KentKart seeking international arbitration against Serbia regarding public transport fare collection in Belgrade

The Turkish company KentKart has filed the request for the initiation of an international arbitration procedure against Serbia regarding the service of public transport fare collection, Nova Ekonomija reports today. On April 1 this year, the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) registered the request of KentKart for the initiation of the arbitration procedure, which is in progress.

In this case, Serbia will be represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and the State Attorney’s Office.

Last year, the City of Belgrade unilaterally terminated the contract with KentKart Southeast Europe, which did public transport fare collection in Belgrade.

The city terminated the contract signed in 2021 for a period of 13 years and founded the public enterprise Naplata prevozne usluge.

Due to the termination of the contract, the Turkish KentKart Global sent the notification about the intention to initiate the procedure to the republic organs of Serbia on March 20, 2023.

As Nova Ekonomija writes, Serbia and Turkey have a bilateral agreement on the protection of foreign investments, which envisages for the foreign investor to notify the competent organs of the violation of a contract, should it occur.

Within a six-month period, through negotiations and consultations, the parties to the dispute should try to find a peaceful solution, before starting an international arbitration.

KentKart Global, with the headquarters in Turkey, is the majority owner of the company KentKart Southeast Europe, which provided the public transport fare collection service in Belgrade for years.

Kentkart SE doo Beograd

Ministarstvo spoljnih poslova Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Državno pravobranilaštvo Republike Srbije

Grad Beograd

JKP Naplata prevozne usluge Beograd

KentKart

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Economy

State Attorney s Office

City of Belgrade

PE Naplata prevozne usluge

International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes

ICSID