Arbitrators rules Egypt to pay Ampal-American $270 m in compensation

CAIRO – 5 March 2017: The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has ruled that Egypt should pay $270.5 million in compensation to the Ampal-American Israel Corporation, which holds a 12.5 percent share in the East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) that in turn owns Sinai’s gas pipeline, Israeli Globes

reported

Thursday.

The Washington-based Israeli company said in a statement that the

ICSID

tribunal panel concluded that the Egyptian government failed to secure the Sinai gas pipeline, which was providing gas from North Sinai to Jordan and Israel. The pipeline has been sabotaged by militants several times since Egypt’s 2011 uprising.

The lawsuit was filed against the Egyptian State Lawsuits Authority, representing the Egyptian government, in May 2012 and a tribunal convened in October 2012, according to the ICSID statement.

Three other lawsuits from the Israeli energy company’s investors were also filed, requesting a

total of $635 million

in compensation, the tribunal said in a statement issued on Feb. 21.

In April 2012, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. chairperson

announced

the company had terminated its deal with Ampal.

The tribunal’s decision is the second international ruling against the Egyptian government since it halted the export of gas to Israel via the pipeline; in December 2015, international arbitrators of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled that the Egyptian government should pay Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) $1.76 billion in compensation for losses caused to the company for three years after the gas flow stopped.

Egypt has appealed the ruling, Reuters

reported

.