A tribunal chaired by Jan Paulsson has rejected an Austrian investor’s Energy Charter Treaty claim against Albania over a failed power plant project.

Austrian company Ivicom Holding Gmbh launched in December 2021, an international arbitration against the Republic of Albania at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Institute (SCC), based on the Energy Card Treaty (ECT) that protects foreign investment in the energy sector.

This company claimed that Albania, through the decisions of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, had taken discriminatory actions by expropriating investor Ivicom Holding GmbH and causing an initially estimated damage of Euro 50 million, which was reduced during the arbitration process approximately Euro 37 million, plus accumulated interests.

The investment envisioned the construction and development of a 500 MW combined gas turbine power plant near the city of Korça.

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

The Arbitration Court dismissed in particular Ivicom's claim that the gas power plant project was practically considered "approved" since Ivicom received the status of strategic investor and that this status itself created legitimate expectations for an investor that his project would be approved.

The arbitration decision emphasized the discretion of the state to decide on major infrastructure projects, rejecting Ivicom Holding GmbH's claim that the Republic of Albania abused its discretion due to political preferences and links.

In this important process of international arbitration, the Republic of Albania was represented by the State Advocate, supported by experts from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, and assisted by the International Law Studio of Clifford Chance.

This is the third process in international arbitration, which the Albanian government won in a short period of several months against foreign companies and related to the procedures followed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy. Earlier, cases raised by Bankers Petroleum and Durres Kurum Shipping companies were also won by Albania.