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Arbitrations, total liabilities to be paid at the end of 2023 reached 183.2 million euros

2024-07-19 07:43:00, Ekonomi CNA

Arbitrations, total liabilities to be paid at the end of 2023 reached 183.2

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The government paid 5.2 million euros on account of the cases that third parties have won against it in Arbitration, during the past year.

The data made public in the actual budget of 2023 show that the total obligation at the end of the reporting was 183.2 million euros. This total consists of two indicators, which is the remaining liability from the Arbitration decisions/legal costs that are calculated at 73.8 million euros and contingent liabilities of 109.45 million euros.

Contingent liabilities with a higher value seem to be related to the decision that the Court of Arbitration gave in the Becchetti case where the Albanian state is forced to pay the entrepreneur 108 million euros, but even though the final decision has been given for a long time, the government seems to classify it as contingent. This happens in conditions where money has been blocked from the accounts of Albanian institutions abroad for some time due to this decision.

The second largest obligation is for the arbitration with the road company Copri Aktor, for the disputes regarding the construction of the Tirana-Elbasan road, with an amount of 42.5 million euros, for which no liquidation has been made. In addition to the obligation, 225,000 euros in legal costs remain to be paid.

For the arbitration with the company Costruzioni Dondi, the government must pay 13.5 million euros. The company was the implementer of the project located in the Kashari area and was being implemented by the Italian-Japanese contractor "Dondi Kubota" thanks to a soft loan granted by the government of Japan, about 79 million USD. The works started in 2014, but it seems that the clashes between the implementing companies and the contracting authority, in this case the National Water and Sewerage Agency, have not been absent, which led to the termination of the contract.

The fourth arbitration with the highest obligation to be paid is the one with the oil company GBC OIL, for 12.2 million euros. The conflict is related to the license for the use of 4 oil fields Gorisht-Kocul, Cakran-Mollaj, Ballsh-Hekal and Delvinë, initially for the company Stream Oil, which after several sales ended up with GBC OIl.

The contract was terminated by Albpetrol (the state operator that manages the oil fields) in 2017, renewing these resources, for non-fulfillment of concessionary obligations. While the obligation remains unpaid, almost all legal costs of 6.6 million euros have been liquidated for this arbitration (only about 400 thousand euros remain).

For other arbitration awards and legal costs, the liability ranges from 150,000 euros to 1.7 million euros (see table).

The arbitration for the concession contract for the Eastern Terminal in the Port of Durrës is in progress. The case at the International Court of Justice for the concession contract for the processing of refujo goods by ship in Durrës was filed in April 2023 by the German company EMS APO. The cargo ship processing company rifujo in the Eastern Terminal has requested 40 million euros in compensation for unequal and discriminatory treatment of the contract.

Only for the protection of the interests of the Albanian state in the face of cases in Arbitration, it seems that the state has spent 562 million ALL, where there are a series of active cases. Separated separately in the actual budget, it is explained that the items that make up this are:

- Around LEK 189.9 million Ministry of Finance, for the payment of legal services and other legal costs for the representation and defense of the Republic of Albania in international arbitration decisions.

- About 113 million LEK from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, for the payment of legal, administrative, representation and defense costs related to international arbitration decisions.

-About LEK 99.8 million to the Durrës Port Authority, for administrative and legal costs for international arbitration issues.

- About LEK 76.6 million to Albpetrol Sh.a, for the payment of court expenses, administrative/legal costs for representation and defense in international arbitration matters.

- Around LEK 57.7 million Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, for the payment of legal and administrative costs related to an international arbitration decision.

- Around LEK 19.5 million National Water and Sewerage Agency (AKUK), for the payment of legal costs for consultancy services, legal services for representation and defense in international arbitration matters. ü Around LEK 6.2 million National Agency of Natural Resources, for the payment of legal costs for representation and defense in international arbitration matters./ Monitor Magazine