According to an official announcement from M/s Karkey, the ICSID tribunal declared that it had jurisdiction over the claims that were brought by Karkey; and concluded that Pakistan "violated" its obligations under the Turkish-Pakistan bilateral investment treaty by expropriating Karkey''s investments in Pakistan, as well as by restricting Karkey''s right to free transfer of its investment. The tribunal rejected all of the claims and defense asserted by Pakistan.
Earlier, in 2014, the ICSID Tribunal had issued a provisional decision in which it ordered Pakistan to immediately release the Karadeniz Powership Kaya Bey, which had been unlawfully detained by Pakistan.
As a result of the BIT violations found in the recently issued final award, the tribunal ordered Pakistan to indemnify Karkey for the following: all outstanding invoices that were issued by Karkey and all other contractual payments that remained unpaid, the repair costs and revenue losses of Karadeniz Powership Kaya Bey (which was released by Pakistan in accordance with the tribunal''s decision in 2014), the replacement value of Karkey''s detained vessels and their revenue losses, and indirect losses suffered by Karkey. An annually compounded interest that will be applied from the date of the treaty violations until the date of full payment as well as compensation for Karkey'' legal costs, have also been awarded.
M/s Karkey has welcomed the decision of the ICSID Tribunal which through its most recent award has vindicated Karkey''s legitimate claims against Pakistan. Karkey has consistently maintained that Karkey encountered "unjust and unlawful" claims in Pakistan since 2012.
The company has claimed that "in addition to the decision to indemnify the most significant majority of our damages, ICSID found no merit in allegations by Pakistan against Karkey and has particularly exonerated Karkey with the tribunal''s complete rejection of all the baseless, scurrilous and defamatory allegations by Pakistan against Karkey".
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017