Smurfit WestRock’s US$469M arbitration ruling against the Venezuelan government

04 Sep 2024 --- Smurfit WestRock has been awarded a US$468.7 million arbitration ruling against the Venezuelan government by the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The decision is intended as compensation for the 2018 seizure of its assets in Venezuela, with additional legal costs of US$4.5 million and interest from May 31, 2024, until the date of payment, Smurfit WestRock announced. 

“We will now pursue the full value of this award from the Venezuelan government,” says Smurfit Westrock CEO Tony Smurfit. 

Venezuela is facing over US$21 billion in claims for past expropriations and debt defaults in US court following government nationalization of various industries since the reign of Hugo Chavez. 

Smurfit’s investments in Venezuela were guaranteed by a treaty between the Netherlands and Venezuela.

“The tribunal dismissed Venezuela’s objections to its jurisdiction, and held that Venezuela breached the treaty’s protection against unlawful expropriation, the treaty’s protection against unfair and inequitable treatment and arbitrary and discriminatory measures, and the treaty obligation to guarantee the repatriation of dividends without undue restriction or delay,” the company adds. 

We have asked Smurfit WestRock for further comment. The case was first introduced in 2018, and the tribunal was constituted in 2019 to discuss the case.