PRAGNUM DEFENDED CLIENT'S INTERESTS IN ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS

PRAGNUM successfully represented the interests of a foreign client – a leading manufacturer of high-tech equipment for nuclear energy facilities – in an arbitration process at the ICAC at the UCCI, in a dispute over the recovery of debt under a contract for the supply of products (spent nuclear fuel storage management systems), with the end consumer being a state-owned enterprise of critical energy infrastructure.

The opponent’s position (a national construction company) was not original: a counterclaim to annul the arbitration clause (with the aim of transferring the dispute to national courts) and a defense against the overdue debt due to the force majeure circumstances (military aggression by the russian federation and the introduction of martial law).

In particular, the defendant tried to convince the arbitrators that its financial position was shaken due to the failure of its counterparties (representatives of the public sector of the economy) to fulfill their monetary obligations. The latter is due to the lack of appropriate allocations in the state budget, as the funds are primarily allocated for defense needs.

Nevertheless, PRAGNUM managed to defend the validity of the arbitration clause, completely refute the existence of force majeure circumstances (since the defendant's counterparties' breach of their obligations does not constitute such circumstances) and obtained a judgment for the recovery of the principal debt and penalties from the defendant in the total amount of more than EUR 400,000.