Electrawinds unit files for intl arbitration against Serbia

Energo Zelena, the Serbian unit of Belgian renewable energy company Electrawinds, said on Tuesday it has submitted a request for arbitration against the Serbian government with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington DC.

The company decided to file for international investment arbitration due to "substantial and recurrent damage and losses caused to its rendering business by repeated wrongful acts and omissions by the competent authorities of Serbia", Energo Zelena said in a statement.

The board of directors also decided to suspend the operations of its biomass fuel plant in lndjija, in the north of the country, and plans to close the plant by the end of December, it added.

Serbia's systematic omission to enforce its own legislation on the treatment of animal by-products has jeopardized the viability of Energo-Zelena’s operations in Serbia, Energo Zelena said.

The Indjija plant is the only rendering facility for treatment of hazardous animal by-products (ABP) in Serbia, which is fully compliant with the Serbian legislation, according to the company.

The company initially invested 21.5 million euro ($26.7 million) in the state-of-art rendering plant for treatment of hazardous ABP.

($=0.8044 euro)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!