{"id":3682,"date":"2021-07-01T09:12:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T06:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/miningwatch.ro\/?p=3682"},"modified":"2021-07-01T09:52:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T06:52:32","slug":"cererea-premierului-citu-de-retragere-a-dosarului-rosia-montana-de-la-unesco-arunca-in-aer-sansele-romaniei-la-icsid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miningwatch.ro\/en\/cererea-premierului-citu-de-retragere-a-dosarului-rosia-montana-de-la-unesco-arunca-in-aer-sansele-romaniei-la-icsid\/","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister C\u00ee\u021bu: Withdrawing Rosia Montana\u2019s UNESCO nomination means you are jeopardizing Romania’s chances at the ICSID tribunal!"},"content":{"rendered":"30 June 2021<\/span><\/i> – Declic and Mining Watch Romania strongly condemn prime minister Florin C\u00ee\u021bu’s request to retract Rosia Montana\u2019s UNESCO nomination. If this happens, the nomination now still on the UNESCO Committee’s table [1], will be lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span>Prime minister C\u00ee\u021bu is damaging Romania’s interests and defence in the ISDS case; fuelling the mining company’s argument. It is unacceptable that this government is playing along with Gabriel Resources; thus decreasing the chances for Romania to win the case. The prime minister’s unwise request is jeopardizing all the hard work to crush the C$5.7 billion that Gabriel Resources is demanding,<\/span><\/i>” comments Tudor Br\u0103d\u0103\u021ban, the Executive Director at Declic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prime minister C\u00ee\u021bu is following in the footsteps of politicians such as Traian B\u0103sescu, Victor Ponta and Viorica D\u0103ncil\u0103; becoming the latest supporter of cyanide mining at Ro\u0219ia Montan\u0103. At the latest meeting of the governing coalition Florin C\u00ee\u021bu proposed to withdraw the Ro\u0219ia Montan\u0103 UNESCO nomination after members of parliament from the PNL party in Alba publicly asked him to do so. This means that the fate of Rosia Montana hangs on a few votes of support for Florin C\u00ee\u021bu in the forthcoming internal elections within the PNL party.<\/span><\/p>\n

Discussions within the governing coalition have not been finalised and will continue. USR PLUS, through its deputy prime minister Dan Barna and co-president Dacian Ciolos, are opposing prime minister C\u00ee\u021bu\u2019s request. The UDMR leader did not make any remarks, but in\u00a0 2011 when Minister for Culture, Kelemen Hunor signed the archaeological discharge certificate for the C\u00e2rnic massif in Ro\u0219ia Montan\u0103.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to PNL, Mr C\u00ee\u021bu\u2019s request is based on the ISDS case between Romania and Gabriel Resources at the World Bank\u2019s ICSID Tribunal in Washington DC. Arbitration has once again become the perfect excuse to mask political deals with the mining company. The same excuse was also used by the Dancila government, which during the UNESCO committee plenary in 2018 to postpone the nomination [2].<\/span><\/p>\n

But today, three years on Florin C\u00ee\u021bu should no longer be able to come out in public with such reasons : they contradict the legal arguments and strategy pursued by Lalive (Switzerland) and Leaua (Romania), the legal team representing Romania. According to case documents, Romania\u2019s lawyers have argued that “<\/span>Neither the 2015 List of Historic Monuments nor the UNESCO request, both of which predate the initiation of the arbitration, reflect a decision by the state not to allow the project. Moreover, RMGC is solely to blame for any alleged impediment to obtaining construction permits for the project<\/span><\/i>“<\/span> (24 May 2019) [3] or “<\/span>The request for Ro\u0219ia Montan\u0103 to become a UNESCO site has no impact on the project<\/span><\/i>“<\/span> (22 February 2018) [4].<\/span><\/p>\n

Prime Minister C\u00ee\u021bu\u2019s request to withdraw the UNESCO nomination seriously affects Romania\u2019s position at the World Bank\u2019s ICSID Tribunal. It shows that Romania\u2019s prime minister does not support the arguments of the government\u2019s legal team and that he implicitly approves Gabriel Resources\u2019 arguments. An excerpt from a file document submitted by Gabriel Resources confirms that it has been fast at using such statements or political decisions to its advantage at the tribunal: “<\/span>Understanding full well that the UNESCO application is a further aggravation of the issues in dispute in this arbitration, the Government itself decided to request postponement of UNESCO\u2019s consideration of its application until the settlement of this ICSID arbitration<\/span><\/i>“<\/span> (Gabriel Resources, 18 February 2021) [5].<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span>Every time Prime Minister C\u00ee\u021bu opens his mouth on Ro\u0219ia Montane, our chances to win at the ICSID tribunal decrease. And not only that, we are witnessing a new betrayal. Prime Minister C\u00ee\u021bu must assume all the consequences of his statements and actions: losing the ISDS case in Washington, simultaneously with the burial of the chances for sustainable development, international recognition and prosperity for the community of Ro\u0219ia Montan\u0103<\/span><\/i>“, concludes Roxana Pencea, a founding member of Mining Watch Romania.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1] III.F. Withdrawal of nomination, paragraph 152 of the Operational Guidelines<\/a> for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention stipulates that a possible return to the Committee requires the preparation of a new dossier which is considered a “new nomination” and which must go through the entire evaluation procedure again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] July 2018<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n[3] Neither the 2015 LHM nor the UNESCO application, both postdating the initiation of the arbitration, reflect a determination not to permit the Project (Sections 3.6.2.2 and 3.6.2.3). Furthermore, RMGC only has itself to blame for any alleged impediment to obtain the delivery of building permits for the Project<\/i>, Lalive, page 213, http:\/\/icsidfiles.worldbank.org\/icsid\/ICSIDBLOBS\/OnlineAwards\/C4706\/DS12932_En.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n[4] \u201c<\/span>The Application for Ro\u015fia Montan\u0103 to Become a UNESCO World Heritage Site Does Not Impact the Project<\/span><\/i>\u201d page 159, <\/span>http:\/\/icsidfiles.worldbank.org\/icsid\/ICSIDBLOBS\/OnlineAwards\/C4706\/DS11550_En.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[5] <\/span>Understanding full well that the UNESCO application is a further aggravation of the issues in dispute in this arbitration, the Government itself decided to request postponement of UNESCO\u2019s consideration of its application until the settlement of this ICSID arbitration, Gabriel Resources, page 11, footnote 28, <\/span><\/i>http:\/\/icsidfiles.worldbank.org\/icsid\/ICSIDBLOBS\/OnlineAwards\/C4706\/DS16152_En.pdf<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

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Backgrounder:<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n