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The first session was held at the Court of Arbitration in Washington for the concession contract of the German company "EMS APO", which sued the Albanian state.
The lawsuit against the Albanian state by "EMS Shipping & Trading GmbH (German)" operating in the East Terminal of the Port of Durrës was registered in the Court of Arbitration on April 7, 2023.
Referring to the announcement on the official website of the Court of Arbitration https://icsid.worldbank.org/cases/case-database/case-detail?CaseNo=ARB/23/9 on September 18, 2023, the tribunal held the first session by video conference .
The financial bill of compensation requested in the Arbitration for unequal and discriminatory treatment by the German company EMS APO that processes rifujho cargo ships in Durrës is in the amount of 40 million euros. 40 million euro invoice for the arbitration in the Port of Durrës; Company: We were harmed on purpose - Monitor Magazine
The company's leaders previously claimed for Monitor that the Albanian institutions deliberately hindered their activity since 2020, when they started the preferential treatment for the private operator in Porto Romano, to continue occupying the space of the port of Durrës for the development of the "Durres" project Marina Yachts”. While from the Albanian authority, according to EMS, there was no communication about whether their activity would be transferred to the new commercial port project. Even the project for the construction of the new port presented publicly did not foresee any space for refujo goods according to the concessionaire.
The object of the concession contract is the management, operation and maintenance of the Eastern Terminal in the Port of Durrës. The Albanian state and EMS-Fehn-Group (ie EMS Shipping & Trading GmbH) signed the concession contract in May 2013.
The contract extends for a period of 35 years from 2013 to 2048. EMS-Fehn-Group established the Albanian Port Operator EMS Shpk. (EMS APO) as an operational unit in Durrës. The contract gives EMS-Fehn-Group/EMS APO the right to process reflow cargo, general cargo and project cargo at the East Terminal.
Why did the concession contract reach Arbitration?
Leaders of the "EMS APO" group stated earlier to Monitor that for 2022 the volume of freight processing cargoes fell by 70% compared to the previous year. The former CEO of the group Manfred Mueller said that the decline in the volume of work was initially driven by the preferential treatment of the Albanian authorities for a port operator in Porto Romano, as well as by uncertainties regarding the future of EMS APO due to the announcement that the Port of Durrës it will soon be transformed into a harbor of amusement.
After the change of the MBM (Multi Buoy Mooring) Port contract in 2020 by the Parliament to the administration of "Kastrati Group" where, in addition to the service of cargo processing and oil storage in Porto Romano, it was added that "the concessionaire can load-unload and process in this port, ships that transport other goods", in August 2021 the government through a decision allowed the expansion of the existing port in Porto Romano, paving the way for the new project.
The Durrës Yacht & Marina project that coincides with the development of a yacht port, the construction of 13 thousand apartments and hotels will be developed on the land of the current port of Durrës, has called into question the continuity of the economic activity of many operators that process goods in this port , but also hundreds of citizens of Durrës who are employed in this port.
Concern was also raised by the concessionaire EMS EPO who stated that the Albanian government announced the transformation of the Port of Durrës into an entertainment port without providing accurate information and a clear schedule for the construction of the new public port in Porto Romano, as an alternative location for activity of Fehn-Group/EMS APO.
The implementation of the new project includes the occupation of 90% of the land on which the concessionaire company operates. For the managers of the company, the agreement for "Durrës Yachts Marina" contradicts itself as it overlaps with the concession contract of EMS-Fehn-Group.
“Konflikti aktual me autoritetet shqiptare u kristalizua në vitin 2020, ndonëse problemet kishin disa vite më parë që po shfaqeshin. Ne në EMS-Fehn-Group kemi përshtypjen e fortë se autoritetet shqiptare kanë penguar qëllimisht aktivitetet e Operatorit Shqiptar Portual EMS (EMS APO’s) me qëllim që të nxjerrin kompaninë jashtë biznesit, duke i akorduar të drejta shtesë një operatori privat në Porto Romano, ashtu siç u përmend më lart, ndoshta për të mundësuar jo të drejtë mbylljen e aktiviteteve tregtare në Portin e Durrësit dhe veçanërisht duke filluar me zonën e Terminalit Lindor, në funksion të një porti argëtimi”, citohej Manfred Mueller në intervistën e tij për Monitor. https://www.monitor.al/mueller-i-ems-shteti-shkeli-kontraten-dyshime-se-projekti-shteteror-ne-porto-romano-do-behet-ndonjehere/
On July 29, 2023, the Durrës Port Authority started interventions for the removal of the German company in violation of the concession contract according to its leaders. The reason for the intervention was to pave the way for the development of the Durrës Yahts Marina project, where for the first phase of the construction of apartment buildings, according to the managers of the concessionaire company EMS APO, 90% of the space of the eastern terminal where the company operates will be used German. /Monitor
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