In accordance with the Government's Decision no. 764 of 12 October 2012 on the representation of the State's interests before the domestic courts and before the national and international arbitration tribunals (published on 19.10.2012 in the Official Gazette, no. 216-220), the Minister of Justice adopted the Order no. 91 of 3 June 2020 on the initiation of the procedure for the selection of the State's representative(s) in international arbitral tribunal(s) and nomination of the members of the Governmental Committee for the selection of such representative(s) (hereinafter "the Committee") in Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd v. the Republic of Moldova case, concerning the quashing of the arbitration award of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce of 3 August 2022, pending before the courts of law of the Kingdom of Sweden.
General facts of the case may be resumed as follows.
On 20 May 2020, Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd (legal entity from the Republic of Cyprus) which holds 95% shares in Avia Invest LLC, registered at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce a request for arbitration against the Republic of Moldova, alleging the violation of Art. 2 (promotion and protection of investments) and Art. 4 (expropriation) of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Cyprus and the Government of the Republic of Moldova for the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments.
On 3 August 2022 the arbitration tribunal established according to the Stockholm arbitration rules found its lack of jurisdiction and obliged Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd to pay in the benefit of the Republic of Moldova the amount of 216,678.75 EUR as procedural costs.
On 11 November 2022 Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd appealed against the award of the arbitration tribunal of 3 August 2022 before the Svea Court of Appeal (the Kingdom of Sweden), requesting its cancellation, and on 21 February 2023 it specified its request.
On 18 April 2023 the Svea Court of Appeal (the Kingdom of Sweden) communicated to the Ministry of Justice the appeal lodged by Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd against the Republic of Moldova, providing to the latter a time-limit of 21 days (9 May 2023) in order to reply to that appeal.
I. Time and place of the tender
The tender will be conducted at the Ministry of Justice headquarters, MD-2012, 31 August 1989 Street, no. 82, of. 204, Chișinău, on 5 May 2023, at 10:15 A.M. The participants at the tender or their representatives have the right to assist at the disclosure of the offers.
II. Requirements for the candidates.
-Every person who holds an attorney license, as well as individual or associated offices, or local or foreign law firms that hold the required qualifications and professional abilities, who are entitled to activate as attorneys, to plead and to act on behalf of their clients and to represent them before the courts of law of the Kingdom of Sweden can participate at the tender;
-The foreign law firms or attorneys must participate at the tender only in partnership with local attorneys/law firms or associated attorney offices;
- The candidates must have experience in representation of the clients before the courts of law of the Kingdom of Sweden;
- - The candidates must submit a statement on their own liability regarding the absence of any affiliation and conflicts of interests with the parties involved in the dispute and with the shareholders of the SC “Avia Invest” S.R.L.;
- The candidates must have participated as a legal representative at least one time within the last 5 years in a case related to a similar subject-matter in the field of appeals against arbitration awards;
- The candidates must know the working language of the court of law that examines the case.
III. Assessment of offers
The offers will be assessed confidentially. The attorney/law firm whose criteria will meet all the requirements and whose offer will be the mostly advantageous from a technical and economic point of view will be selected.
In the assessment of the offers, the Committee will take into account the following:
- experience as an attorney of at least 5 years;
- at least one case won as representative before the international courts of law or the permanent international arbitration institutions in the last 5 years;
- represented in cases related to appeals against arbitration awards;
- participated as a legal representative in the last 5 years in the international investment disputes settlement before the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce or any other permanent arbitral institution from the European Union.
IV. General requirements on legal services
-Advising the Republic of Moldova in Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd vs. Republic of Moldova case, related to quashing the arbitration award of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce of 3 August 2022, pending before the courts of law of the Kingdom of Sweden;
- Analyzing the materials of the case, the legal framework, the relevant case-law and identifying the relevant legal solutions for an efficient representation of the Republic of Moldova before the courts of law of the Kingdom of Sweden;
- Representing the Government of Republic of Moldova in the above-mentioned case, pending before the courts of law of the Kingdom of Sweden;
- Drafting, preparing and submitting all procedural documents that are necessary for this case with maximum diligence;
- Consulting in advance with the Republic of Moldova, all the motions and pleadings to be submitted, as well as the defense strategy;
- Informing the Government about the evolution of the case after each hearing and procedural action;
- Acting with maximum diligence and prudence when representing the Government of the Republic of Moldova in the best conditions;
- Challenging the court decision before the higher court.
V. Documents necessary for selection.
The package of documents submitted with the Committee must include the following documents in original, drafted in the national language of the Republic of Moldova or translated in the manner established by law:
a) letter of intention addressed to the Committee
b) documents that prove the legal capacity for practicing law:
-for lawyer(s) and the law office(s) from the Republic of Moldova: copies of identification act(s), attorney's license and/or the attorney's license of all members of the office, and a copy of Fiscal Code Certificate issued by local fiscal offices:
-for foreign lawyer(s)/law office(s): copies of registration, constituent acts or other attestations, professional membership acts etc., in accordance with the legislation of the respective state;
c) Curriculum Vitae of the national/foreign lawyer(s)/law office(s) that must include a general description of the candidate and professional experience;
d) The legal background and the professional experience of the law office/associated law office, irrespective whether it is local of foreign;
e) The relevant documents confirming that the local/foreign lawyer or associated law office/ foreign law office hold a Professional Liability Insurance;
f) The offer shall include legal costs calculated in Euro (EUR). The office must indicate the maximum amount that can be charged for the representation of the interests of the Republic of Moldova until the final solution of the case by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
The offer shall include both attorney's fees and additional costs (e.g. all the taxes in accordance with the current legislation, for the purpose of performance of legal services, including travel costs, hotels and other costs).
The price structure for the legal services shall be presented in a table nominating each member of the working staff, the estimated number of working hours / the fees per hour, and the total amount estimated for legal services.
The amount for additional expenses shall be included in a separate table.
The price for the legal services shall be indicated in Euro (EUR).
VI. The following candidates will not be considered in the selection proceedings
- candidates who have a legal experience of less than 3 years;
- candidates who submitted an incomplete package of required documents or whose documents do not fulfill the above-mentioned requirements;
- candidates who did not submit the package of required documents within the deadline indicated at p. VIII
VII. The candidates are not required to pay the participation fee.
VIII. Deadline for the application and registration of the relevant documents is 5 May 2023, at 10:00 A.M., at the Ministry of Justice headquarters: 31 August 1989 Street, no. 82, MD-2012, at the first floor, off. 128 (secretary). Phone: 0-22 201-431. Contact person is Daniel PANTEA, e-mail: daniel.pantea@justice.gov.md.
The offers shall be submitted in a sealed envelope, either by courier or by post services, at the address and within the deadline indicated above.
Name of the candidate "____________"
Participation at the selection for representing the interests of the Republic of Moldova
To not be opened until 5 May 2023, 10:15 A.M. (local time). To be opened by the Selection Committee only.”
IX. The offer shall be available for 60 (sixty) days, starting from the deadline mentioned above.
State Secretary,
Chairman of the Committee Eduard SERBENCO
Secretary of the Committee Daniel PANTEA