US District Court declines enforcement in Blasket Renewables v. Kingdom of Spain

US District Court for the District of Columbia declines to enforce investor-State award against the Kingdom of Spain

The US District Court for the District of Columbia has declined to enforce an UNCITRAL investor-State award arising out of the underlying PV Investors v. Spain arbitration.

Petitioner sought to enforce its USD 26.5 million award in Washington, DC federal court. Spain sought dismissal of the petition on the ground that sovereign immunity barred Petitioner’s confirmation request.

The Court found that no valid arbitration agreement had been formed between the Claimant and Spain, meaning that no exception applied to the Kingdom of Spain’s sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

The Kingdom of Spain is represented by Csaba Rusznak of Sovereign Arbitration Advisors

and Williams & Connolly. The team continues to represent the Kingdom of Spain in six other pending enforcement actions in Washington, DC federal court.