The Ministry of Justice of Georgia transferred 63,242,418.01 GEL to the international law firm White & Case for services rendered in arbitration disputes – “Anaklia Development Consortium LLC v.
Georgia” and “Bob Meyer v. Georgia”.The Ministry confirmed this information to BMG in an official written response, stating that the amount covered legal and expert service fees.
At the same time, the Ministry noted that the arbitration claimants’ expenses in these disputes also amounted to “several tens of millions of GEL.” Furthermore, the Ministry wrote that the claimants are obligated to reimburse the state up to 20 million GEL in total.
“The disputes initiated by Anaklia Development Consortium LLC and Bob Meyer ended in a complete victory for the state, preventing potential damages of approximately 4.5 billion GEL. As a result, the claimants were ordered to reimburse the state nearly 20 million GEL in total. Specifically, Anaklia Development Consortium LLC was ordered to pay 650,000 USD, while Mr. Meyer was ordered to pay 6,584,848.11 USD, which will accrue interest set by the tribunal in case of delay,” the Ministry’s response stated.
In its written reply, the Ministry also emphasized that “both Mr. Meyer and Anaklia Development Consortium LLC rejected multiple initiatives from the state aimed at reducing arbitration-related expenses.”“Specifically, the claimants rejected the proposal to consolidate the two disputes into a single proceeding. They also opposed the Georgian side’s motions (i) to suspend consideration of Mr. Meyer’s case until after the arbitration claim filed by Anaklia Development Consortium LLC was reviewed, and (ii) to hold an early hearing on jurisdiction in Mr. Meyer’s case,” the Ministry’s response to BMG reads.
