Member Info for Looed

"Why the last 2 weeks we see an open rapprochement Sandu, Shora, Kandu?
Rallies, briefings, protests, joint voting, raider attack and the split of the PDM ...

Everything is simple.
1. Geopolitics. The task has been set from the outside to provoke early elections at any cost. It is advisable until April, that is, before receiving a loan from the Russian Federation for roads.

2. Business interests of the oligarchy. Authorities took seriously the airport. February 13 was an appeal to the court. So the footmen of the oligarchs howled.

Recall that Baron Rothschild is the partner and main patron of Soros. And Soros is the master of Maya Sandu.
Minister Brynzan worked for Goldman Sachs, trained at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. And these are the structures of N. Rothschild.
Kandu and Dragutanu also worked there.
Kandu met with Rothschild, who is a business partner of Plahotniuc and Shor. And Sandu met with Rothschild on August 19.
Under Plahotniuc, the Rothschild delegation came to the country ... monitored banks.

In fact, Sandu, Kandu, Shor are just puppets of a transnational oligarchy. And they have always served and will serve them, not the country. Soros, the Rothschild clan, Frontera Resources - only the tip of the iceberg ...

The airport, a billion, 40% of the land in concession, the surrender of all banks of the world financial oligarchy is only the beginning ..."

Source - http://golos.md/16539-bogdan-cyrdya-sandu-kandu-i-shor-vsego-lish-marionetki-transnacionalnoy-oligarhii.html

(Wikipedia says golos.md is a Russian election monitoring organisation)

Ivy - that makes such more sense than my crazy notion!

Hi MadP - thanks for clarification.

This is confusing! Whilst I do still think the arbitration is in Stockholm e.g. this is a direct quote from the Georgian FM "Zalkaliani noted that the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce will discuss the issue of Frontera Resources adding that speculations are not acceptable." https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/474

But there are lots of articles that state the arbitration is The Hague e.g. a post from MadP - "The state of Georgia, in particular the Oil and Gas Corporation and the Oil and Gas Agency, is suing the company in the Hague Arbitration Court. Frontera, in its lawsuit, alleges that it has suffered damages by the corporation and the agency for violating the terms of the agreement and is seeking $ 3.5 billion in compensation." no link but it's pg 40 in the archive.

and -

"The document states that the Georgian government initially initiated an arbitration dispute against the company. In July 2018, GOGC and the State Oil and Gas Agency of Georgia started an arbitration dispute over Frontera's breach of its financial obligations to Georgia. The case was related to breach of the PSA (Revenue Sharing) Articles by the company. Another clause in the dispute was a debt on the use of natural minerals, which the company avoids paying.

However, as it turns out, in September 2018, Frontera initiated a back-litigation dispute and demanded compensation from the Georgian side for unacceptable profits. The company is seeking compensation for "unacceptable profits" for 2012-2027, valued at $ 3.5 billion. An audit report prepared by KPMG says that the Gas and Oil Corporation considers Frontera's claim to be unfounded and the probability of their position being considered by the arbitral tribunal is minimal." posted by pyrotech, pg 39.

Remember there was lots of talk about "FRR suing Georgia" though Zaza seems to have dismissed this when he finally resurfaced. I do have one (very) crazy conspiracy theory = GOGC claimed via Stockholm - and FRR lodged their claim via The Hague, dropping their claim (if such claim actually existed) as part of trying to broker a final deal. As I said - sounds crazy.

Welloiled / Ivy & Co - your posts got me thinking so I had quick check through the archive - and can find a few reports that state the arbitration will be held in The Hague i.e. "....Georgia will protect its interests in the dispute [in the Hague Court of Arbitration],” Talakvadze said Vice Parliament Speaker Giorgi Volski" and "The Arbitration Tribunal is established by the Plaintiffs themselves, in accordance with UNCITRAL rules. The body designated by the contract is the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration."

I also saw one that mentions Strasbourg!

There are also a few that mention and Stockholm. I do think Stockholm is the correct one as The Hague / Strasbourg comes from Russian / Georgian press while Stockholm seems to be mentioned by FRR. I saw a post from (i think) mid 2018 which I annoyingly failed to copy. I will try to find later if I have time - but agree the arbitration is likely being held in Stockholm.

