Arbitration Court Backs Government in Power Deal with US Firm
The government has won an arbitration case in a World Bank court, successfully countering a $300 million claim made by a U.S based company over a failed power plant project dating back to 1996. According to a statement from the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit released on Saturday, the claims made by the Cambodian Power Company (CPC) “have been dismissed in their entirety by an arbitral tribunal established under the auspices of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).” CPC, which is a subsidiary of Delaware-based Beacon Hill Associates Inc., accused the government and state-owned power company Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) of breaching agreements signed in 1996 “for the financing, construction and operation of a 60 [megawatt] electric power plant in Phnom Penh,” the statement says. The company claimed damages of nearly $300 million over the power plant venture- the value of which was estimated at $74 million- in Russei Keo district, which never came to fruition. … The March 1996 deal- which made Beacon Hill associates the biggest American investor at the time- fell apart just three months after it was signed in a ceremony attended by then-Second Prime Minister Hun Sen. …
