Kuwait's Agility was given $1.65 billion in a dispute with Iraq's Korek Telecom

 

The Iraqi company Korek Telecom and the Iraqi-Kurdish billionaire Sirwan Saber Mustafa Barzani were the targets of an arbitration dispute, which Kuwait's Agility revealed on Tuesday resulted in damages of $1.65 billion being granted to one of its subsidiaries and an affiliate company.

Iraq Telecom Limited, a division of Agility Public Warehousing Company, and International Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Agility, were given damages by the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in response to accusations of ‘fraud and corruption’ made by Korek Telecom and its controlling shareholder Mr. Barzani.

Agility stated in a statement that the decision is final and binding.

“We hope that this conclusion gives resolution and finality to the matter and that the respondents will now honor their responsibilities in a way consistent with that of companies operating in nations that respect the rule of law,” said Tarek Sultan, vice chairman of Agility.

“We are still committed to advancing our expansion strategy and building successful commercial relationships in Iraq and around the world.”

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, White and Case, and Meysan Partners were in charge of representing Agility, which has operated in Iraq for more than 20 years.

The accusations have been refuted by the defendants.

In a statement made through Hawthorn Advisors, a Korek official said, “Mr Barzani and Korek vehemently dispute the claims against them and are evaluating all possibilities, including whether to seek to set aside the award.” Reuters cited this information.

“Korek finds these findings disappointing. There are still issues to be resolved, and the joint venture between Agility and Orange called IT [Iraq Telecom Limited] is aggressively denied by the corporation.”

In a separate case, an international tribunal dismissed Agility's bid to collect more than $380 million it claimed it had lost in Iraq in February 2021.

The corporation had applied for arbitration with the World Bank Group's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which arbitrates conflicts involving foreign investors, in 2017.

At the time, Agility claimed that Baghdad had prevented the business and its subsidiaries from appealing the National Communications and Media Commission of Iraq's 2014 decision to revoke Agility's investment in Iraqi mobile phone provider Korek Telecom.