On Friday, Romania secured another favorable and definitive ruling in the international arbitration case ICSID No. ARB/15/31. The *ad hoc* committee established to address the application for annulment filed by Gabriel Resources Ltd. and Gabriel Resources (Jersey) Ltd. rejected the claimants’ request in its entirety, upholding the arbitral award issued on March 8, 2024, in full, the Ministry of Finance reports.
“With this decision-which exhausts the final extraordinary legal remedy provided for under the ICSID Convention-the arbitral award, which fully dismissed claims of approximately $6.5 billion brought against Romania, remains definitive and binding. Furthermore, the Committee has ordered the claimants to pay the costs associated with the annulment proceedings,” the statement notes.
The dispute concerned the implementation of the so-called “Roșia Montană gold mining project.” The claimants alleged that Romania had breached the bilateral agreements for the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments concluded with Canada (ratified via Law no. 356/2009) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (ratified via Law no. 109/1995). They sought damages of approximately 6.5 billion dollars-the largest financial claim ever brought against the Romanian State in an international arbitration-amounting to roughly 1.5% of Romania’s projected gross domestic product for 2026.
On March 8, 2024, the arbitral tribunal determined that Romania had not breached any of the obligations assumed under the two bilateral investment treaties and dismissed the claimants’ demands in their entirety. The decision dated November 13, 2026, upholds this ruling and brings a definitive end-within the ICSID system-to a dispute that spanned more than a decade, from the filing of the request for arbitration in 2015 through to the exhaustion of the extraordinary remedy of annulment.
The outcome confirms that the Romanian State has fulfilled its international obligations toward foreign investors and that the decisions made by Romanian authorities regarding environmental protection, cultural heritage, and the interests of local communities were taken in compliance with the legal framework. The mining landscape at Roșia Montană-inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021-thus remains protected, and Romania will incur no costs for the defense of these values. “The final decision in the Roșia Montană case confirms Romania’s position in a dispute where the claimant company sought $6.5 billion in damages. This is the result of a sustained institutional and legal effort-undertaken with the utmost responsibility by the Ministry of Finance over the course of more than a decade-to protect the public interest, the environment, and our country’s resources through a rigorous defense,” stated Minister of Finance Alexandru Nazare.
An annulment proceeding is the only legal remedy provided for by the ICSID Convention against an arbitral award. The claimants sought the total annulment of the award, alleging that the arbitral tribunal was improperly constituted and that there had been a serious departure from fundamental procedural rules; alternatively, they requested partial annulment, citing an alleged excess of powers and a failure to state the reasons for the decision. The ad hoc committee rejected all the grounds invoked. The proceedings took place between July 2024 and November 2026 and involved extensive exchanges of written submissions, as well as a hearing of the parties. Under Article 53 of the ICSID Convention, the arbitral award is not subject to any further legal remedy; therefore, the outcome achieved by Romania is final.