An arbitration decision was made public on December 22, 2023, regarding the Banque Franco-Tunisienne (BFT) case, filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and opposing the Tunisian State to ABCI Investments Limited. According to the verdict, Tunisia is ordered to pay the sum of TND 343,673,000, with an estimated pre-award interest rate of 7.2% per annum from February 26, 2007 until the date of publication of the verdict, i.e. December 22, 2023. The annual interest rate after the arbitration ruling stands at 7.2% from the date of publication of the verdict until the amount is paid in full, due to the illegal expropriation of the company's shares in BFT dating from July 1989. Ali Abbès, in charge of the State's litigation department and responsible for the case, said that the Tunisian State should pay the sum of $705,693.62 thousand on behalf of ABCI as charges and expenses of the ICSID's administrative body. He told TAP that the arbitration body had rejected the ot her claims of the various sides, pointing out that ABCI had claimed the sum of $12.6 billion, i.e. more than TND 37 billion. The amount mentioned in the verdict accounts for 0.003% of the sum claimed by ABCI, he pointed out. This arbitration dispute is considered to be the longest in the history of arbitration, the same source added, pointing out that the case dates back to 1982 and has only been resolved in 2023. This decision is the fruit of the various efforts exerted by the many stakeholders in the case, notably the body in charge of the State's litigation department, which has handled the case with professionalism, he concluded. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse Addis Ababa: The largest Russian geological institute, Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute, has expressed its willingness to share its advanced technologies to Ethiopia in the fields of geology. In an exclusive interview with ENA, Institute Director-General Pavel Khimchenko said the institute delegation has seen a lot of perspectives in Ethiopia. Accordingly, 'we have main directions to develop together, including in geological mapping with a different scale.' 'We can investigate, and also do geological mapping with a different scale. We have huge potential for cooperation in the future. Here, you see a lot of Russian and Ethiopian companies. I see how they contact each other and collaborate,' he stated. Given the huge potential in the geological sphere, and probably this next year, we'll see the concrete results of our cooperation, Khimchenko added. The institute is open to sharing technologies, and we have a lot of goods, services and works that we can provide. The director-general further said the institute 'can provide technologies for Ethiopia, especially in IT technologies, in geology, geological mapping; and on how to investigate the special tough minerals and also how to do some stability studies for the future fields.' Commenting about the hospitality of Ethiopians, he said 'I see that we are close to each other. I see that we are real friends and not friends in words. We are friends in real deals. That's why I see the huge potential for future steps and real steps.' The Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute is the leading institution of the Federal Agency on Mineral Resources in regional geological studies. Its main role is providing support and execution of state geological mapping of the Russian Federation and its adjacent water areas, the creation of a state network of reference geological and geophysical profiles, parametric and super-deep wells. It also provides scientific and technical support of geological exploration, scientific, thematic, and experimental and meth odological activities. Source: Ethiopian News Agency