At a press conference this afternoon following his meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, Rama said “the idea that we’ve lost arbitration has been ingrained in the public for some time. Some people think that we have paid for the losses. What do you journalists do, why don’t you see if it’s true?
He continued by saying that rulings against Albania were being challenged:
“To date as we speak, we have no process in the Arbitration court that is complete, where we have lost. We just don’t have. We have joint teams of the State Advocacy working to reverse these decisions which are of a preliminary nature.”
He then said that actually, Albania hasn’t lost any decisions:
“We have won litigation in Arbitration, but we have not lost a single one so far.”
And then continued that Albania had lost some but they are to be repealed:
“Efforts continue to be made legally to repeal them.”
Earlier this month, the Albanian government were ordered to pay the construction consortium of the Tirana-Elbasan highway over $44 million in unpaid bills and taxes plus at least $1 million in court costs.In April 2019, the Interational Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes awarded Francesco Becchetti, an Italian businessman, som EUR 100 million. This was after the government confiscated his assets in 2015 in a move he claims was politically motivated. The website of the ICSID says that the dispute has concluded and the tribunal rendered its award.
