Italian construction company in legal dispute with Morocco’s AABV

Morocco World News | 25 June 2019

Italian construction company in legal dispute with Morocco’s AABV

Rabat, Morocco – Italian construction company Impresa Pizzarotti & CSpA, which won the contract for the construction of a road tunnel in Morocco, has entered into a dispute with state-run Bouregreg Valley Development Agency (AABV).

The road tunnel construction, over a twin tunnel connecting a coastal entry and the historical centre of Rabat, was initiated in 2007 and completed in 2010.

Pizzarotti claims that AABV has failed to pay for the cost of construction and the penalties for the delayed payment. The Italian company is suing AABV for €50 million.

Despite the case going to the Moccocan Supreme Court, the end result has failed to satisfy Pizzarotti.

According to Pizzarotti’s complaint, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) claims that Morocco has breached the 1990 Italy-Morocco bilateral investment treaty provisions. This includes the fair and equitable treatment (FET) and expropriation standards.

Pizzarotti also alleges that the Moroccan court’s response is a failure of justice.

AABV has not appointed specific council to counter this dispute with Impresa Pizzarotti & C, but rather has been coordinating with several counsels at the same time in order to counter the dispute with Pizzarotti along with other issues at ICSID.