PPP Concessions Jurisdiction for the settlement of Disputes of the Parties 2017-2020

Open Data Albania is researching the jurisdiction for resolving disputes that may be encountered during the implementation of Concession Contracts or Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) drafted in the last four years, January 2017 – December 2020. The jurisdiction consists of the Court, the Arbitration Chamber or the Institution designated in advance as the Institution where the parties will be referred for review and adjudication in case they have conflicts, disputes or issues for interpretation.

During the period January 2017 – December 2020, 24 concession or PPP contracts were approved in Albania with a total investment value of 125 199 058 469 ALL or about 1 009 669 826 Euro.

Of the 24 contracts listed as approved in January 2017 until December 2020, we will only do an evaluation of the jurisdiction of 23 of them. For the concession of the Veleshi a Hydropower Plant (contract concluded on 18.07.2018), there is not contract published and accessible for the public.

For 23 Contracts or Concession Agreements and PPPs approved during this period, the respective Contracts or Agreements specify the jurisdiction and mechanisms for resolving the dispute between the parties. The jurisdiction for 14 contracts is the Court in the Republic of Albania, while for 9 others, it is the international foreign arbitration.

Të dhënat: Regjistri Koncensionar OpenCorporates.al http://www.opencorporates.al/sq/concession
Përpunimi dhe Analiza: Open Data Albania

Të dhënat: Regjistri Koncensionar OpenCorporates.al http://www.opencorporates.al/sq/concession
Përpunimi dhe Analiza: Open Data Albania

In this article we have not included those Concession or PPP Contracts which were approved earlier (before January 1, 2017) and have been reviewed and renegotiated during this period. There are 9 of them and information on them can be found in another article published by Open Data Albania.

The local (national) jurisdiction in nine cases consists of the Administrative Court, in two cases it is the Civil District Court of Tirana, while in two other cases the Administrative Court of Tirana. The contracts, whose jurisdiction for settling disputes is the National Courts, are mainly contracts for the construction of Hydropower Plants.

Të dhënat: Regjistri Koncensionar OpenCorporates.al http://www.opencorporates.al/sq/concession
Përpunimi dhe Analiza: Open Data Albania

Out of 9 contracts subject to Foreign International Jurisdiction, it results that five of them have chosen to turn to the Arbitration in Paris ICC. They include concessions implemented by the companies: Integrated Energy BV SPV which implements the contract for the Landfill, Incinerator and Waste Landfill in Tirana; Ayen Alb implementing a contract for construction, operation and transfer of Kalivaç Hydropower Plant; Bardh Konstruksion as a company implementing a contract for the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Milot Balldren Road Segment; Orikum Llogara Road shpk that implements the contract For the Design, Construction and Maintenance of the Road Yacht Port – Bypass Orikum Dukat Ura e Shën Elizës; Kukës International Airport that implements the contract for Rehabilitation, Operation and Transfer of Kukës Airport.

The Arbitration in Vienna is designated as the Jurisdiction for 3 PPP concession contracts of this period. Specifically applied by the companies: Gjoka 87 as a company implementing a Contract for the Improvement, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Arbri Road; 3Power Shala executing a Contract for the Construction, Operation and Transfer of Hydropower Plants on the Shala River; Noa Inspect as a Public Private Partnership providing the Legal Control Service of Measuring Instruments through Fuel and Liquefied Gas Distribution Instruments.

Arbitration International Chamber of Commerce Headquartered in Tirana ICC Tirana has been selected as the Competent Institution for settling potential disputes between the parties for the PPP contract entitled For the Provision of Laboratory Service to University, Regional and Municipal Hospitals implemented by Laboratory Networks shpk.

Concession and PPP Contracts, in force, data, and Documents on Companies Registered for their Implementation, are published in an easily accessible and well-structured format under the OpenCorporates.al. portal, Concession Register Database. The Excel document of this article contains data and information on the basis of which the visualization is done. This document is easily downloadable and free to use. Other databases of the AIS Organization include; spending.data.al; OpenPocurement.al, and Open Corporates.al

This research paper is being published as part of the Open Data, Access and Transparency over sectors to Risk of Corruption project.

Download excel: PPP Concessions Jurisdiction for the settlement of Disputes of the Parties 2017-2020
Comment and Analysis: Open Corporate Albania
Translated by: Etleva Kondakçi