International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes

Albania's Justice Minister, Ulsi Manja, presented a draft law on Thursday for the establishment of a local court to settle commercial disputes, after the PM announced that Albania might leave the international arbitration body.

Prime Minister Edi Rama told a press conference on Friday that a decision by International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID to award Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti around 110 million euros in compensation was "scandalous" and said Albania might quit the body in response.

"He invested around 110 million euros in Serbia and he lost all that money," Milan Radunovic told BIRN. "He wanted to go to court because our government cancelled the agreement for the coalmine without any reason."

Kovachki's office in Sofia did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did the Serbian government.

Political party connections

Austrian energy company EVN has reached an out-of-court settlement with the National Electric Company (NEK) on an old dispute dating back to 2012 - 2013.

The amount is unknown but the Austrian group estimates that the funds agreed will raise its net profit for the current quarter by EUR 38 M.