Romania will not pay EUR 28 million to Turkish investors Ömer Dede and Serdar Elhüseyni after winning its fight against the pair at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The arbitration procedures started in 2010, when the two investors complained that, despite having fulfilled the privatization plan for the company Întreprinderea Mecanică de Utilaje Medgidia (IMUM), the state took back the company's shares, which had been placed as a guarantee.

According to the investors' complaint, this was an abusive expropriation, for which the pair claimed damages of EUR 28 million.

The ICSID court however decided it was not among its attributions to judge on the case as the investors' had not fulfilled all procedures before appearing in court, and thus rejected their claims. More on the history of the case at ICSID here.

In their case, the Romanian state was represented by local law firm Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii and by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.

editor@romania-insider.com