Suspicions of Industrial Espionage Emerge in EuroGas Arbitration
Date: 14.11.2014 17:48 Author: KVAS Urgency: 4 Category: EN: Economy and finance - eco
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Suspicions of Industrial Espionage Emerge in EuroGas Arbitration
Bratislava, November 14 (TASR) - Suspicions of industrial espionage and a lawsuit involving the protection of rights from unfair competition that has been going on since 2008 have had bearing on arbitration proceedings between EuroGas and Slovakia, according to information published on EuroGas's website.
EuroGas is suing Slovakia and is seeking $3.2 billion (€2.3 billion) in compensation for what it sees as a marred investment in Gemerska Poloma (Kosice region) due the loss of a talc quarry in 2004.
According to EuroGas board of directors chair Wolfgang Rauball, the lawsuit in question concerns Rozmin, a daughter company of EuroGas, and a firm called VSK Mining (currently Eurotalc). It revolves around the misappropriation of sensitive documents that constituted business secrets.
The documents concerned preparations for exploration drilling and a feasibility study, said Rauball. "These documents were misappropriated by former Rozmin associate Peter Corej. Based on them, an accounting firm owned by his wife, Economy Agency RV, acquired a licence for talc mining. Later he used the documents to draft a thesis in order to gain a doctorate at Kosice Technical University," Rauball told TASR.
Rauball said that the thesis in question is not publicly available due to Corej's claims that the work is linked to a proposal for patent protection. "I'll be demanding that the university makes this thesis available as legal evidence for the court. We expect this proposal to be plagiarised, not worthy of a scientific patent and that it won't be accepted by the Patent Office," he added.
The case has been suspended for an undetermined period due to bankruptcy proceedings involving Rozim, TASR was told by Kosice Regional Court spokesperson Marcela Galova. In line with the law on bankruptcy and restructuring the announcement of bankruptcy proceedings interrupts all court and other proceedings that concern the property of the company concerned, she explained.
Rauball expects that the proceedings at the Kosice court will continue soon, after the bankruptcy proceedings concerning Rozmin are concluded. The whole case has involved further accusations. Corej filed a criminal complaint against EuroGas based on which various police units seized almost 16,000 pages of documents, computers and software with sensitive information. The investigation into this case has been suspended for the moment, however.
EuroGas is in arbitration with Slovakia at the International Centre for the Settlement of Industrial Disputes (ICSID) in Washington. The tribunal that should decide on the case still isn't complete because it lacks a president. Slovakia chose professor Brigitte Stern to represent it, while the arbitrator for EuroGas is professor Emmanuel Gaillard, who became famous due to arbitration proceedings concerning Russian Oil company Yukos that involved record compensation of almost $52 milliards.
It is not possible to overturn rulings emerging from arbitration at the ICSID unless it can be shown that serious procedural errors have taken place. The Slovak Supreme Court has decided twice in the past that the withdrawal of the extraction licence was unlawful. In response EuroGas began indicating its plans to take legal action against Slovakia over the loss of the talc quarry in 2010.
At first, it demanded compensation of €500 million in 2011. One year later a company called EuroGas Inc., registered in the U.S.A., also began claiming compensation. EuroGas asserted that its rights related to a trade agreement between the erstwhile Czechoslovakia and the USA from 1991 had been violated. The Slovak Finance Ministry last year denied that any such agreement had been broken.
The talc deposit in Gemerska Poloma was discovered accidentally during a search for tin in 1985. The talc from the deposit has high levels of purity, with experts viewing it as one of the most important in the world. The largest producer of talc worldwide is China, but significant deposits are also located in the USA, Brazil and India, while Finland is a significant producer in Europe. In view of the wide-ranging options for the industrial use of talc, mainly in the pharmaceutical, chemicals, cosmetics and paper industries, market demand for this raw material is rising steadily.
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Keywords: EXP-SR-Rozmin-EuroGas-arbitration-espionage-lawsuit
Source: 20141114TBA01843 |
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