TIRANA, Sept. 2 – A U.S.-based court of Arbitration has decided in favor of Albania over a dispute with a Greek oil company which was claiming $23 million in damages but the Greek operator has challenged the decision by initiating annulment procedures, the Albanian State Advocate’s Office has announced.
The clash between Mamidoil Jetoil Greek Petroleum and the Albanian government began in 2007 when the Albanian government decided to stop shipping the gas processing and oil at the port of Durres, by transferring the activity to Porto Romano, outside Durres and Petrolifera, Vlore.
Under a decision date March 26, 2015, the U.S-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes decided to reject the Greek company’s claims but ordered the Albanian government to reimburse the claimant some $150,000.
The Greek company paid costs and fees amounting to about 650,000 dollars compared to $200,000 by the Albanian government.
Albania also faces two other cases in the U.S.-based court over waste management and renewable energy production projects linked to Italian businesses Francesco Becchetti whose assets in Albania, including a local TV station, have been seized on suspicion of money laundering.
In March 2010, the Albanian government was fined USD 20 million over the unilateral annulment of a 2003 contract, worth Euro 74 million with General Electric. The project cancelled in 2005 was aimed at modernizing the Tirana-Durres railway segment, known also as the electric train, which would have been linked with Mother Theresa International Airport.
