Cobzac & Partners has successfully represented Latvia's SIA Fertco fertilizer distributor in its attempt to obtain the partial annulment of an arbitral award in Moldova's courts.
According to Cobzac & Partners, Fertco entered into a USD 2 million contract to sell fertilizer to an unnamed Moldovan company. According to the firm, "due to prolonged delays in payment, SIA Fertco notified the buyer that it was suspending the delivery of the goods until [it received] full payment for the goods already delivered. After that, SIA Fertco filed a ... claim with the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova, request[ing] the collection of the debt in a total amount of about EUR 1,060,200. In the arbitration proceedings, the defendant filed a counterclaim requesting the collection of damages from SIA Fertco due to the suspension of delivery of the goods, amounting to EUR 1,336,639."
According to Cobzac & Partners, "surprisingly, the Court of Arbitration satisfied partially the claim of our client and the counterclaim of the Moldovan company and finally, ruled that SIA Fertco had to pay an amount of EUR 624,202 in damages."
With the assistance of Cobzac & Partners, Fertco then challenged the award in the Moldovan courts, claiming "both a violation of the arbitration procedure and a violation of the legal order of the Republic of Moldova and of principles and good morals." Ultimately, the firm reported, "although the first instance court rejected the request for annulment of the arbitral award, by Decision of the Chisinau Court of Appeal of April 22, 2021 the appeal declared by SIA Fertco was fully satisfied and the arbitral award was annulled in the part in which the claims of SIA Fertco were rejected and in the part in which the claims of the local company were admitted."
According to the firm, "the case was not an ordinary one because it was about an arbitral award issued by an arbitration tribunal and the local judicial courts could overturn it only in case of serious errors that infringed the principles of civil law. The ruling issued by the Chisinau Court of Appeal creates a precedent that the local arbitration courts will have to take account of in the future."
Cobzac & Partners' team was led by Managing Partner Daniel Cobzac and included Senior Associate Pavel Digori and Associate Alina Gaja. The team was also assisted by independent attorney Gheorghe Sclifos.
