Algeria has decided to hire French law office so as to defend its interests in regard to the lawsuit lodged by Chairman of Weather Investments Naguib Sawiris. Sawiris had launched $5 billion claim against the Algerian government for allegedly inflicting damages to stakes Weather owned in the Egyptian Orascom Telecom Algerie (OTA), most popularly known as Djezzy. 'The Algerian Government committed to a number of protections, including a promise to refrain from arbitrary interference in our operations, but has since 2008 pursued a campaign of interference and harassment which has cost Weather Investments over $5 billion in damages,' Sawiris said in a statement. According to Al-Khabar Algerian newspaper, the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) - a resolution branch of the World Bank based in the United States – had registered Weather Investment's complaint against the Algerian government on November 15th; it shall be heard in the court within the coming year. This comes after the Algerian Finance Minister Karim Djoudi claimed that Sawiris' complaint was filed about a year ago. After Sawiris had announced the $5 billion claim, Djoudi told reporters in parliament that Egyptian tycoon went to international arbitration a year ago and “this is not new." He said discussions on Djezzy were ongoing. Algeria's government is in talks to buy the 51 percent stake in Djezzy held by Russian telecommunications company VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP), which became the world's sixth-largest wireless operator by subscribers after merging with Sawiris's Orascom Telecom Holding (ORTE.CA) in 2011. VimpelCom has been in dispute with the Algerian government over the unit for more than year.
