BY KERIM ULKER
Cukurova Insaat Ekipmanlari, the construction equipment subsidiary of Cukurova Holding, lost the case against the Tripoli government on its USD 69m receivables, according to the Paris International Commercial Court.
However, the company has suspended the lawsuit process with Libya regarding the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the countries, according to Burak Vardan, Senior Executive of Cukurova Insaat. “We have never lost our belief in Libya and we have never shut down out office there. A new frame has been formed, the MoU has been signed between Libya and Turkey. Within this frame, actions of Turkish companies have been identified and have been guaranteed. We wanted to support this restructuring process and decided to suspend the judicial process,” said Vardan.
Libya has been an important market for the Turkish construction sector. Turkish contractors received their first projects and penetrated the Libyan market in 1972. Libya met alone 75% of the projects undertaken by Turkish contractors between 1972-1979. Turkish contractors have carried out over 600 projects exceeding USD 30bn in Libya for half a century.
Now, Turkish contractors are waiting to collect their USD 2.7bn receivables in Libya, where civil war continues following the chaos after the end of Former Leader Muammar Qaddafi’s term with the Arab Spring. The problems with Turkish companies have passed on to court. The latest news regarding this issue came from the Arbitration Court of Paris. Owned by Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, Cukurova Holding, which have been in the Libya market with many projects, has been engaged in a lawsuit with the government in Tripoli for a while. The case was resulted in the past few days.
USD 1.1m fine will also be paid
Cukurova Insaat Ekipmanlari, the construction equipment subsidiary of Cukurova Holding, opened a USD 69m case against Libya. The company has lost this case. Cukurova violated contractual obligations, according to the decision of the Paris International Commercial Court. Moreover, the Court has decided that arbitration and attorney fees will be paid by Cukurova. Accordingly, an arbitration price of USD 300,000 has been demanded. In addition to this, Cukurova will pay USD 800,000 of attorney fee to Libya. When the USD 12,000 of interest added to these, Karamehmet’s arbitration process of Libya charged the earth. On one hand the company lost USD 69m, on the other hand it was obliged to pay USD 1.1m.