CORRECTION - sorry I post a now out of date Arbitration rules and regulations. This is the updated version:-

"Evidence Article 27
1. Each party shall have the burden of proving the facts relied on to support its claim or defence.
2. Witnesses, including expert witnesses, who are presented by the parties to testify to the arbitral tribunal on any issue of fact or expertise may be any individual, notwithstanding that the individual is a party to the arbitration or in any way related to a party. Unless otherwise directed by the arbitral tribunal, statements by witnesses, including expert witnesses, may be presented in writing and signed by them.
3. At any time during the arbitral proceedings the arbitral tribunal may require the parties to produce documents, exhibits or other evidence within such a period of time as the arbitral tribunal shall determine. The arbitral tribunal may also, after consultation with the parties, perform a site visit.
4. The arbitral tribunal shall determine the admissibility, relevance, materiality and weight of the evidence offered."

Source - https://pca-cpa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/11/PCA-Arbitration-Rules-2012.pdf

Afternoon Ivy,

I visited the website of the Hague Arbitration Board and they have an "optional rules for state v company" types of cases. Its quite basic but does say -

"Evidence and Hearings (Articles 24 and 25)
Article 24
1. Each party shall have the burden of proving the facts relied on to support its claim or defence.
2. The arbitral tribunal may, if it considers it appropriate, require a party to deliver to the tribunal and to the other party, within such a period of time as the arbitral tribunal shall decide, a summary of the documents and other evidence which that party intends to present in support of the facts in issue set out in its statement of claim or statement of defence."

I read it as any evidence can only relate to the original 'charge' that was lodged in early 2018, all other issues are not related to this original claim.

You can see all the optional rules here - https://pca-cpa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/01/Optional-Rules-for-Arbitration-Between-International-Organizations-and-States-1996.pdf

This is from 23 Dec '19, so apologies if already shared. It's long and is in English. FRR are mentioned in relation to the Dolphin tender.

The article is titled - "Future of Production Sharing Agreements in Ukraine: Expectations vs. Reality"

source - https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=9e329471-d7ab-4d38-aa9b-fdfa4fb7e95a

From 18/4/18 -

"LONDON (Alliance News) - Europe-focused oil and gas company Frontera Resources Corp on Monday said it has received a request for arbitration from Georgian Oil & Gas Corp and State Agency of Oil & Gas.
Shares in Frontera Resources were down 8.4% at 0.52 pence on Monday. Frontera said it was confirming recent press reports about the arbitration and potential territory relinquishment.
The request is related to certain terms of Frontera's production sharing contract in Georgia, the compay said; however it said the full statement of the case has not been submitted, and the times for any hearing are currently unknown.
In respect of potential territory relinquishment, Frontera said it has started a program to study the commerciality of block 12 to reach a conclusion regarding the sustainability of commercial production. The program has a five-year term and delineates block 12 as the study area, and pending completion, no relinquishment of any part of the block is due for the program's duration.
Frontera said it considers the arbitration request to be without merit and has started engagements of legal counsel to protect its rights."

Source - https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/AN_1523871476368279000/frontera-resources-confirms-press-report-of-arbitration-requests.aspx

I went back through some old articles (and granted they may not be 100% - or even 1% - correct). I found this comment -

"...was filed by the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation and the State Oil and Gas Agency on January 15, 2018. Georgian corporation and agency accuse US company of breach of contract. A foreign company in a lawsuit alleges that it was the victim of a breach of the terms of the same contract by the corporation and the agency."

Perhaps American / Cayman court cases, moving the asset and all the other recent issues / noise are irrelevant to the arbitration this all happened after the case was lodged. Any evidence would need to relate to matters before 15/1/18?

The letter from Hogan Lovells does state -

"Frontera has sought repeatedly to delay and impede arbitration proceedings in various ways, with the result that they have been protracted"

Sources -https://bm.ge/ka/article/frontera-saqartvelosgan--35-mlrd-is-kompensacias-itxovs---yvelaferi-davis-shesaxeb/47269 and - https://www.gogc.ge/en/article/hogan-lovells-claims-fronteras-accusations-against-the-georgian-side-to-be-baseless--/469

ODR - thanks and glad you find them of interest.

