Gov’t to seek arbitration over Eldorado investment

Greece will seek arbitration to settle its differences with Canada’s Eldorado over a gold mine investment, the Energy Ministry said on Thursday.

Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis has requested that the state’s legal advisers prepare for the arbitration process to begin, the ministry said.

Vancouver-based Eldorado is developing a gold mine project in northern Greece but differences have persisted for years with Greek authorities over testing methods applied to comply with environment regulations.

Greece says it wants to make sure that Eldorado’s Greek unit Hellas Gold, which is developing the project, respects its contractual obligations.

“The aim is to safeguard public interest by developing the region’s mineral resources in line with the existing environmental terms and standards,” the ministry said in a statement.

A ministry official told Reuters last week that the three-member arbitration panel would include a government-selected judge, an Eldorado-selected judge and a third selected by the president of Greece’s Supreme Court.

Its decisions would be binding, but could be subject to further appeal.

[Reuters]