On Thursday, the Libyan State Litigation Department announced that it had won an arbitration case filed by South Korea’s, Shinhan Construction Company.
In a statement, the Department revealed that the case was “based on a bilateral investment agreement between Libya and Korea, to encourage and protect investments.”
It reported that the value claimed by the Korean company “amounted to more than 660 million Libyan dinars, with interest due up to the date of payment.”
The Korean company had previously claimed that the contracting parties had “breached the contract regarding the implementation of four housing and infrastructure projects.”
“The arbitral tribunal rejected the claims of the plaintiff company. In addition to obliging it to pay the cost and lawyers’ fees incurred by Libya,” according to Department’s statement.
Notably, the Libya Investment Authority (LIA) said in April 2022 that it has made successful appeals against Tunisia’s Siba Plast.
The case dates back to 2014, when a ruling was issued by the arbitration chamber in Tunisia, to seize the funds. The LIA was notified and motioned the verdict before the Court of First Instance in Paris.
“A Parisian court reserved the case for judgment to then rule to cancel the seizures,” the LIA said in a statement.
A legal team was tasked with preventing European countries, such as Belgium, from seizing frozen funds, estimated to be in the billions of dollars. Numerous lawsuits have been filed by foreign countries, hoping to receive compensation for their stalled projects in Libya
In 2011, the United Nations Sanctions Committee ordered the freezing of the vast majority of LIA funds. These funds have been converted into securities and placed abroad, including with the Belgian clearing house, Euroclear.
Despite the UN ban, the interest on some €15 billion euros was released by the Belgian government, and transferred to foreign accounts in London and Bahrain.
In November 2021, Libyan Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba accused Belgium of attempting to loot the frozen funds since 2011.
“We have a problem with Brussels… Belgium is a developed country, but there are loopholes… they covet the Libyan money in Belgium. I officially announce that the Belgian authorities are making a new attempt to seize the Libyans’ money in their possession,” Dbaiba said during a cabinet session.
However, the Security Council announced last year that a committee is considering letters submitted by Libya and Belgium, respectively, on matters related to the frozen assets.
