Macedonian Media Praise EVN Ruling
Business, General News, Politics, Region Friday, September 18th, 2009Skopje | 14 September 2009 | Sinisa-Jakov Marusic
The decision of Skopje’s Appellate Court to overturn a ruling ordering Austria’s EVN to pay Macedonia’s state-owned power generator, ELEM, 200 million euros, is the most positive corruption-related event in August, local media say.
Twelve of the country’s 14 top chief editors picked this as their top event in a monthly survey conducted by the Makfax news agency and NGO Transparency-Zero Corruption.
In April, a Skopje court ordered the Macedonian branch of EVN, which bears responsiblity for Macedonia’s electricity grid, to pay ELEM, the 200 million euros in allegedly unpaid debts. EVN said the case was a sham, implying the state influenced the court’s ruling.
In June, EVN filed suit against Macedonia in the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration, based in Washington DC, suing over alleged mistreatment. The successful appeal was also filed in Skopje.
The row took on a wider political dimension when the key Western ambassadors to the country sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski warning that the case could endanger the country’s EU progress and hinder its business image.
EVN entered the country in 2006 when it was announced the company would be a major investor and partner in improving the country’s power supply. At that time, their investment matched the sum they were subsequently ordered to pay ELEM, before the recent, successful Appellate Court appeal.Source: Balkaninsight
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