CAIRO: A 10-year-old land dispute which has been settled in court has resurfaced in the press recently as partners of the now-defunct Artoc Development Company continue to lay claims on a 40,000 square meter area of land in the Jabal Hareem area in Hurghada. Certain reports in local newspapers have surfaced recently contesting the ownership of the land, which Artoc Group chairman Mohammed Shafik Gabr has stated he claims sole ownership of according to a court decree. The Artoc Development Company was formed in 1991 in partnership with Ahmed Mustapha Shawky and Tarek Mahmoud Abdel-Fatah Nour. Gabr stated that the partners attempted to include that parcel of land as part of the company's assets, but a court ruling in 1998 decided that Gabr was the sole owner. The company is currently being liquidated. Gabr said that the reports in the papers of a land dispute still being fought over the land was not true and added that these were attempts to create uncertainty around successful businessmen. "Ten years have passed on this subject so I don't know why it is being brought up now, Gabr said. This is not the first time Artoc has made the news with partnership disputes. Artoc signed a partnership with the UAE-based Emaar Properties last year to form Emaar Egypt, which recently announced plans to develop four real estate projects in Egypt. Artoc sold their take to the Dubai firm earlier this year after differences between the partners, and much mud-slinging in the press. The company then announced the formation of the newly launched Artoc Universal Properties, in partnership with Universal Builders Supply, Inc of the USA and John Cushman, chairman of Cushman and Wakefield. The Arab Business Council, chaired by Gabr, will convene in Cairo in November after the World Economic Forum which will be held in China next month.
