Romania could receive a decision on Friday in the Rosia Montana case file, and its government is prepared for it, governmental spokesperson Mihai Constantin said on Thursday, adding that it is also possible for the deadline to extend into March.
„It is a subject of great public interest which, I venture to say, somehow took several of us by surprise, although an estimate of the decision we are expecting was still from last year and indeed it is possible to have something by February 10. February 10 being a Saturday, I guess we can find out tomorrow if it is, that’s Friday February 9. But also a wider deadline for the communication of that decision could extend into March. The government is ready to receive this decision officially when theCourt of Arbitration decides to communicate it,” said Constantin when asked if a decision is expected in the Rosia Montana case.
Asked how the amount of USD 2 billion will be paid if Romania is defeated, Constantin mentioned that Romania is not informed about the amount of the award.
„First of all, you carried an amount that we don’t know if it will be found in the award or not. Neither I nor officially Romania is informed about the size of the award. After such a decision, the two parties in litigation implement the decision of the Court of Arbitration, and they will mutually establish a compensation schedule.”
Asked if there will be a special meeting of the government after the decision of the Court of Arbitration to establish the next steps, the spokesperson of the Executive said: „There is a legal consultancy that has represented us up to this stage and probably the same team that knows very well the case will be assigned to negotiate.”
„I don’t know if there will be a special meeting, but if a decision is needed at the Executive level, it will without a doubt be taken. Now we have to see with the speed, after we will be officially informed about the decision, the discussions will take place – those bilateral ones – after which, if it has to be declined in some documents approved by the Executive, this will happen.”
The government approved an emergency ordinance under which a group of 15 legal experts from the Ministry of Finance and the Government’s General Secretariat (SGG) will get involved in the management of cases regarding the representation of Romania or public institutions before the Court of Arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) or another international arbitration tribunal.