I just re-read the original comments the PM made when the "congress letters" where first sent. He said "We are always ready to sit down with our strategic partners and speak about all issues calmly" - I hope he followed through with that.

Another article about "Georgia & The World 2020"
'Georgia and The World in 2020' Economic conference has kicked off in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, Trend reports citing Georgian media.

The conference, which is organized by the Economist's annual edition 'The World in 2020' and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, was opened by Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia.

This year, the event is attended by about 200 participants and guests, including the world-famous economist, professor at the Warsaw School of Economics, former vice-premier of Poland, former finance minister and former president of the National Bank of Poland Leszek Balcerowicz.

The conference participants will discuss several topics such as the model of economic development of Georgia - balanced interests between the state and the private sector; the competitiveness of the Georgian economy in a global context, the development of infrastructure and the role in improving competitiveness; and Georgia in the EU market - achieved results and current challenges.

According to the conference organizers, the event aims to analyze the progress made by Georgia in the economic development and to discuss challenges and new opportunities in a global context."

Source - https://menafn.com/1099760441/Georgia-and-The-World-in-2020-economic-conference-kicks-off-in-Tbilisi

"According to Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, the government is doing its best to create a special business environment in the country. As Gakharia said at the Georgia and the World 2020 economic conference, the service-oriented economy is Georgia's future.
“First of all, the Government of Georgia is committed to creating a special business environment in the country, a special business climate for ensuring FDI in all areas, especially in the field of services. We all understand that it will take many years. Services need a high level of competence, a service-oriented economy is the future of our country. That is why conferences like this are so important for us all, the business, the expert community, the government, in order to find exactly the role of the country in both global and regional contexts," Gakharia said.
According to him, Georgia's aspiration is Euro-Atlantic integration and creation of a competitive market.
"Today, Georgia is a transit country, the main aspiration of which is Euro-Atlantic integration in the political context and an open, competitive market in the economic context," Gakharia said."

Source - https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/105997-giorgi-gakharia-the-government-is-doing-its-best-to-create-a-special-business-environment-in-the-country (lots of similar articles on this site today)

According to Sebastian Molineus, Regional Director of the World Bank, the commitment to economic reforms shown by the previous and the current governments of Georgia is a positive thing.
Sebastian Molineus talked to the Georgian Service of Voice of America.
“I have worked in many countries around the world. I like Georgia very much and I’m very positively disposed to it. In Georgia I see a country, whose economic growth model is based on private sector. Despite all the differences that exist within the country’s political circles, everyone agrees that they want open and favorable environment for investors, believes that integration with the European Union is of utmost importance for the country’s development, and no one doubts the necessity of education reforms. If we step back a little and assess the situation, we will see that there are more unifying factors than divisive ones. When you live in Georgia, you can see it very well. The forecast is thus, growth indicator is at 5.2%, Foreign Direct Investments are at 8.2%, as compared to other countries’ 2.5%. The commitment to economic reforms shown by the previous and the current governments is a positive thing. I think the growth will continue,” Sebastian Molineus said."

Source - https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/105998-world-bank-regional-director-says-commitment-to-economic-reforms-shown-by-the-governments-of-georgia-is-a-positive-thing/

I wonder if SN and Zaza provided the wine?

"It was not a round of negotiations, it was an exchange of views and an attempt to find a way out of the political crisis, - Nino Burjanadze, leader of the Democratic Movement - United Georgia, told reporters after the meeting organized by Elizabeth Rood.
She said the meeting was informal and friendly.
“There was a desire to find a way out of this situation so that political forces in the country, both pro-government and opposition, could move to a normal electoral mode and achieve an environment as fair as possible. This is very important and it is natural that the exchange of views has a positive impact in this regard. It was not a round of negotiations, it was an exchange of views and an attempt to find a way out of the political crisis,” Burjanadze said.
US Deputy Ambassador Elizabeth Rood hosted a dinner for representatives of the authorities and the opposition, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps yesterday."

