The arbitration trial between Gabriel Resources and the Romanian State, held at World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, was suspended following the resignation of the Court’s president, Teresa Cheng, on February 7, the Canadian mining company announced in a press release.
This follows the appointment of Cheng on January 6, 2018 as Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong.
The suspension thus occurs only one week before the deadline of February 15, when the Romanian state must submit to the court the reply documentation to the Gabriel Resources moratorium registered last year.
More exactly, on June 30, 2017, Gabriel Resources asked for USD 4.4 billion in compensation, based on the fact that Romania has not answered amiably to requests for resolving the dispute initiated in 2015, accusing Romania of breaking bilateral treaties to protect mutual investments by blocking the gold mining project at Rosia Montana.
However, ”Gabriel has been advised that there is no set timeframe for the appointment of a successor to Ms. Cheng, whereupon the ICSID Arbitration proceeding shall continue from the point it had reached at the time the vacancy occurred,” as the announcement reads.