The Washington Arbitration Court Rejects Albania's Request Not to Adjudicate the Foundation of the Concession Contract for the Eastern Terminal at the Port of Durres"
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| At the Eastern Terminal at the Port of Durres |
The issue at the International Court for the concession contract for the processing of reefer cargo by ship in Durres was filed in April 2023 by the German company EMS APO. The cargo processing company at the Reefer Terminal for unequal and discriminatory treatment of the contract has sought €40 million in compensation.
The first hearing in Washington took place on September 18, 2023. Subsequently, however, the Albanian state or the responsible party submitted on January 19, 2024, a request to address objections to jurisdiction as a preliminary issue in accordance with Article 41(2) of the ICSID Convention and Rule 44 of ICSID Arbitration. Thus, the Albanian state requested the non-jurisdiction of the matter. If this request were to be accepted by the ICSID, the case would be suspended.
However, the Court rejects the state's preliminary request for lack of jurisdiction and decides to adjudicate the foundation of the concession contract.
"The Tribunal issues Procedural Order No. 3 regarding the Respondent's request to address objections to jurisdiction as a preliminary question; as a result, objections to jurisdiction are joined with the merits of the dispute," the decision of the ICSID dated February 24, 2024, states.
The concession contract between the Albanian state and the German company EMS-Fehn-Group (i.e., EMS Shipping & Trading GmbH) was concluded in May 2013. The contract specifies that the implementation period extends for a 35-year period from 2013 to 2048. EMS-Fehn-Group established the Albanian Port Operator EMS Shpk. (EMS APO) as an operational unit in Durres. The contract grants EMS-Fehn-Group/EMS APO the right to process reefer cargoes, general cargoes, and project cargoes at the Eastern Terminal.
The conflict between the parties began, as stated earlier by company executives to Monitor in 2020, when Albanian institutions deliberately hindered their activities following the granting of preferential treatment for the private operator at Porto Romano, to then continue occupying the space of the port of Durres for the development of the "Durres Yahts Marina" project.
Meanwhile, the Durres Yacht & Marina project, which coincides with the development of a yacht port, the construction of 13,000 apartments, and hotels, will be developed on the current land of the port of Durres, including the occupation of 90% of the land on which the concessionaire company operates. For the company's executives, the agreement for "Durres Yachts Marina" is contradictory as it overlaps with the EMS-Fehn-Group concession contract.
Last July, the Durres Port Authority began interventions to remove the German company contrary to the concession contract, according to its executives. The reason for the intervention was to pave the way for the development of the Durres Yahts Marina project, for the first phase of building apartment buildings.
At that time, executives of the concessionaire company EMS APO not only raised concerns about legal violations but also claimed to be harmed by the high decline in ship processing flow, uncertainties about the future of EMS APO due to the transformation of the port of Durres into an entertainment port, according to Monitor.