Marfin strongman to get World Bank hearing

Marfin Investment Group (MIG), the investment firm founded and run by failed Laiki Bank’s former strongman Andreas Vgenopoulos, has announced that its motion to the World Bank’s international dispute arbitration centre (ICSID) for “international protection” against the Republic of Cyprus for €824 million has been scheduled for adjudication.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, MIG claimed that following the January 2013 motion it filed, along with 18 Greek individuals who also held equity in Laiki, the Republic of Cyprus ignored all invitations to friendly settlement. Therefore, as of September 2013 the case was listed with the World Bank arbitration body.
MIG – and the 18 claimants – are seeking total damages of €1.1 billion for actions or omissions by the Republic of Cyprus in running Laiki Bank, which they claim have eliminated their investment. A bilateral investment protection treaty between Greece and Cyprus, signed in 1992 and effective since 1993, forms the basis for the claimants’ case.
The timeline set by ICSID provides that the submission of arguments and evidence by each party will be completed on March 6, 2016, while the hearing for the case has been set tentatively for the period May 16 to 27, 2016.

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