Claro (America Movil) has issued a statement confirming that the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has ruled against the company in an arbitration initiated back in August 2016 against the Colombian government. The ICSID tribunal ruled that measures taken by Colombia's government in 2013 did not represent an expropriation of Claro’s investments in its subsidiary (Comcel) or a breach of the Free Trade Agreement between Mexico and Colombia, ordering the company to pay USD 2.2 million to cover the costs of the case.
In 2017, Claro complied with a Colombian arbitration ruling ordering it to pay the government USD 1.08 billion for failing to return installed telecommunication networks and infrastructure as part of agreements to provide mobile services dating back to 1994. Following the latest ruling, Claro said it would assess available legal actions against the award, including the potential request of its annulment before the US District Court of the District of Columbia (seat of the arbitration).
