Nicosia, Jan 13: A three-member tribunal that will decide a 10-billion dollars claim- the largest ever brought at the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Tributes -has been appointed in the case of Cypriot investment firm Libananco Holdings Company against the Republic of Turkey.

The case involves the expropriation by the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Ertogan of two of the largest hydroelectric utilities, without paying any compensation.

Michael Hwang, a senior arbitration specialist from Singapore who is considered one of the world's leading experts in resolving commercial disputes, has been appointed Chairman of the tribunal. The other two members of the tribunal are Sir Franklin Berman, a British expert on international treaties, and Henri Alvarez, a Canadian arbitration specialist.

Libananco, a company based in Cyprus, has the majority of shares in Cukurova Elektrik Anonim Sirketi and Kepez Elektrik Turk Anonim Sirketi, two of Turkey's biggest privately-owned public utilities. Both Cukurova and Kepez were listed in the Istanbul Stock Exchange and were highly profitable until June 2003, when the Turkish government expelled the management of the two companies through police raids, canceling their 60-year concessions and seizing their assets.

Tayyip Ertogan's government refused to pay any compensation for the expropriation and all income from electricity sales go to state coffers. These actions violate the Energy Charter Treaty, a multilateral energy-sector treaty, which both Cyprus and Turkey have ratified and which protects investors from expropriation. (ANI)