Meysan Secures $490 million Judgment in favor of Agility against Kurdistan

Meysan Secures $490 million Judgment in favor of Agility against Kurdistan

Kuwait – January 31, 2024. In a landmark ruling, the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation rejected an appeal lodged by the Kurdistan Regional Government against a ruling of Kuwait’s Court of Appeal in favor of Alcazar Capital, a subsidiary of Kuwaiti company, Agility.  In rejecting the KRG’s appeal, the Court upheld the judgment requiring the KRG to pay Alcazar an amount of $490 million as restitution under a sovereign guarantee.

The lawsuit’s origins trace back to Agility’s investment in Korek Telecom, an Iraqi telecommunications company, made more than 15 years ago.  At the time of investment, the KRG issued a sovereign guarantee protecting Agility’s investment and pledged to repay if Korek defaulted on the owed amounts.  Following Iraq’s decision to expropriate Agility’s investment in Korek, Korek refused to reimburse any part of the investment made by Agility.  Accordingly, Agility filed its claim under the KRG sovereign guarantee.

The recent decision follows a similar victory a year ago achieved by Meysan in anInternational Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration against Korek Telecom and its Chair, Saber Sirwan Barzani, which resulted in an award of $1.6 billion against the defendants. 

The Meysan team was represented by partners Bader El Jeaan, Waleed Al Tattan, Husain AlAbdullah, Ahmad Awni and Abdulwahab Sadeq.