Further to the Government of Grenada’s press release of Wednesday, 26 June 2019 on the matters in dispute between the Government of Grenada and WRB Enterprises Inc., the government elaborates as follows:
In 2016, after coordination with international consultants and local electricity sector stakeholders, the government passed the new Electricity Supply Act and Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act. The Acts liberalised Grenada’s electricity sector, ended the monopoly on electricity generation, and established effective regulatory control over the sector. The liberalisation of the sector — and the passage of the legislation — were implemented as part of overarching structural reforms initiated and funded by the World Bank through the Eastern Caribbean Energy Regulatory Authority project (ECERA).
Following the 2016 reforms, WRB, the US-based majority shareholder of Grenlec, initially demanded that the government repurchase its shares in the company for US$65 million plus interest. In May 2017, WRB and its local subsidiary, GPP, initiated an international arbitration against the government seeking the compelled repurchase of the shares, on the basis of the 1994 Share Purchase Agreement. WRB’s demand has since been revised upward to EC $182 million plus interest (equivalent to approximately US $67 million plus interest).
In June 2019, WRB and the government concluded a hearing in front of an international arbitration tribunal at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. The tribunal will rule on whether — and if so, at what price — the government must repurchase WRB’s
As indicated in our earlier press release, the tribunal’s decision has not yet been issued and is expected in the coming months. Government policy remains that Grenlec’s shares should be held or purchased by private sector interests.
GIS