NEWS RELEASE 11 NOVEMBER
2024
Update on
Arbitration Award against Poland
GreenX Metals Limited (GreenX, Claimant or Company) provides the following update
on the international arbitration claims (Claim) against the Republic of Poland
(Poland or Respondent) under both the
Australia-Poland Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and the Energy Charter Treaty
(ECT) (together the
Treaties).
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On 7 October 2024, GreenX was
awarded £252 million (A$495 million/PLN 1.3
billion) in compensation and interest after the Tribunal unanimously held that Poland breached its
obligations under the Treaties
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Poland has now lodged a request to
set-aside the BIT award, seeking to have it set-aside on the basis
of jurisdictional aspects of the award and procedural
unfairness
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GreenX notes that the Polish Prime
Minister, Mr Donald Tusk, recently stated at a press conference
that:
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"The case is rather hopeless, because a lost arbitration is a
lost arbitration. We have two big cases on our shoulders. The PiS
government blew this issue.
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The Australians, as you know, were promised that their mine
would be built there. For years they were misled and later the
commitment was withdrawn. It was quite obvious that they would go
to arbitration, and it was rather obvious that they would win this
arbitration.
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Speaking frankly, I would most likely, and I cannot exclude
that it will go this way, to find the person directly responsible
for Poland now having to pay well over a billion zloty if we do not
find a legal solution - which I think has very little probability
to set aside the award in this arbitration. So, speaking the truth,
I will expect my officers to inform the public in the coming days
who made a decision or refrained from making a decision with the
consequence of these gigantic losses, that is the compensation that
we as the Polish State must pay to the Australians."
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The threshold to succeed on a
set-aside motion is very high with vast majority of cases being
rejected and interest continuing to accrue
at approximately 6% per annum (at today's rates) whilst the
set-aside motion is heard
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GreenX is well funded to defend the
annulment with over A$5.5 million in cash reserves
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The
Announcement Contains Inside Information
GreenX advises that Poland has
lodged a request to set-aside the award with the
courts of England and Wales in relation to the BIT
claim. Poland is challenging jurisdictional aspects of the award
and alleging procedural unfairness, including in the Tribunal's
decision on damages.
The award can only be set aside
under very limited circumstances which relate to a lack of
jurisdiction on the part of the Tribunal or serious irregularities
(such as procedural unfairness). These proceedings do not allow the
courts to re-examine the Tribunal's
decision on the merits of the case.
The threshold to succeed on a set
aside motion in the English domestic court is very high, with the
courts rejecting set-aside applications in the vast majority of
cases.
Commenting on Poland's request to
have the BIT award set aside, GreenX Chief Executive Officer, Mr
Ben Stoikovich said "Whilst
Poland's actions of lodging a request for a set-aside of the award
are not surprising, we note the recent comments made by the new
Polish Prime Minister, Mr Tusk, and welcome the opportunity to
settle this dispute which will allow both parties to put this
unfortunate episode behind us. The Board of GreenX remains
committed to obtaining payment of the award and returning capital
to shareholders."
The Claim was brought under the
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Rules
(UNCITRAL) and the
award is final and binding on the
parties. The
UNCITRAL Rules do not provide for an appeal procedure i.e., they
grant no explicit authority to a panel to reconsider its award.
However, either party may ask the Tribunal to correct any
computational, clerical or typographical errors in the award, issue
an interpretation of the award or render an additional award on any
claims omitted from the final award. These procedures do not allow
either party to request that the Tribunal reconsider the merits of
its decision. As part of its filings, Poland is seeking a
correction in the computation of damages for the awards.
The Company expects that Poland will
also apply to set-aside the award in
relation to the ECT claim in due course and it will continue to update the market, if required, in line
with its continuous disclosure requirements.
ENQUIRIES
Ben Stoikovich
Chief Executive Officer
+44 207 478 3900
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FURTHER DETAILS of THE SUCCESSFUL ARBITRATION
AWARDs
In October 2024, GreenX
reported a successful outcome of the Claim
against Poland under both the BIT
and the ECT
with the Company being awarded:
· approximately
£252m (A$495m / PLN1.3bn) in compensation by
the Tribunal under the BIT (BIT Award) which includes interest compounded at SONIA plus one
percentage point (+1%) compounded annually from 31 December 2019 to
the date of the award (7 October 2024). Interest will
continue to accrue at SONIA +1% compounded annually until full and
final payment by the Respondent.
· approximately
£183m (A$360m / PLN 950m) in compensation by
the Tribunal under the ECT (ECT
Award), which includes interest compounded at the SONIA
overnight rate +1% compounded annually from 31 December 2019.
Interest will continue to accrue at SONIA +1% compounded annually
until full and final payment by the Respondent.
· Interest
continues to accrue at approximately 6% per annum based on today's
rates (Sterling Over-Night Interest rate (SONIA) plus 1%) until full and final
satisfaction of the award by Poland.
· Interest of approximately £1m
(A$2m / PLN5.2m) has accrued since the award was
made.
· Both Awards
are subject to any payments made by the Respondent to the Claimant
in the other arbitration such that the Claimant is not entitled to
double compensation i.e., any amount paid by Poland in one
arbitration (i.e., ECT) is set off against Poland's liability in the other
arbitration (i.e., BIT).
The compensation is denominated in
British pound sterling. No hedging is in place for the compensation
and accordingly is subject to fluctuations in foreign
currency.
Each party was ordered to cover its
own legal fees, expenses and arbitration costs in relation to the
Claim, which in respect of GreenX are costs that have already been
fully paid under the Litigation
Funding Agreement
(LFA) with
specialist arbitration funder LCM Funding UK Limited (a subsidiary of Litigation Capital Management Ltd) (LCM).
The Tribunal unanimously held that
Poland had breached its obligations under the Treaties in relation
to the Jan Karski project, entitling GreenX to compensation. In
respect of the Dębieńsko project, the Tribunal did not uphold the
Claim under the Treaties.
All of GreenX's costs associated
with the arbitration were funded on a limited basis from LCM. To
date, GreenX has drawn down US$11.2 million (A$16.2 million at 30
September 2024) (Outstanding
Funding) from the LFA.
In accordance with the terms of the
LFA, once the compensation is received, LCM is entitled to be paid
the Outstanding Funding, a multiple of five times the Outstanding
Funding (based on the period since entering into the LFA) and from
1 January 2025, interest on the Outstanding Funding at a rate of
30% per annum, compounding monthly.
Net of the payments to LCM, GreenX
will pay 6% of the balance to key management directly involved in
the case (as previously approved by shareholders on 20 January
2021) and 3% to key legal advisers who assisted with the case on a
reduced and fixed fee.
Upon satisfaction of the award, it
is GreenX's intention to return the majority of the available cash
to shareholders in a timely fashion, after payment of the above
costs of the arbitration and applicable taxes (if any).
Forward Looking
Statements
This release may include forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are based on GreenX's expectations and
beliefs concerning future events. Forward looking statements are
necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many
of which are outside the control of GreenX, which could cause
actual results to differ materially from such statements. GreenX
makes no undertaking to subsequently update or revise the
forward-looking statements made in this release, to reflect the
circumstances or events after the date of that
release.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed
by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018 ('MAR'). Upon the publication of this announcement via
Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.
1 sources: https://www.gov.pl/web/premier/wsparcie-dla-rodzicow-wczesniakow
(refer to the video (29:45-32:00)),
https://biznes.pap.pl/wiadomosci/firmy/unikniecie-wyplaty-odszkodowania-wynikajacego-z-arbitrazu-greenx-malo.