Eversheds Sutherland Bitans in Latvia and Eversheds Ots & Co in Estonia have represented the Republic of Estonia (in the form of the Estonian Road Administration) in connection with the recognition and enforcement of an Estonian arbitral award in Latvia against a prominent Latvian road construction company, recovering EUR 4.6 million for their client in the process.
The Eversheds Sutherland Bitans team from Latvia reports that it "provided full scope of legal support to the Republic of Estonia by preparing all necessary documents in order to recognize and enforce arbitral award in Latvia, as well as representing the Republic of Estonia at court. Within the case, we have analyzed and [refuted] debtor’s l'ordre public arguments, as well as various arguments regarding the interaction between Latvian and Estonian laws and arguments regarding application of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards." The firm reported of its Estonian counterparts that "Eversheds Sutherland Ots & Co in turn has provided legal assistance to the Republic of Estonia through the Estonian Road Administration throughout the length of the dispute during an extensive arbitration process in Estonia."
The Eversheds Sutherland Bitans team was led by Senior Attorney at law Raimonds Groza, assisted by Assistant Attorney at Law Krista Berziņa. According to Groza, “this matter was important not only due to cross-border component and depth analysis of Estonian and Latvian laws and New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards but also due to the fact that enforcement of Estonian arbitral awards in Latvia is in general rare; moreover, the size of the enforceable award is remarkable. In addition, an important fact is that the recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award in this particular case was requested by Republic of Estonia.”
