Romania’s Energy Ministry will hire lawyers to represent the state at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington in the litigations where the Ministry is involved.

Currently the Energy Ministry is involved in a dispute initiated by the Swiss energy trader Alpiq AG. Alpiq was one of the energy traders that had contracts with the state-owned power producer Hidroelectrica to buy electricity under the market price. Its contract got canceled when the company entered insolvency in 2012. Hidroelectrica has won the trial with Alpiq at the Bucharest Court, but the Swiss group has taken the dispute to the ICSID in Washington.

The Energy Ministry wants to conclude a framework agreement for 4 years with three to five law firms that will represent it in the disputes at the ICSID, reports local Profit.ro. Companies can submit offers by October 6.

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