Judgment of the General Court of 20 December 2023 – EIB v Syria

(Case T-465/22) ¹

(Arbitration clause – Loan agreement concerning a project for the completion of a first-class road in a third country – Non-performance of the agreement – Repayment of the sums advanced – Default interest – Procedure by default)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicant: European Investment Bank (represented by: T. Gilliams, R. Stuart and F. Oxangoiti Briones, acting as Agents, and by D. Arts and E. Paredis, lawyers)

Defendant: Syrian Arab Republic

Re:

By its action based on Article 272 TFEU, the European Investment Bank (EIB) requests that the Syrian Arab Republic be ordered to pay it the sum of EUR 233 051.96, together with interest, under Loan Agreement No 60136 concerning a project for the completion of a first-class road from Aleppo (Syria) to Tall Kochak (Iraq).

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Orders the Syrian Arab Republic to repay the European Investment Bank (EIB) the sum of EUR 233 051.96 representing the principal amounts and the contractual and default interest due on 30 June 2022;

Declares that the sum of EUR 200 900.30 comprising the principal amounts is to bear default interest at the annual rate of 3.5% from 30 June 2022 until the date that payment is made;

Orders the Syrian Arab Republic to pay the costs.

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¹     OJ C 359, 19.9.2022.