Albania Ordered to Pay $20 Million to GE

Tirana | 17 March 2010 |

Albania railway station

A court in the US District of Columbia ordered on Wednesday the enforcement of a $20.6 million (€15 million) judgment against Albania over its annulment of a 2003 contract with GE Transport. The petition was filed by General Electric, GE, to enforce the ruling of an arbitration court in Rome, which had found the government of Albania in breach of the €74.71 million contract signed in September 2003.

The right-wing government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha rescinded the contract with GE in 2005, claiming the project implementation price was exorbitant and that Albania could not afford it.

The project aimed to modernize the Tirana-Durres railway segment, known also as the electric train, which would have been linked with Mother Theresa International Airport.

GE petitioned the case in the International Court of Arbitration in Rome in 2006, which found in favor of the plaintiff.

It is not clear if today's ruling will be enforced immediately, however the verdict comes at a bad time for the Albanian government, which is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to curb its looming budget deficit.