REG - GreenX Metals Ltd - ECT Arbitration Statement of Reply Now Lodged

GreenX MetalsAnnouncement

07/09/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220907:nRSG5303Ya&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5303Y  GreenX Metals Limited  07 September 2022

GREENX METALS LIMITED

NEWS RELEASE 7 SEPTEMBER 2022

ARBITRATION CLAIMS PROCEEDING

ECT STATEMENT OF REPLY NOW LODGED

 

 ·               GreenX's ongoing arbitration against Poland is proceeding at pace with
                 Statements of Reply now having been submitted for both the BIT and ECT claims
 ·               Damages of £737 million (A$1.3 billion/PLN 4.1 billion) being claimed in
                 total across the two arbitrations which include the assessed value of GreenX's
                 damages related to both the Jan Karski and Debiensko mines, and accrued
                 interest related to any damages
 ·               GreenX's legal team and counsel are now preparing for the combined hearing for
                 both the BIT and ECT claims to be conducted in front of the Tribunal
 ·               The Company is well funded to pursue the Claims with the US$12.3 million LFA
                 in place which is currently being drawn down to cover legal, tribunal and
                 external expert costs as well as defined operating expenses associated with
                 the Claims

 

GreenX Metals Limited (GreenX or the Company) is pleased to report that as
part of the ongoing international arbitration claims (Claims) against the
Republic of Poland under both the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and the
Australia-Poland Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) (together the Treaties),
the Company has now filed its Statement of Reply in the both the BIT and ECT
arbitrations. This is the final significant filing that GreenX will make for
the ECT arbitration, with the next steps being for Poland to lodge their final
filing (the Rejoinder) followed by a hearing to be conducted in front of the
Tribunal. GreenX is seeking compensation in the amount of £737 million
(equivalent to A$1.3 billion or PLN 4.1 billion) in total across the two
arbitrations Claims.

Mr Stoikovich, Chief Executive Officer of GreenX commented: "The Claim is
proceeding at pace, following the Company's submission of its Statement of
Reply in the both the BIT and ECT arbitration. As previously disclosed, the
compensation being claimed by the Company is £737 million across the Claims.
We are pleased to see that €190 million in damages has been recently awarded
to Rockhopper Exploration plc by an ECT tribunal in their arbitration against
Italy, who were found to have breached the ECT following the failure to grant
Rockhopper its production concession at the Ombrina Mare oil field despite
having been awarded all the required technical and environmental
authorisations."

DETAILS OF THE CLAIM

The Company's Claims against the Republic of Poland is being prosecuted
through an established and enforceable legal framework, with GreenX and Poland
agreeing to apply the UNCITRAL rules to the proceedings.

Both the BIT and ECT claim Tribunals have been constituted, with both Claims
being registered with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. The BIT
and ECT claim proceedings proceed at pace, with the Company now having filed a
revised claim for damages against Poland with the Tribunal in the amount of
£737 million (A$1.3 billion/PLN4.1 billion) in total across the two
arbitrations.

The Company's Claims include a revised assessment of the value of GreenX's
damages related to both the Jan Karski and Debiensko mines, and accrued
interest related to any damages. The Claim for damages has been assessed by
external quantum experts appointed by GreenX specifically for the purposes of
the Claims.

In July 2020, the Company announced it had executed the Litigation Funding
Agreement (LFA) for US$12.3 million with Litigation Capital Management (LCM).
The facility is currently being drawn down to cover legal, tribunal and
external expert costs as well as defined operating expenses associated with
the Claims.

In September 2020, GreenX announced that it had formally commenced with the
Claim by serving the Notices of Arbitration against the Republic of Poland. In
June 2021, GreenX announced that it had formally lodged a Statement of Claim,
including the first assessed claim for compensation. The Company's Statement
of Reply, the last significant filing to be made by the Company, has now been
filed in both arbitrations. The Statement of Reply addresses various points
raised by the Republic of Poland in their Statement of Defence. The Statement
of Reply also contains a re-evaluation of the claim for damages based on
responses to Poland's Statement of Defence.

GreenX's dispute alleges that the Republic of Poland has breached its
obligations under the applicable Treaties through its actions to block the
development of the Company's Jan Karski and Debiensko mines in Poland which
effectively deprives GreenX of the entire value of its investments in Poland.

In February 2019, GreenX formally notified the Polish Government that there
exists an investment dispute between GreenX and the Polish Government.
GreenX's notification called for prompt negotiations with the Government to
amicably resolve the dispute and indicated GreenX's right to submit the
dispute to international arbitration in the event of the dispute not being
resolved amicably. As of the date of this report, no amicable resolution of
the dispute has occurred, since the Polish Government has declined to
participate in discussions related to the dispute and accordingly the Company
has formally proceeded with its Claims as discussed above.

GreenX's investment dispute with the Republic of Poland is not unique, with
international media widely reporting that the political environment and
investment climate in Poland has deteriorated since the change in Government
in 2015. As a result, there are a significant number of International
Arbitration claims being bought against Poland.

Furthermore, GreenX notes the recent success of AIM listed Rockhopper
Exploration plc's (Rockhopper) ECT claim against the Republic of Italy in
relation to oil and gas licenses:

On 24 August 2022 Rockhopper announced that an ECT arbitration panel had
reached a unanimous decision against the Republic of Italy to award Rockhopper
€190 million in damages plus interest at EURIBOR +4% compounded annually
from 2016 until the time of payment.

All costs associated with the Rockhopper arbitration were funded on a
non-recourse ("no win - no fee") basis from a specialist arbitration funder,
similar to GreenX's litigation funding arrangements. After payments due to the
arbitration funder, Rockhopper expects to retain approximately 80% of the
award.

Rockhopper commenced its ECT claim in 2017 claiming damages of ~€275 million
after Italy's Ministry of Economy failed to grant Rockhopper a production
concession for the Ombrina Mare oil field.

This announcement has been authorised for release by Mr Ben Stoikovich, CEO.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCBKOBQKBKKOCK