The ruling of the Paris Court of Appeal, dated December 9, 2025, has been published. According to the decision, until the final conclusion of the arbitration case lost by the Georgian government against the Turkish company ENKA, and until a corresponding decision is made, the compensation awarded in favor of ENKA under the ICC arbitration award, along with the interest accrued, will not be immediately enforced. Furthermore, the court did not order the Georgian government to place the compensation in an irrevocable escrow account, as requested by ENKA.
Georgia lost the arbitration dispute with ENKA in December 2024, with the ruling requiring the country to pay $383 million in compensation. This amount is subject to interest at SOFR + 4% until the judgment is fully executed. As of now, the total amount, including accrued interest, exceeds $450 million.
In early 2025, ENKA applied to the relevant French court to initiate enforcement procedures for the judgment, while the Georgian Ministry of Justice filed an appeal seeking to annul the ruling. In September 2025, the French court emphasized that the immediate execution of the compensation would be suspended until a final judgment was rendered, a position that was reiterated in December 2025. ENKA’s request to place the awarded compensation in an irrevocable escrow account was denied. According to lawyers representing the Georgian government, executing payment before a final verdict in a case involving more than $400 million would pose a significant financial risk to the state.
In July 2025, the Ministry of Justice publicly stated that appropriate legal procedures were underway to overturn the arbitration ruling. The Ministry noted:
“The Ministry is representing the Namakhvani Hydropower Plant Cascade Project in the dispute between Enka Renewables LLC (a company established under Georgian law) and the Government of Georgia. The dispute arises from the Agreement on the Construction, Ownership, and Operation of the Namakhvani Hydropower Plant Cascade, signed on April 25, 2019, between the Government of Georgia (represented by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia), JSC Georgian Energy Development Fund, JSC Namakhvani, JSC Commercial Operator of the Electric Power System, JSC Georgian State Electrosystem, and LLC Clean Energy Group Georgia (current name – LLC Enka Renewables).
In order to annul the arbitration award issued within this dispute, the Georgian side has applied to the competent court of the country issuing the arbitration award. At this stage, the relevant legal procedures are underway.”
Background of the Arbitration Dispute
The arbitration dispute began in October 2021, after the existing investment agreement with the state was terminated due to force majeure. ENKA was preparing to begin construction on the $800 million Namakhvani Hydropower Plant and had already invested up to $100 million in preliminary work.
The company submitted the case to arbitration, citing the Georgian government’s gross violation of the investment agreement. Regarding the project, then-Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, on June 9, 2021, announced that the hydroelectric plant would no longer proceed in its planned form. International arbitration later determined that this decision contradicted the signed investment agreement, under which ENKA had the right to appeal the government’s actions to an arbitration tribunal.
Enka Renewables, a subsidiary of the Turkish engineering and energy company ENKA, was constructing a 433-megawatt Namakhvani hydroelectric power plant cascade in Tskaltubo municipality. The project was scheduled to become operational in 2025-2026.
