The National Oil Corporation (NOC) has rejected the offer of the Emirati company Trasta regarding the sale of its stake in the company LERCO, which was formed to operate the Ras Lanuf refinery.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NOC, Farhat Ben Gaddara, mentioned in a letter to the Emirati company that there is no point in introducing a third party in the company Lerco to replace the company Trasta before settling all the legal issues between Trasta and the NOC, whether those considered before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris or before the Libyan judiciary.
Ben Gaddara called on the Emirati company to re-examine its offer and submit it to the NOC again at a value that is consistent with the actual condition of the refinery, so that the corporation can study it and enter into negotiations to reach a value agreed upon by the two parties through which the company’s stake in Lerco will be purchased and all legal disputes regarding the Ras Lanuf refinery will be ended.
The Libyan-Emirati company “LERCO” operates the “Ras Lanuf” oil refinery, and it is jointly owned by the NOC, representing the Libyan state, and the company “Trasta”, which is affiliated with the Emirati “Al Ghurair” Group.
The Emirati partner lost 4 arbitration cases, all of which ended in favor of the Libyan state. The last of these was the ruling of the Paris Supreme Court, which rejected all of its claims for compensation and confirmed the ruling of the arbitration panel issued in January 2018, and the ruling of the Paris Court of Appeal in February 2011.
