International investors have monetary demands from the RA government – 2024-04-04 13:30:28

During 2016-2024, 8 international arbitration cases were initiated against RA. This was reported by the office of the representative of RA on International Legal Affairs in response to the written inquiry of “Pastinfo”.

Arbitral awards were made in 2 cases, both in favor of RA, but later they were disputed and canceled.

“One of the mentioned cases was partially annulled in respect of one of the plaintiffs, and there is an ongoing annulment procedure regarding the second arbitration award. In one of the cases, the plaintiff abandoned the claim and continued the investigation of the case in the relevant domestic court,” the office informed, noting that 5 arbitration cases are in progress.

However, Yeghishe Kirakosyan’s office avoided saying which international investors filed arbitration claims against Armenia and what monetary claims were submitted to the RA government in those cases.

“Pastinfo” reported earlier that a number of large companies have submitted lawsuits to the international arbitration court against the RA government. Among them are: “Sanitech International Group” company, “Amulsar Investor Venture” LLC, one of the shareholders of “Lydian International LLC”, the Swiss company Walnort Finance Limited LLC, which is a 12.5-% shareholder of ZPMK, has already announced its about that intention. In case of losing the mentioned cases, it will be about the compensation of hundreds of millions of dollars.

In order to represent the interests of the Republic of Armenia within the framework of international arbitration cases, the Government of the Republic of Armenia has engaged the international law firms CMS, Steptoe & Johnson, Alliance Law Partners, Baker McKenzie, Lalive, Foley Hoag. disbursements are spent.

“Since the establishment of the Office in September 2019, a decision was made not to engage a local law firm, taking into account that, among other things, the RA Interests Protection Department of the Office provides advice on claims related to the RA legal system in international arbitrations and foreign courts,” Kirakosyan noted. adding that in order to represent RA’s interests in the best and quality way, when choosing international consulting companies, along with the price offer, the following key parameters are taken into account: “The professional experience of the company, as well as of the company’s legal advisors, especially the experience of representation of states in this area, in relation to which the dispute arose, as well as the educational and professional qualifications of the members of the proposed teams.

The position of the applicant companies in the well-known rankings of international legal advisory offices is also considered, as well as the presence of offices in countries that are important, among other things, from the point of view of the place of arbitration and the enforcement of the arbitral award. Attention is also paid to the experience of cooperation with the given company in previous cases, especially if the new case is related to any previous dispute, in the framework of which the company has already represented the interests of the Republic of Armenia. Such an approach gives an opportunity to get the best option of services by calculating the price-quality ratio.”