Odebrecht takes Peru to arbitration over pipeline contract cancellation
Brazilian construction company Odebrecht is taking Peru to arbitration over a failed $2 billion investment in a gas pipeline, in a move to recoup its investment in order to pay off debts amid its bankruptcy restructuring.
Odebrecht became embroiled in a Latin America-wide scandal in 2016 after pleading guilty in a US court to paying bribes in order to secure multi-million-dollar infrastructure contracts across the region.
The arbitration relates to the Gasoducto Sur Peruano gas pipeline project, for which Peru awarded Odebrecht a contract, but which was cancelled in 2017, a decision which Odebrecht described in a press release as a hug blow to the company, and that the company is willing to find a solution together with the Peruvian State that will allow for the withdrawal of the arbitration.
Odebrecht has said it will withdraw the arbitration claim, filed to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), if a new investor can be allowed to take over the project.
