Derains & Gharavi secures its third ICSID win for Albania over an investment dispute concerning its petroleum industry

Derains & Gharavi obtained on 30 March 2015 another Award in favor of the Republic of Albania, dismissing all claims amounting to approximately USD 48 million for lack of merits (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/24). The claims were brought by a Greek petroleum company under the Greek-Albanian BIT and the ECT for the alleged expropriation and unfair treatment of an investment in an oil container terminal in Albania’s Port of Durres. Please click here to read the full Award and here to read the dissenting opinion. This is the third victory the firm secured out of the three cases it has handled for the Republic of Albania before ICSID. Its first victory for the Republic of Albania was against Pantechniki and concerned the alleged unfair treatment and denial of justice against an investment in the construction industry (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/21). Its second win was against Burimi S.r.l. and Eagle Games Sh.a., concerning the alleged expropriation of a gambling permit (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/18).
The latest win for the Republic of Albania marks the firm’s ninth victory in ICSID arbitration out of nine cases so far, providing the firm to date with an uninterrupted track-record in arbitrations before ICSID (Pantechniki v. Republic of Albania (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/21), Saba Fakes v. Republic of Turkey (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/20), Investors DLP v. Republic of Yemen (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/17), Rumeli/Telsim v. Republic of Kazakhstan (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/16), Lemire v. Republic of Ukraine (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/18), Burimi S.r.l. and Eagle Games Sh.a. v. Republic of Albania, Arif v. Republic of Moldova (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/23) and Lahoud et al. v. the Democratic Republic of Congo (ICSID Case No. ARB/10/4)).