Albania has definitely lost the case against the Italian entrepreneur Francesco Becchetti, regarding the compensation he requested for the closure of "Agon Channel" television in 2015.

The International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) an arbitration tribunal, part of the World Bank, sentenced Albania in April 2019 with 110 million EUR, judging that the closure of the television was "politically motivated".

This bill, which constitutes a fatal blow to state finances, is the largest fine that Albania has ever received from an international court. 

In August 2019 ICSID accepted the appeal ordering the temporary suspension of the execution of its decision.

The request for annulment is an extraordinary form of recourse provided in defense of the basic legal principles related to a process.

A party may seek the full or partial annulment of a decision based on at least one of the 5 cases provided for in the ICSID rules themselves: when the trial panel has not been formed correctly; when she has openly exceeded her power; when a case of corruption has been ascertained by one of the members; when the deviation from one of the basic rules of procedure was noticed and when the decision could not prove the motives on which it was based.

The request of the Albanian party was based on the violation of the procedures during the arbitration process, but the Ad Hoc Commission set up to review the case, has not found the claim of the Albanian party, which will have to pay the compensation of 110 million euros.

To be represented in the appeal process, the Albanian State Advocacy had selected the American studio, Foley Hoag, with an experience in dealing with such cases. Opposite it, the Italian entrepreneur Becchetti, was represented by two major law firms, Debevoise & Plimpton, based in New York, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, based in Paris and New York.

The suit claimed by Becchetti was filed at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on October 21, 2015 and communicated to the Albanian government on January 12. At the same time, the Italian businessman also filed another lawsuit against Albania for unjust seizure, according to him, of Agon Channel television.

After a lengthy session, the court granted Becchetti the right, finding Rama and the Albanian government guilty, and condemning Albania with the bill of 110 million euros.