In Costa Rica a lawsuit filed against the ICE by Unión Fenosa Generadora La Joya, has been rejected. The case included a $7.9 million claim for alleged overcharges for the suspension of a hydroelectric project in Turrialba.
Nacion.com reports that "...The case dates back to 2002 and relates to a BOT - build, operate and transfer - contract signed between the ICE and the Spanish private generator to produce 50 Megawatts (MW) of energy with a water source in the canton of Turrialba."
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The Canadian firm Infinito Gold has ceased operations and requested the temporary suspension of arbitration against Costa Rica over the failed concession of the Crucitas gold mine.
The cessation of business operations due to lack of financial resources, announced in mid-July, when all its directors and managers resigned, could be the main reason for the decision to request the temporary suspension of the proceedings against Costa Rica over the Crucitas gold mine, for which $94 million was demanded for violations of the agreement for the promotion and protection of investments between Costa Rica and Canada.
A court has ruled against the lawsuit brought by the US company Harken Energy against the Costa Rican government for canceling a contract to prospect for hydrocarbons in the Caribbean.
Harken Energy in 1998 won a 20-year contract with the government of Costa Rica for prospecting and exploiting oil in areas of the Caribbean. In 2002, the environmental impact study submitted by the oil company to build facilities in the vicinity of Moin, in the province of Limón, was rejected by the National Technical Environmental Secretariat (Setena).
Lego International has won a lawsuit against Lego PZ Multiservicios S.A. of Costa Rica for the misuse of the toymaker's brand name.
Lego International won the lawsuit filed against the corporation Multiservicios Lego PZ Costa Rica for the unauthorized use in its company name, of the trademarked name Lego. The Register of Legal Entities at the National Registry ordered the administrative detention of the corporation.
In answering whether Costa Rica should compensate Industrias Infinito in the Crucitas mine case, the minister in charge of the issue said, "they shouldn't be paid or it should be minimal. "
EDITORIAL
In an article in Prensalibre.cr the Minister of Environment and Energy René Castro answered the question by saying "We believe that Costa Rica should not give any compensation to Industrias Infinito because there was never actually a concession."
The money that the State of Costa Rica will lose in the dispute over the failed concession of the Crucitas mine will come from taxpayer's pockets.
Editorial
During the 20 year period of the soap opera that is Crucitas gold mine, none of the individuals who are involved in one way or another have suffered any financial loss and many, on the contrary, have seen an increase in their income and their bank accounts.
Infinito Gold is suing for $94 million lost due to violations of the agreement for the promotion and protection of investments between Costa Rica and Canada.
Industrias Infinito confirmed that its parent company, Infinito Gold, has filed a law suit against Costa Rica at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) seeking compensation as a result of their investments in the canceled mining project of Crucitas.
The construction consortium has rejected the proposed solutions one by one, as they know that being replaced would be more expensive for the ACP than to acquiesce to its demands.
EDITORIAL
The alleged light at the end of the tunnel that led to an agreement in principle to resolve the alleged illiquidity of Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), was dimmed when the consortium led by Sacyr and Impregilo returned to its extremist position: Pay the overruns of $1.6 billion, or the works will be halted.
Judicially enforcing a contract takes 1402 days in Guatemala, 920 in Honduras, 852 in Costa Rica, 786 in El Salvador, 686 in Panama, and 409 in Nicaragua.
The data comes from the 2014 Doing Business report by the World Bank.
The extreme difficulty of enforcing contracts by means of the administration of justice systems is endemic in Latin America, which, as stated an article in Miamiherald.com by Andres Oppenheimer, contributes "to slow economic growth."
The Bellavista mining company has gone to the Administrative Court seeking permission to reactivate gold mining activities in Puntarenas.
According to the general manager of Metales Procesados MRW S.A., Donald Brown, the suit against the Costa Rican government was filed last May but the information had not been released until now. The official says they are not seeking any compensation, the intention is only to be allowed to reactivate operations.
Meco of Costa Rica sued the Salvadoran government and Fomilenio for $1.3 million related to increased costs in the contract to build a road.
Elsalvador.com reports: "An international arbitration court has ruled in favor of the Salvadoran government and the Millennium Fund of El Salvador (Fomilenio) who the Costa Rican company MECO sued for $ 1.3 million alleging that El Salvador breached the "financial suitability" clause of the contract for construction of section II of the Northern Longitudinal Highway: Metapan-Santa Rosa Guachipilín. The 'financial suitability', that MECO refers to concerns the calculation of the cost increases of the work over time (known as polynomial formula). "The company explained that this formula did not cover the increases in material that might be seen during the course of the execution of the work.
Court cases arising from from tax exemptions granted by central governments but which go against municipal regulations are common in the region.
Eluniversal.com.mx reports that "Although the government of Costa Rica has ordered the cancellation the operations of a quarry belonging to the Costa Rican subsidiary of the transnational company Cementos Mexicanos (Cemex) in the northwestern town of Abangares, over a debt of some 7 million dollars in tax payments, the company announced yesterday that it will appeal the decision because it "unjustifiably harms" operations in this country. The resolution was issued on Friday by the General Office of Geology and Mines at the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minaet ) of Costa Rica. Cemex has three days to appeal because the order is for the Abangares police to prevent exploitation at the quarry. "
After the final decision by the Constitutional Court dismissing their claims, Industrias Infinito has announced it will continue litigation in international tribunals.
"Industrias Infinito turned to international arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and Investment Disputes (ICSID) in April, the company is asking the State to pay $1.092 billion in compensation for halting the mining concession", reported Nacion.com.