2009 REPORT ON INVESTMENT DISPUTES IN JORDAN

UNCLAS AMMAN 001188

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EEB/IFD/OIA (GOETHERT, BUTLER),L/CID, NEA/ELA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EINV CASC KIDE OPIC PGOV JO
SUBJECT: 2009 REPORT ON INVESTMENT DISPUTES IN JORDAN

REFS: A) STATE 49477
B) 08 AMMAN 1711
C) 07 AMMAN 2997

Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. Contains
proprietary information - not for distribution outside the USG.


1. (U) In response to ref A, the Embassy is aware of two (2)
outstanding claims of United States persons against the Government
of Jordan (GOJ).


2. (U) The first claim was included in the 2007 and 2008 reports
(refs B and C). This dispute is presumed to have ended with the
Claimant's cessation of its case against GOJ.

(A) CLAIMANT A

(B) 2007

(C) Case History: Claimant A was granted a concession in a
Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) by the GOJ for oil exploration
adjacent to the Dead Sea in 1997. According to Claimant A, problems
with the National Resource Authority (NRA) began in 2002, when the
NRA began concerted efforts to deter potential investors and to
drive Claimant A from the region after investing over $29 million to
explore and develop oil resources. Claimant A alleges that the NRA
pressured the Claimant to sign an agreement with a partner company
in 2006 that gives the latter 80% participating interest and
operating rights. GOJ entities have contested the validity of the
allegations above. In 2007, Claimant A filed a Notice of
Arbitration with the World Bank's International Centre for
Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the U.S.-Jordan
Bilateral Investment Treaty, seeking over $500 million in damages
from the GOJ. Throughout the case, the Embassy has met repeatedly
with Claimant A, most recently on December 3, 2008, in a meeting
between the Claimant and the Ambassador.

(D) In March 2009, Claimant A withdrew its claims that the GOJ had
violated the Investment Treaty and the case was closed. Claimant
continues to work with GOJ on the business arrangements with its own
intermediary, former Governor John Sununu.


3. (U) The second claim arose after the submission of the 2008
report.

(A) CLAIMANT B

(B) 2009
(C) Case History: In 2009, Claimant B filed a claim with the
Government of Jordan's Anti-Corruption Commission alleging that the
Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) had accepted bribes from
a competitor who was importing a counterfeit copy of his herbal
supplement. Subsequently, JFDA reportedly closed the Claimant's
Amman office because of allegations of illegal printing of medicinal
packaging and unauthorized local production of medicine. Claimant B
accuses JFDA of closing the office as retribution and the Claimant
has been to court five times in order to have the office re-opened
most recently on May 19, 2009. JFDA has not been present at any of
the five court dates and so the case has been continued and the
office remains closed. Claimant B further accuses JFDA of delaying
the court case to keep the business closed.
(D) The Embassy has been in frequent contact with the Claimant, most
recently on May 20, 2009, and has spoken on the Claimant's behalf
with the JFDA twice, most recently on May 13. The Foreign
Commercial Service is continuing to provide advocacy support in this
case.

4. (SBU) Claimant A: Trans-Global Petroleum, Inc. Per the
company's website (www.transglobalpetroleum.com),the company is a
Houston-based independent oil company. Post cannot confirm whether
the corporation is not less than 50 percent beneficially owned by
United States citizens or corporations. The Claimant has not signed
a Privacy Waiver Act to post's knowledge.

Claimant B: New Jersey International Trading Company (NJITC). NJITC
is headquartered in New Jersey and is a licensed sales
representative for three different herbal supplement companies in
Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East. The Claimant has not
signed a Privacy Waiver Act to post's knowledge.

Visit Amman's Classified Website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman

BEECROFT