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Middle East

States from the Middle East have concluded about 600 investment deals. 44 ISDS cases have been brought against Middle Eastern countries, while investors from the region have initiated 44 cases as well.

In 2013, Al-Kharafi & Sons Co., investors from Kuwait, were awarded US$935 million under the Unified Agreement for the Investment of Arab Capital in the Arab States, in a dispute over a land-leasing contract for a tourism project in Libya, making it one of the largest known awards to date. They had only invested about US$5 million but the arbitration tribunal decided that Libya also had to compensate for profits that would have been made during the 90-year leasing contract and were now lost.

Photo: President of Azerbaijan / CC BY 4.0

(April 2020)

Korea suffers first defeat in ISD case
Business Korea | 8-Jun-2018
The Korean government was ordered to pay about 73 billion won to an Iranian investor who filed an investor-state lawsuit, claiming that he suffered losses in the process of participating in an auction for Daewoo Electronics in 2010.
investor-state disputes | ISDS , Iran , Korea
Traités de libre-échange – Le Parlement de Wallonie approuve le traité controversé avec Oman
Metro | 24-May-2018
Le projet de traité d’arbitrage liant la Belgique et le Luxembourg à Oman a été approuvé, par le Parlement de Wallonie
Belgium , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Luxembourg , Oman
Spain loses its third millionaire arbitration award for the reduction of renewables
Turkey Telegraph | 18-May-2018
ICSID imposes a fine of 64.5 million euros for a claim by a fund of the state of Abu Dhabi.
ECT , energy , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Spain , UAE
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Agreement on Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments among Member States
Lexology | 9-May-2018
Whilst there is a plethora of literature on BIT protection, relatively little is known on how the OIC Agreement can assist investors.
GCC , investment | BITs , investor-state disputes | ISDS , OIC
Belgium firm to sue Turkey over Gülen-linked assets
Ahval | 13-Mar-2018
The claim alleges that Cascade’s investment’s in a media services company were unlawfully expropriated by the Turkish state in the crackdown that followed the coup attempt of July 2016.
Belgium , investor-state disputes | ISDS , services , Türkiye
Arbitrator: EMG due $1.03b from Egypt over canceled gas contract
Haaretz | 19-Feb-2018
Decision comes six years after supplies were halted, forcing EMG shareholder Ampal into bankruptcy.
Egypt , energy , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Israel
Samsung Engineering settles dispute with Oman, ISDS withdrawn
Korea Bizwire | 29-Jan-2018
Samsung Engineering’s longstanding dispute with the government of Oman has been resolved, and industry insiders expect the resolution to lead to increased business activity between the two down the road.
investor-state disputes | ISDS , Korea , Oman
Hamid Gharavi and Melanie van Leeuwen secure a third consecutive victory against Kazakhstan for a US$ 30 million award
Derains & Gharavi | 29-Nov-2017
An ICSID tribunal has ordered Kazakhstan to pay nearly US$25 million for the seizure of investments at the port of Aktau on the Caspian Sea.
ECT , energy , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Kazakhstan , Türkiye
Samsung Engineering files ISDS suit over Saudi power plant
Korea Herald | 20-Nov-2017
Samsung Engineering has filed an investor-state dispute settlement suit against Saudi Arabia over changes made to its power plant construction contracts for Yanbu Industrial City.
energy , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Korea , Saudi Arabia
Pakistan gets stay on $800m Karkey penalty
The Express Tribune | 13-Nov-2017
Pakistan has successfully gotten a stay order from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) over the execution of an $800 million award to Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim (Karkey).
energy , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Pakistan , Türkiye