December 13 (SeeNews) - Romania's government said on Friday it will pay 912.5 million lei ($212.5 million/190.9 million euro) to two investors - Ioan Micula and Viorel Micula - in compensation in a state aid case.
The budget of the finance ministry will be supplemented with the respective amount from the budget reserve fund, the government said in a press release.
The funds will be transfered on Friday following a decision issued in 2016 by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), stipulating that the Romanian state must pay legal compensation to the two investors, it added.
According to data available on the ICSID website, the two businessmen obtained compensation worth 395 million euro ($440 million) in international courts because the Romanian state withdrew the state aid it had previously granted them for their investments in the country of Bihor where they own drinks manufacturing facilities. Their initial claim was worth 84 million euro, but the total amount increased over time as interest and penalties accumulated.
The assets of the two investors, who hold dual Romanian and Swedish citizenship, are estimated at 180 million euro, according to data compiled by local magazine Capital in 2018. They are the owners of drinks manufacturers European Drinks, European Food, Scandic Distilleries and distribution company Transilvania General Import Export, according to the magazine.
(1 euro=4.7791 lei)