The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington (ICSID) rejected the Romanian government's request to terminate the arbitration case filed by "Eurohold Bulgaria" AD (Eurohold) and "Euroins Insurance Group" AD (EIG) due to the withdrawal of the license and the declaration of bankruptcy of "Euroins Romania" by the Romanian authorities. This is stated in a press release by "Eurohold", which was also quoted in several Romanian media, including the state-owned news agency Agerpres, BTA reported.
"Eurohold" and EIG filed an arbitration case for over 500 million euros against the government in Bucharest at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington (ICSID) in May 2024. The legal basis is non-compliance with the bilateral Agreement for the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments between Bulgaria and Romania, signed back in 1994.
EIG is a leading investor in the Romanian insurance market with investments of nearly 300 million euros.
The Romanian state requested ICSID to terminate the arbitration proceedings due to lack of legal basis, but ICSID rejected this request and the case continues.
"Eurohold" and EIG will file a second case on the same case at ICSID due to the Romanian state's failure to comply with its obligations under the Romanian Investment Promotion Act (OUG No. 92/1997; Legea No. 241/1998), the cited statement states announcement.
The plaintiffs "Eurohold" and EIG requested to add the violations under the Investment Law as an additional legal basis for the claim in the proceedings already initiated in May 2024, but the Arbitration in Washington did not accept this request and for this reason a second proceeding will be opened.
"Eurohold" and EIG are seeking justice and compensation for the numerous illegal actions of the Romanian authorities, which caused damage to the activities of the insurance group in Romania, and specifically in the case of "Euroins Romania" - completely destroyed its business, the cited press release states. The actions of the Romanian authorities in this case have had and continue to have an adverse effect on the entire Romanian insurance market, including the insured and injured parties, the announcement adds.
Before filing the arbitration case in Washington, "Eurohold" and EIG proposed an out-of-court settlement of the dispute surrounding the case with "Euroins Romania" by sending a special “Notice of Dispute” to the Romanian government. And so far, the Romanian authorities have not taken a position on the subject and have not taken any action to discuss the proposals of "Eurohold" and EIG to resolve the dispute and save the damages and costs that the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) imposed on Romanian citizens through the "unlawful withdrawal of the license of "Euroins Romania", the press release states.
"Eurohold Bulgaria" AD is a leading energy and financial group operating in the region of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Its shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Sofia and Warsaw. "Eurohold" is the owner of "Electrohold" - a leading electricity group in Bulgaria, owning the largest distributor, supplier and trader of electricity in the country, which has over 3,000 employees and serves almost 3 million consumers. "Eurohold" is also the owner of "Euroins Insurance Group" AD (EIG), one of the largest insurance groups in the region. EIG provides a full range of insurance services, operates in 9 European countries and has over 2,000 employees.