The International Court of Arbitration decided that GreenX Metals will receive compensation from Poland. This is the case of the Jan Karski mine in the Lublin Coal Basin. The Attorney General of the Republic of Poland informed the tvn24.pl business editorial team that decisions on further proceedings will be made after analyzing the judgment. She also pointed out that “the tribunal found the claims amounting to approximately PLN 4.9 billion to be unfounded.”
The Australian company GreenX Metals (formerly Prairie Mining) announced in a press release that it had been awarded compensation in the amount of approximately PLN 1.3 billion by the tribunal on the basis of the Polish-Australian agreement on mutual support and protection of BIT investments.
The company was also awarded compensation in the amount of approximately PLN 941 million by the tribunal under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
GreenX Metals indicated that the tribunal unanimously found that the Republic of Poland had breached its obligations under the treaties in relation to the Jan Karski project, which entitles GreenX to compensation. With respect to the Dębieńsko project, the tribunal did not accept the company's claim.
“The claims were submitted under the Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and the rulings are final and binding on the parties. The UNCITRAL Rules do not provide for an appeal procedure, i.e. they do not confer any express power on the panel to reconsider its ruling,” the statement said. companies.
“Under the UNCITRAL Rules, any party may, within 30 days of receipt of the award, request the Court to correct any computational, editorial or typographical errors in the award, to issue an interpretation of the award or to make an additional award on any claims omitted from the final award. These procedures do not allow either party to request that the Tribunal reconsider the grounds for its decision,” it added.
In reaction to this announcement, the price of GreenX Metals on the Warsaw Stock Exchange rose significantly during Tuesday's quotations. At the end of the session, the increase reached almost 23 percent – to PLN 2.23 per share.
GreenX Metals coursestooq.pl
Attorney General's Office on the tribunal's decisions
As Bartosz Swatek, spokesman for the General Prosecutor's Office of the State Treasury, said in response to questions from the business editorial staff of tvn24.pl, Poland was represented in the dispute with GreenX Metals by the General Prosecutor's Office together with an international law firm specializing in arbitration investment disputes.
“We can confirm the fact that two judgments have been issued in the cases of subsidiaries of GreenX Metals Limited against the Republic of Poland,” Swatek wrote.
He explained that “the claims related to two mining projects and were pursued in two separate proceedings (each procedure concerned the same projects)” and “were based on the Agreement on the Protection and Promotion of Investments (proceedings in London) and the Energy Charter Treaty (proceedings in Singapore)”.
“In relation to one of the projects (the Dębieńsko mine – ed.), the lawsuit was dismissed. In relation to the second of them, approximately 1/6 of the total claimed claim was awarded, i.e. approximately PLN 1.1 billion with interest from December 31, 2019 “The Arbitral Tribunal established the maximum amount of liability because the plaintiffs' claims in both proceedings were partially identical. Therefore, the Tribunal found the claims in the amount of approximately PLN 4.9 billion to be unjustified,” wrote attorney Swatek.
He added that “arbitration proceedings were single-instance, but it is possible to submit complaints for the annulment of awards to common courts in London and Singapore, respectively,” and “decisions on further proceedings will be made after analyzing the awards.”
Lawsuit against Poland
In April 2018, the Australian company took legal action against the Ministry of the Environment regarding the Jan Karski mine in the Lublin Basin after it was not granted mining rights. In turn, in May 2018, the Ministry of the Environment rejected Prairie Mining's application for changes to the concession for the Dębieńsko project in Upper Silesia.
In 2021, the company announced that it had filed a lawsuit in Poland, in which it demanded compensation for damages and lost profits related to the mines.
“The Republic of Poland breached its obligations under the Treaties by actions aimed at blocking the development of the Company's Jan Karski and Dębieńsko mines in Poland. The actions of the Republic of Poland deprived the Prairie company of the entire value of its investments in Poland,” it was reported at the time.
Main photo source: Shutterstock