US court postpones proceedings on the arbitral resolution against Uzbekistan

A court in the United States decided to postpone consideration of an application for the execution of an arbitration decision in favor of the company Oxus Gold Plc. on investment dispute with the authorities of Uzbekistan, the Russian agency for legal and judicial Information reports.

It is worth recalling that Oxus Gold Plc. initiated the proceedings in the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) at the International Chamber of Commerce notifying the Uzbek authorities in 2011. The company claimed a refund of $1,2 billion for the alleged expropriation of investments.

The arbitration by its decision reduced the size of claims of Oxus Gold Plc. to about $10,2 million. In 2016, having achieved recognition of this decision in France, Oxus appealed to the Court of Appeal of Paris demanding to cancel it regarding the rejection of part of its claims.

The arbitration by its decision reduced the size of claims of Oxus Gold Plc. to about 10.2 million dollars. Having achieved recognition of this decision in France in 2016, Oxus appealed to the Court of Appeal of Paris, demanding to cancel it regarding the rejection of part of its claims.

It is expected that the hearing on the appeal will be held on March 26 this year.

The company Gretton Ltd., which finances the proceedings between Oxus Gold Plc. and the Uzbek authorities in arbitration, without waiting for the decision of the Paris Court of Appeals, appealed to the District Court of Columbia for recognition and enforcement of the ICA decision.

The authorities of Uzbekistan, in turn, demanded to reject this appeal or postpone the decision on it until consideration of the appeal filed in France.

Having reviewed arguments of the parties and based on provisions of the New York Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, as well as US law and case law, the US court satisfied the appeal, postponing consideration of the application for recognition of the ICA.