Arbitrations continue to “erode” Albanian finances where Albania is paying millions of euros for its confrontations in international courts.
On May 26, 2021 at the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) was presented another request of Albania regarding the clash with the Italian investor Francesco Becchetti. In the update that has been made to the data on this issue, it is stated that “The Secretary General registered a request for correction of the decision for cancellation submitted by the Republic of Albania”.
Just a few weeks ago, at the beginning of April, the investor’s lawyers informed the media that the court had already given the right to the Italian businessman, thus rejecting Albania’s request for annulment of the decision that forced our country to pay 110 million euros. . It remains unclear what is Albania’s request in this step, seeking correction, but experts on legal issues in terms of international clashes have said that Albania is unlikely to win this confrontation and will be forced to pay.
On May 26, 2021 Albania had registered its request for annulment in court, through the State Advocacy and law firm Wragge Lawrence Graham, London, Britain. This is the first studio that the government has contacted during the confrontation it had with the investor in 2015 while in the second phase when the cancellation was requested alongside the Advocacy was the American law firm Foley Hoag.
It seems that Arbitration cases will have more costs on the horizon as on May 26 the State Advocacy announced on its website that it was looking for a law firm that would represent and protect the interests of the Republic of Albania, in a process arbitration initiated before the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The same request was made by the Advocacy in April, when the issue of elections was boiling in the country and the attention was far away. In the announcement of April 13, the Advocacy seeks a studio for the representation of the interests of Albania in (ICSID).
In this court are currently ongoing in addition to the Becchetti case also the one with Arka Energy which has sued Albania after withdrawing from the contract for the construction of the photovoltaic park of Akërnia. Although the company has not given public details on the amount it has requested from sources close to it, the figure of 110 million euros has been curved.
Arbitrations as a risk to finances
Arbitrations against Albania have increased significantly in recent years. Two of the six cases belong to 2020 and in total, the potential compensation for all is estimated at around 450 million euros. Only a short time ago, Albania lost the arbitration with the companies “Aktor” and “Copri”.
The latter were the builders of the two lots of the Tirana-Elbasan highway and the clashes they had with the government made the state pay 45 million USD in the final. Another ongoing issue is the one with “Dondi & Kubota” where the loss of the Albanian state is estimated at 90 million euros, of which only 20 million as a court claim, while the rest is related to the non-completion of the investment.
On September 23, 2020, another case against Albania was registered with ICSID. “Durrës Kurum Shipping Company” and others sued the state seeking 100 million euros in compensation for unilateral breach of contract. To these are added the issue of Becchetti and that of Akërnia, which tremendously increase the potential amount that Albania may lose to Arbitration.
