Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration team has secured another major victory for Algeria, this time in an investment treaty arbitration brought before ICSID by Spanish contractor Ortiz Construcciones y Proyectos S.A. (“Ortiz”).

In the arbitration, Ortiz claimed that it had been induced to build a brand-new prefabrication plant near Algiers by Algeria’s promise to grant public contracts for the construction of thousands of social housing units. Once the plant was built, however, no contract was granted to the investor.

The arbitral tribunal dismissed all of the investor’s claims, amounting to US$46 million, agreeing with our position on all crucial aspects of the case and in particular that Algeria had not made an unconditional promise to grant public contracts to the investor.

This victory again demonstrates our International Arbitration team’s exceptional strength in relation to investment treaty arbitrations and disputes related to Africa as well as its ability to deliver outstanding results.

For more information, see attached Global Arbitration Review article of May 4, 2020.

The Team