Iron in transit for Kribi: Republic of Congo dragged into...

Iron in transit for Kribi: Republic of Congo dragged into arbitration
The messenger
June 9, 2021

After the controversial stay of the Congolese Minister of Mines and Geology, Pierre Oba, in Cameroon, came to negotiate with the Cameroonian government the transit of iron ore from Avima Iron Ore Limited (Avima) through the country to the port in deep water of Kribi, a new episode has just been added to the diplomatico-politico-legal rodeo which is being turned in the Congo. The country of Denis Sassou Nguesso has just been brought before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (CCI) by the mining company Avima fer Congo Sa and its subsidiaries.

At the heart of the disagreement between the two entities, the Avima company challenges the actions of the Congolese government. It was expropriated from the Avima iron ore deposit in Congo. This break in banns is consumed at the time when Avima undertook to produce superior quality iron ore and export it to its customers in January 2021. We remember that Avima had launched this project 14 years ago. As a result of the races, the area has been transformed into a dark underground area, a world-class iron ore deposit. According to the specifications, Avima was to operate and transport 5 million tonnes per year (Mtpa) from the deposit until the completion of a new rail network and the extension of the port of Kribi, which would then have carried its exports over 50 Mtpa.

15 thousand billion CFA francs
At the CCI, Avima is claiming 27 billion US dollars, approximately 15,000 billion CFA francs in damages for the expropriation of Avima's mining license or, alternatively, the return of its mining license so that '' it can carry out the production program as planned. Moreover, the top management is not fading. According to Socrates Vasiliades, representative of Avima“The government of the Republic of Congo as well as various people, including the Minister of Mines, Pierre Oba, believe that they benefit from an immunity and that they can steal the property of others with impunity. We are well prepared and we have the firm intention to change the attitude of the Congolese government and those who are affiliated with it. Many companies and international investors were drawn to Congo by the promise of government support and a stable legal framework, before realizing their mistake and losing billions of dollars ”.

Arbitrator
When you scratch the varnish on this, it appears that the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars over a long period with the consent of the Congolese government. All things that lead Avima thought that “the measures taken by the Congolese government are not only illegal, but they are also detrimental to the whole country and its people. The actions of the Republic of Congo do not respect the rights of investors and do not take into account the economic and social development of a country in which millions of people nonetheless live in extreme poverty. The country needs jobs and Avima would have employed thousands of people from the first phase of operations ”. Avima is represented in this arbitration by the law firm Clifford Chance, one of the world leaders in international arbitration (Simon Greenberg, Alexis Foucard, Marie-Isabelle Delleur and Alix de Zitter, all based in Paris), and appointed Laurent Jaegerde King & Spalding International LLP as arbitrator. To be continued ...

source: https://www.237online.com/fer-en-transit-pour-kribi-la-republique-du-congo-trainee-en-arbitrage/