An international arbitration court, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, has ruled in favour of Hungary in the Sukoró casino investment project case, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga announced.

“In today’s ruling the international court has rejected the Israeli investors’ claim and compensation demand of HUF 100bn. It also said that the Hungarian state has acted lawfully, it did not violate any investment protection agreement and it did not impair the operation of investors in Hungary,” he added.

Lawyer Beatrix Bártfai, the representative of the Hungarian state in the case, said the Washington court has also stated that the termination of the casino concession contract by the Hungarian state was perfectly lawful. In addition, regarding the land swap issue the court has come to a similar legal standpoint as formerly Hungary’ Supreme Court (Kúria) did, saying that the land swap contract is in violation of Hungarian regulations and thus void. The verdict of the arbitration court is a final decision, accordingly, it is not subject to appeal, she pointed out.

The Minister expressed his opinion that the court has made a just decision. “It has recognized that Hungary acted lawfully in this case and the verdict also highlights that the Government’s actions were not politically motivated,” Mihály Varga said, adding that “The Hungarian state could defend the interest of Hungarian taxpayers, the interest of Hungarian citizens and proved that a bad investment project cannot be forced upon the country.”

In its ruling the Washington arbitration court said that the Hungarian state acted from every aspect in good faith and in accordance with the law and it did not use any public policy instruments to derail the project. On the other hand, the other party was in serious breach of contract as the effort aimed to validate the ownership right to the Sukoró land was in violation of law.

The ruling also mentions that the investor group – on the basis of the concession contract -- could have utilized the option of finding another place to implement the casino project at 132 other settlements, but as they had failed to do so, they breached the contract.

As Beatrix Bártfai said there is another ongoing court process in the Sukoró case in which the Hungarian party is demanding a significant amount as penalty for the violation of the contract.

(Ministry for National Economy)