(g) Since ACC is a foreign holding company, with various activities around the world, it was less convenient to issue it and raise money from the public, and therefore a number of options were examined, and finally it was decided that its rights would be transferred to a new company to be called "Shemen" that would be owned by the ACC Group, Ben-Zaken, the Defendant and Manofim (hereinafter – the application for the transfer of the drilling rights; Shemen Company). The decision was made by Leibowitz (on behalf of ACC) and by Jacky Ben-Zaken and Danny Vaknin (on behalf of Manofim). Vaknin described it as follows in his testimony: "... In order to drill you have to raise money not only from private investors but also from the public, it's huge sums of money, it's very large sums, now, for that you have to issue a company on the stock exchange, you have to prepare a prospectus, now, the idea was to bring in a new company that doesn't have a track record because Leibowitz's ACC has a history, especially since it is a foreign company, it is less convenient to issue a non-Israeli company on the stock exchange. So it is clear that it was in our interest to transfer this license to the new company... and to issue it... Everyone who dealt with it, the one who dealt mainly with it was Leibowitz and Jackie and I by virtue of my position in the cranes" (Prov. p. 460, 4-11);
(h) In March 2010, the Petroleum Council updated the criteria by which it formulates its recommendations for the granting and production of permits and licenses for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas (P/74; P/254, S. 114; P/248 hereinafter – the new criteria). In accordance with the new criteria, the applicant for an oil drilling license is required to provide guarantees in the amount of $50 million, as well as to cooperate with an operator with proven professional ability in the field of oil drilling.
Shimon Cohen, who served as the senior director of the "Accounting and Economics" department at the Ministry of Energy, and as part of his position, among other things, regularly participated in the discussions of the advisory board and the meetings of the ministry's professional committee, referred in his testimony to some of the changes made in the framework of the new criteria. He noted: "At the time of the February 2010 hearing, any group that submits an application must demonstrate financial strength to comply with the work plan, in accordance withthe Petroleum Regulations... In other words, if a work plan is estimated at NIS 1 million, that group must present the financial ability to meet the NIS 1 million payment. We also referred to letters from banks and/or statements from groups themselves or other companies that financially support them, that that group has the financial ability to meet the value of the work plan. It should be clarified that at that time, there were no guidelines that clarified the exact manner of the test. Things were changed in March 2010, on my recommendation... I can only say that no financial statements were checked at the time. We started checking financial statements as of March 2010... Therefore, I examined the financial strength of Shemen, in accordance with the new guidelines, which were published in March 2010, and determined that there is an obligation to prove in the company's financial statements financial sustainability in the amount of $50 million..." (P/254 S. 106-132; S. 182-184);