Russian-Georgian businessman Zaur Leshkasheli has lost a multi-year arbitration case with Azerbaijan over his allegedly expropriated investments in the modernisation of the Kurovdag oil field, south-west of Baku. Vedomosti learned this from the decision of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which heard the case. The tribunal ruled that the London-based businessman had not invested any of his own money in the development of Kurovdag.
The arbitrators rejected Leshkasheli’s claim for $718 million and instead ordered him to pay $10.5 million to cover Azerbaijan’s legal costs. Leshkasheli himself has spent $7.6 million over the years of the dispute, which he launched in 2020 over the alleged underselling of his stake in a joint venture with Baku to Russian businessman Mikhail Gutseriev.
Anna Zabrotskaya, Managing Partner of Nordic Star in Russia, assessed the arbitration decision in the Vedomosti article. Read more at the link.