Albania has won another face-off in international arbitration, with companies that had claims for breach of contract by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.

This is the third process in international arbitration, that the Albanian government wins against foreign companies and related to the procedures followed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.

The Austrian company IVICOM Holding GmbH had started a legal process in December 2021, against the Republic of Albania at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC).

The process was based on the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) which protects foreign investments in the energy sector.

The claim raised by the company was that Albania, through the decisions of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, had taken discriminatory actions by expropriating the investor IVICOM Holding GmbH.

Consequently, an initially estimated damage of 50 million euros was caused, a claim which during the Arbitration process was reduced to 37 million euros, plus accrued interests.

The investment was for the construction and development of a 500 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant in the city of Korça.

On June 26, 2024, the International Arbitration Tribunal based in Stockholm ruled that the Republic of Albania had not violated any rules of the Energy Treaty (ECT) and completely rejected IVICOM’s claims.

The Arbitral Award dismissed IVICOM Holding GmbH’s claim that the Republic of Albania abused its discretion due to political preferences and connections.

In this international arbitration process, the Republic of Albania was represented by the State Attorney’s Office, supported by experts from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and assisted by the international law firm Clifford Chance.