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Russia faces potential treaty claim over seized Siberian mine
Premium article - December 19, 2017
A British investment group has threatened to bring a treaty claim against Russia, alleging that its Siberian coal mine was seized with the help of local government officials following the imprisonment of one of its directors. In a letter addressed to Russia's justice minister last week, Lehram Capital Investments requested US$500 million in damages as a precursor to filing a claim under the Russia-UK bilateral investment treaty if the parties do not reach an agreement within the three-month...
Russian investors lose SCC claim against Moldova
Premium article - December 15, 2017
A Stockholm Chamber of Commerce tribunal has rejected two Russian companies' joint investment treaty claim against Moldova over the suspension of their rights in a local bank. Moldova's justice minister Vladimir Cebotari confirmed to local publication Bizlaw on 13 December that a tribunal has dismissed Evrobalt and Kompozit's claim, filed in July last year, and ordered the banks to pay Moldova "about €1 million" in costs. The case was heard by a Stockholm-seated tribunal chaired by Fredrik...
Another claim over Crimea given go ahead
Premium article - December 14, 2017
UPDATED. The Permanent Court of Arbitration has reported that a tribunal has agreed to hear a claim brought by Ukrainian real estate investors against Russia over investments lost when Crimea was annexed, adding to a growing line of positive jurisdictional rulings in cases of this type. In a press release yesterday, the Hague-based PCA said that a tribunal chaired by Donald McRae and including Bruno Simma and Eduardo Zuleta as co-arbitrators held a hearing on jurisdiction and admissibility in...
Yukos shareholders fail again in Baker Botts discovery bid
Premium article - December 12, 2017
The former majority shareholders in Yukos have again failed to convince a US court to compel discovery from Baker Botts that would supposedly support allegations that the firm helped a Russian state-owned oil company manipulate the rulings of Armenian judges in Yukos-related proceedings. In an opinion and order dated 9 December, Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the US District Court for the District of Columbia refused to reconsider a previous request bny the shareholders to compel discovery. She...
ICSID tribunal defers hearing objections in gold mining dispute
Premium article - December 08, 2017
An ICSID tribunal has accepted jurisdiction over a third-party funded claim brought by a Canadian gold mining company against Costa Rica - but refused to rule on a handful of jurisdictional objections raised by the state at "such an incipient stage of the proceedings." In a decision on 4 December, a tribunal composed of Switzerland's Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler as chair and Belgium's Bernard Hanotiau and France's Brigitte Stern as co-arbitrators upheld jurisdiction over a claim brought by Infinito...
Kuwait tribunal rejects interim requests from both sides
Premium article - December 06, 2017
Kuwait and a trio of European construction companies have failed to convince an ICSID tribunal to adopt a raft of provisional measures in their dispute over an overrunning highway construction project, including issuing orders to halt work or ensure it continues. In a ruling on 23 November, the tribunal chaired by Singapore's Cavinder Bull SC and including Stanimir Alexandrov of Bulgaria and Zachary Douglas QC of Australia as co-arbitrators said neither the state nor a group of claimants led...
Alleged police assault leads to emergency order
Premium article - December 05, 2017
A US-Russian national who claims to have been violently beaten while in the custody of Ukrainian police has won an emergency protection order from the president of an investment treaty tribunal. US arbitrator David Caron issued the ex parte order on 3 December in favour of Igor Boyko, who is in a Kiev hospital after allegedly being "severely beaten" following his arrest two days earlier. Caron is chairing an UNCITRAL tribunal seated in London that is hearing a US$100 million claim lodged...
Koch begins US enforcement action against Venezuela
Premium article - December 05, 2017
After winning US$409 million in an ICSID claim against Venezuela over an expropriation in the fertiliser sector, two companies controlled by prominent US businessmen Charles and David Koch have applied to a court in Washington, DC, to enforce the award. Swiss-registered Koch Minerals and Koch Nitrogen lodged a petition in the DC district court on 28 November to enforce the award, which is now public thanks to the court filing. A tribunal made up of the UK's VV Veeder QC as chair, Canadian...
Peru liable in mining case but only for sunk costs
Premium article - December 04, 2017
An ICSID tribunal has found Peru liable for the expropriation of a silver mining concession but only awarded the Canadian claimant the amount it invested in the project, out of the US$522 million it had demanded. In an award dated 30 November, a tribunal chaired by Germany's Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel ordered Peru to pay around US$30.4 million to Vancouver-based Bear Creek Mining after finding the state liable under the Canada-Peru free trade agreement for the indirect expropriation of the Santa...
Conoco and Ecuador settle ICSID feud
Premium article - December 04, 2017
US energy company ConocoPhillips has settled a nine-year ICSID dispute with Ecuador over the expropriation of two oil blocks, with the state agreeing to pay US$337 million to satisfy an award issued earlier this year. Announcing the settlement today, Conoco said it had received US$75 million from Ecuador on 1 December and would receive the balance of US$262 million by April 2018. The settlement amount includes an offset of US$42 million, representing the size of a counterclaim on which...
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