March 18 (SeeNews) - Romania has won a lawsuit over a claim for a $200 million (181 million euro) financial compensation lodged by Alverley Investments Limited and Germen Properties Ltd, regarding investment in a real estate project in Bucharest, the finance ministry said on Friday.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes upheld the lack of jurisdiction over the applicant Germen and dismissed Alverley's claim as inadmissible, the finance ministry said in a press release.
At the same time, the court ordered the applicants to pay $4.14 million within 60 days of notification of the judgment.
The applicants' claims were filed in 2018 and were based on an agreement between Romania and Cyprus for mutual promotion and protection of investments signed in 1991.
The two companies claimed that, as shareholders of some Romanian companies, they had made investments in the Baneasa real estate project which was later the subject of a criminal investigation that resulted in a final conviction.
Investors claimed that Romania violated the agreement by depriving them of the possibility to exercise their right of ownership over investments and the right to a fair trial. The action resulted in the indirect expropriation of investments, through a seizure imposed on the assets of the Romanian companies and on their title to the land in Baneasa.
($= 0.906 euro)