OREANDA-NEWS. October 20, 2014. The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has ceased arbitration procedure to the action brought by the TSIKinvest LLC Russian company against Moldova, because plaintiff had not paid the fees and arbitration expenses in the deadlines, according to a press release by the Justice Ministry.

The file on the matter has been carried out by the Justice Ministry and National Bank of Moldova, and a law company from Austria was to represent the Moldovan government’s interests at the law courts and national and international arbitration institutions.

Due to cessation of arbitration proceedings, the negotiations, initiated in August with the Schoenherr Rechsanwaite GmbH Austrian company and its partner from Moldova, CA „Vladimir Iurkovski”, have been suspended. About 90,000 euros were to be earmarked from the government’s reserve fund to pay fees to the company.

On 4 June, TSIKinvest LLC company initiated a litigation against Moldova in front of the Arbitration Institute of the Chamber of Commerce from Stockholm for alleged violation of the agreement between the Moldovan and Russian governments on promotion and mutual protection of capital investments from 17 March 1998.

The TSIK INVEST LLC plaintiff complained it had initially invested by purchasing a package of shares worth 4.16 per cent in Victoriabank capital from Moldova with the approval of the National Bank. Subsequently, the BNM found that the plaintiff acted jointly with other shareholders, and as a result, ordered to suspend the voting rights and obliged the Russian company to sell the shares within three months.

This was seen as an illegal expropriation and failure of a fair and equitable treatment that would violate the article No 3 and No 6 of the agreement between Moldova and Russia on promotion and mutual protection of capital investments.