Wilmer Ruperti has struck an agreement that ends a years-long dispute with SCF Group-controlled tanker owner Novoship.

The Venezuelan businessman’s Sea Pioneer Shipping says that it and sister company PMI Trading reached a “full and final settlement” of the UK court fight that raged even after Novoship won a 2012 fraud judgment against him and even after he agreed to flip sides and aid Russia’s SCF, also known as Sovcomflot, in a related fraud case.

The amount of money paid in final settlement was not disclosed.

“I am pleased finally to draw a line under these disputes, which have caused considerable disruption over the past few years,” Ruperti said in a statement provided to TradeWinds.

He emphasised that the charter deals at the heart of the of the dispute were inked at a tough time for Venezuela, when it was under a general strike in 2002 and 2003.

“In spite of the unfortunate legal wrangles resulting from our collaboration with Novoship during the general strike, we must not forget that ultimately, we provided a vital lifeline to the Venezuelan economy at a time of severe economic distress,” he said.

“I hope that this settlement will enable us to repair the relationship and consider the possibility of future cooperation."

Novoship won a $59.2m High Court judgment against Ruperti in 2012 but struck a deal the next year that reduced the amount to $40m. As part of that agreement, Ruperti agreed to testify against private Russian shipowner Yuri Nikitin and former Novoship general manager Vladimir Mikhaylyuk in the SCF unit’s fraud case against them.

Novoship later sought to recover $98m, which represented the original judgment plus costs and interest, after Ruperti fell into arrears on the settlement payments. But the High Court rejected that effort in April 2015 after the Venezuelan businessman delivered payments that brought him up to date.

The Russian company says it has recovered $64.8m from judgments in the various court cases, including those involving Ruperti and Nikitin. Plus, it has secured nearly twice that from settlement agreements.

“The parties are satisfied that they have finally put an end to their commercial disputes so as to create the conditions in which the parties may consider the possibility of future cooperation,” SCF’s chief legal officer.

TradeWinds reported Tuesday that a judge in London has ruled that SCF owes Nikitin $59.8m as a result of funds that were frozen during the litigation, in which he was only held liable for a fraction of the $577m in claims against him.