Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): The Global Arbitration Review has said in a report on this matter, that the company that was in charge of the contract to provide security for Afghanistan's international airports, on Wednesday, July 24, requested a district court in America to implement the decision issued by a judge in this case.
Canadian judge Victor Leginsky previously ordered in a Dubai court led by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that the former Afghan government must pay $15 million plus contract interest to the business group.
According to 8 Sobham report, although the formation of the civil aviation department of the previous government (under the Ministry of Transportation) is no longer there, but the Zeitoun Group still demands compensation by hiring defense lawyers.
The company filed its claim in 2021, saying the civil aviation authority must pay more than $24 million in damages for violating a $38 million contract signed for four international airports in Afghanistan.
According to this company, in addition to breaching the contract, the Civil Aviation Authority also had some guarantees and 10% of the monthly income, which was not assigned to this company. In addition to this, it has also been mentioned about personnel fees and work visas, which ultimately led to the termination of this company's contract with the Canadian Embassy in Afghanistan.
According to this organization's report, the Civil Aviation Administration of the previous government said in 2020 that it would terminate the contract, but it was opposed by this company.
According to the officials of the Emirati company, the former officials of the Civil Aviation Authority then gave a similar contract to another company without a "proper tender" process and with more money.
At that time, the sources told 8sobh newspaper that this action was done by the direct order of former president Ashraf Ghani and the contract was given to a company he liked.
The civil aviation department of the previous government did not appear in the court due to the change in the system, and further said that due to the problem of non-recognition of the Taliban, it faced difficulty in finding a foreign consultant.
However, the court rejected the argument of the previous officials that they were deprived of sufficient opportunity to present the case and said that the Civil Aviation Authority of Afghanistan had enough time to hire a defense lawyer and defend itself.
Both sides had confirmed that the guarantee had been taken from Zeitoun Group, but officials of the Civil Aviation Authority had said that this work had not been completed due to the uncertainty of the equipment for the contract. The judge called this argument contradictory and said that maintaining 10% of the monthly income also had no legal or contractual basis.
Finally, the judge called the civil aviation department of the previous government responsible for the breach of contract.
In addition to this case, Hogan Lovells company has also requested to receive 1.2 million dollars from the previous government for the cost of some other lawsuits.
The company was hired for consulting and provided free services early on.
The decision to pay this money in December 2022 has been issued in the Unistral Court.
This company has been used in the litigation of the victims of the September 11 attacks to receive part of the capital of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Energy, and also in the lawsuit of the Ministry of Energy and Water of the previous government with some airlines.
The Unistral Court, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law said at that time that Afghanistan violated the agreement and should pay 1.2 million dollars to Hogan Lovells.