Leaua Damcali Deaconu Paunescu, working with Geneva-based Lalive, has successfully represented Romania in an ICSID arbitration case against gold mine operator Gabriel Resources, whose claims amounted to approximately USD 6.7 billion.
In its March 8, 2024, award, the arbitral tribunal rejected the entirety of the claimant's claims on the merits and awarded a substantial part of Romania's arbitration costs by majority decision, LDDP announced.
The arbitration proceedings were initiated back in 2015 by Gabriel Resources, with the parties exchanging over 25 submissions and attending two main hearings in 2019 and 2020. The company claimed that Romania had breached the Canada-Romania and UK-Romania bilateral investment treaties.
According to LDDP, Romania argued in response that the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation – a joint venture between Gabriel Resources and Romanian state company Minvest – had failed to meet the permitting requirements, largely as a consequence of its failure to secure a social license for the mining project. The tribunal found that Romanian authorities had conducted "their regulatory mandate as best they could in the challenging circumstances."
Back in 2022, Leaua Damcali Deaconu Paunescu had also won for Romania in international arbitration proceedings against claims amounting to RON 9 billion (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 17, 2022).
The LDDP team included Founding Partner Crenguta Leaua, Managing Partners Stefan Deaconu and Aurora Damcali, Senior Partner Marius Grigorescu, Partners Liliana Deaconescu and Corina Tanase, Of Counsel Andreea Simulescu, and Managing Associate Andra Soare-Filatov as well as former LDDP lawyers Mihaela Maravela and Andreea Piturca.