzzes with new ideas that spring from nothing and slowly take shape. I will honor all of my commitments and pay every last cent of debt owed."
Batista's comments come as stocks in his EBX subsidiaries continue to reel following missed production targets and reports of looming bankruptcy.
Earlier this month risk management consultancy Kamakura rated Batista's oil and gas flagship, OGX, the third most likely to default among 32,000 troubled companies worldwide. According to the consultancy, OGX owes more than US$4bn to creditors.
Batista said he was "profoundly sorry" for his failure to deliver on EBX's promises, which he blamed on the "prognoses of renowned auditing agencies approved by equally renowned executives."
"Two years ago, I put over a billion dollars out of my own pocket into the company. I lost and I've been losing billions of dollars with OGX," the magnate said. "No one has lost as much as I have and that's the way it should be. It is unfair and unacceptable, however, to hear that I deliberately induced someone to believe in a dream or a fantasy."
"The person who most believed in OGX was me. I still have that belief and that is why we are in the process of restructuring the company. I will not give up this challenge. I invested and will continue to invest all of my wealth, time and effort in OGX and its sister companies."
Batista also criticized those claiming he had "sprung up from nowhere" during Brazil's economic boom of the past decade.
"Many people think I have surfed the wave of a bullish economy and feverish access to capital - that the market has given me a blank cheque with billions of dollars to play with," he said.
"In these past few years I have learnt a lot, I have made mistakes and I have also had success in a number of projects that have helped generate wealth for others, myself and especially for investors. If I deserve the market's confidence, it's because I have had a 30-year trajectory of hard work, success and a proven capacity to deliver on my promises."
Source: http://www.bnamericas.com/news/oilandgas/batista-vows-to-honor-debt-pledges-recovery
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