Case Details

State General Reserve Fund of the Sultanate of Oman v. Republic of Bulgaria (ICSID Case No. ARB/15/43)

Subject of Dispute:

Banking enterprise
Economic Sector:

Finance
Instrument(s) Invoked:

BIT Bulgaria - Oman 2007
Applicable Rules:

ICSID Convention - Arbitration Rules

(a) Original Proceeding

Claimant(s)/Nationality(ies):

State General Reserve Fund of the Sultanate of Oman (Omani)
Respondent(s):

Republic of Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
Date Registered:

October 22, 2015
Date of Constitution of Tribunal:

February 16, 2016

Composition of Tribunal

President:

Vaughan LOWE (British) - Appointed by the Parties
Arbitrators:

David R. HAIGH (Canadian) - Appointed by the Claimant(s)
Brigitte STERN (French) - Appointed by the Respondent(s)

Party Representatives

Claimant(s):

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Austria, Vienna and Frankfurt, Germany
Respondent(s):

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Washington, D.C., U.S.A and London, U.K.
Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia, Bulgaria
Tomov & Tomov, Sofia, Bulgaria
Language(s) of Proceeding:

English
Status of Proceeding:

Concluded
Outcome of Proceeding:

August 13, 2019 - The Tribunal renders its award.

(a) Original Proceeding

Published Decisions

Excerpts of Award

Available on the ICSID Website

Excerpts of Award (August 13, 2019) English (Original)

(a) Original Proceeding

Date	Development
October 22, 2015	The Secretary-General registers a request for the institution of arbitration proceedings.
December 5, 2015	Following appointment by the Claimant, David R. Haigh (Canadian) accepts his appointment as arbitrator.
December 18, 2015	Following appointment by the Respondent, Brigitte Stern (French) accepts her appointment as arbitrator.
February 16, 2016	Following appointment by agreement of the parties, Vaughan Lowe (British) accepts his appointment as presiding arbitrator. The Tribunal is constituted in accordance with Article 37(2)(a) of the ICSID Convention. Its members are: Vaughan Lowe (British), President, appointed by agreement of the parties; David R. Haigh (Canadian), appointed by the Claimant; and Brigitte Stern (French), appointed by the Respondent.
April 13, 2016	The Tribunal holds a first session by telephone conference.
April 14, 2016	The Tribunal issues Procedural Order No. 1 concerning procedural matters.
June 15, 2016	Following exchanges between the parties, the Claimant files a request for the Tribunal to decide on production of documents.
June 30, 2016	The Tribunal issues Procedural Order No. 2 concerning production of documents.
August 27, 2016	The Tribunal issues Procedural Order No. 3 concerning confidentiality of documents.
December 22, 2016	The Claimant files a memorial on the merits.
October 26, 2017	The Tribunal issues Procedural Order No. 4 concerning confidentiality of documents.
November 1, 2017	The Respondent files a counter-memorial on the merits.
January 16, 2018	The Claimant files a proposal for disqualification of one of the Respondent's expert witnesses.
January 19, 2018	The Respondent files observations on the Claimant's proposal for disqualification.
January 26, 2018	The Tribunal issues Procedural Order No. 5 concerning production of documents.
February 14, 2018	Each party files further observations on the Claimant’s proposal of January 16, 2018.
February 19, 2018	The Tribunal issues a decision on the Claimant's proposal for disqualification of one of the Respondent's expert witnesses.
June 25, 2018	The Claimant files a reply on the merits.
November 8, 2018	The Respondent files a rejoinder on the merits.
January 31, 2019	Each party files a submission on costs.
February 28, 2019	Each party files a second submission on costs.
June 3, 2019	The Tribunal declares the proceeding closed in accordance with ICSID Arbitration Rule 38(1).
June 10, 2019	The Respondent files a supplemental submission on costs.
August 13, 2019	The Tribunal renders its award.