The executive will allocate US$192,000 from its reserve fund for covering costs related to Moldova’s representation at the Court of Appeals of Paris in an international arbitration lawsuit over the October 25, 2013 decision filed by the Ukrainian company Energoalians against Moldova. Minister of Justice Oleg Efrim said the money is intended for paying honorariums and covering other costs in French courts, IPN reports.
On July 8, 2010, Energoalians sued Moldova at an ad-hoc arbitration tribunal. On October 25, 2013, the tribunal decided that the Energy Charter Treaty was violated and obliged Moldova to pay 592 million lei and US$540,000 damages to the plaintiff. On November 25, 2013, the Moldovan authorities appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals of Paris.
The Ministry of Justice held a contest to select a lawyer who will represent the country’s interests in the French courts. On January 17, 2014, the Associated Law Office “AICI Partners” was designated as a winner. It will work in partnership with DLA Piper UK LLP.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar explained that the debt to Energoalians accumulated at the end of the 1990s, when the Ukrainian company supplied large quantities of electric power to Moldova. By a decision passed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine in July 2011, the main electricity distributor in Moldova Moldelectrica was obliged to pay about US$20 million, plus penalties and other costs deriving from the fluctuation of the inflation rate to Energoalians. According to Valeriu Lazar, Moldelectrica was illegally attracted into this litigation. The Moldovan authorities do not recognize the debts invoked by the Ukrainian court.