This article - https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/105994-nino-burjanadze-says-dinner-organized-by-us-embassy-was-informal-and-friendly/

And an article in similar fashion - https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/105993-mp-tamar-chugoshvili-the-meeting-organized-by-elizabeth-rood-was-informal-friendly-and-no-specific-issues-were-discussed/

Lots of articles available on the above. I won't cut & paste as none mention FRR but they are all in English should you want to have a look -

https://jamestown.org/program/impact-of-western-support-and-reprimand-on-georgian-politics/

https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/582 - What Georgia needs to do to join NATO

https://tass.com/world/1093591 - a Russian press agency article on Georgia-Russia relations. For an example of tone - "Tbilisi severed diplomatic relations with Moscow on September 2, 2008 after Russia had recognized Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s independence."

PJohn - no problem. When you open the link it does show todays date at the top. The original date is a bit further down. Easy mistake to make.

PJohn - this isn't a new article. If you look through MadP's archive (from about page 46) you can find many posts about this and other posts and tweets from the other congressmen - as well as the responses from Georgia and Russian interests.

Nothing on FRR, but shows howe much they want to develop relationships with the west.

The Washington Times publishes the article of Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia titled "Georgia deserves membership in NATO."

Gakharia writes about the importance of the Black Sea Security, amid the fast-growing challenges.

"Renewed hostilities in Ukraine in recent days once again underscore what is at stake for the Black Sea region as a focal point for competing geo-political powers. The Black Sea serves as a buffer along Europe’s southern flank, helping to protect Europe, NATO and vital U.S. interests from

At the same time, the Black Sea is also becoming the crossroads of high value trade seeking the fastest route from Europe to Asia and Asia to Europe, including sizable amounts of American exports, and it figures in the geography of critical energy pipelines to Europe and world markets."- writes the prime minister.

According to the article, the Black Sea represents a strategic waterway for Russia, as its entrance to the distant fronts, it covers, for example, Syria, North Africa and parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. But to move beyond the Black Sea, or to prevent others like the United States from entering it, Russia must exert pressure on other Black Sea states that lie near the Bosporus, the snake-like waterway that links the Black Sea via Turkey to the larger oceans to the south.

It is noteworthy, that Gakharia writes about such matters as Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and how it occupied 20% of Georgia's territories, including Georgia’s critically strategic coastal territory of Abkhazia.

"Russia continues to oppose full NATO membership for Georgia. Now is the time for NATO to answer our call for membership. Georgia has been promised full membership repeatedly by NATO’s leadership, and we remain hopeful that challenges to our NATO accession will be overcome — and soon. More Georgia in NATO and more NATO in Georgia will strengthen the Black Sea and Western security and also strengthen Georgia’s democracy and growing economy." - states the article.

The article ends with Prime Minister, Giorgi Gakharia saying that Black Sea security is essential to global peace and stability and Georgia is a steadfast partner in Western solidarity.
"For those reasons, our NATO friends should deliver on the promise of Georgia’s entry into this vital security organization."

Source - https://www.georgianjournal.ge/politics/36283-georgian-prime-minister-giorgi-gakharia-publishes-an-article-in-the-washington-post.html

No specific reference to FRR, but an interesting read if Georgian politics and judicial matters are of interest. This is the opening section only -

"The issue of the right to a fair trial in Georgia has plagued the country since its independence. No government has managed to bring the judicial system to an appropriate condition yet. Currently, the Georgian Dream party is pushing for grand reforms to finally settle the topic. While some may argue that the justice system has become more functional, there is strong evidence raising concerns the ruling government is still unwilling to fully give up on it as a political tool. Transparency International Georgia, as well as other local NGOs, argue that the recent appointments of judges on a permanent basis was flawed and politically motivated. These concerns have been echoed by a number of American congressmen and European actors.

It may sound like a typical story of corruption when the regime tries to subordinate the courts while civil society, in collaboration with external actors, fight to maintain its independence, but as usual, everything is not as simple as it looks in Georgia. When analysing the right to a fair trial, it is important to keep in mind that there always was, is, and probably will be politics behind the justice system. All actors have their own agendas and perceptions."

Full article (in english) at - https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/02/24/the-right-to-a-fair-trial-in-georgia/