October 21 (SeeNews) - Albania's National Agency of Natural Resources says it has decided to appeal in the International Court of Arbitration against the report of the international auditor who determined that Canadian oil and gas exploration company Bankers Petroleum had correctly stated its 2011 expenses.
The auditor, a joint panel of individuals from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Navigant Consulting Company, made the conclusion at the end of August.
The dispute between Bankers Petroleum and the Albanian government goes back to 2011 when the natural resources agency claimed that Bankers had declared $299 million (275 million euro) as petroleum costs, thus evading $57 million in taxes.
"The National Agency of Natural Resources, after consulting the Ministry of Energy and Industry and the State Advocacy decided to appeal against the decision of the international experts in the Court of Arbitration," according to a notice posted on the website of the government agency.
"We are convinced that the details in the audit report, which were rejected by the experts, will be sufficient for this Court to give the right to the Albanian state," the agency added.
According to state news agency, ATA, the natural resources agency referred the case to the International Arbitration on Friday, claiming that the report is biased.
Bankers had paid a total of $37 million (33.1 million euro) as of June 30, 2016 to Albania tax office as deposits for the 2011 profit tax assessment. According to the auditor, the government has to pay back this sum, and give up collecting the remaining $20 million.
($=0.9198 euro)