The Libyan government has decided to withdraw its $3.5 billion lawsuit against the insolvent Dong Ah Construction Ind. and Korea Express, in a dispute arising from the two companies' joint execution of manmade river projects in the north African country, reported Digital Chosun on Saturday.
The Libyan government had filed the lawsuit at a court in Tripoli last year.
Citing the Korean Ministry of Construction and Transportation and the liquidated contractor Thursday, the report said the Libyan government had stated its intention to withdraw the lawsuit within the next month, as Libya has been finding that the liquidated corporate entity of Dong Ah has been making smooth progress in wrapping up the project.
According to sources, the Libyan Great Manmade River Authorities will be having a plenary session with creditors for the Korean contractor on July 6.
When the proposal to withdraw the lawsuit is approved at the meeting the authorities will be signing a new agreement for setting forth terms to wrap up the remaining construction work.
The terms could include a condition that Dong Ah will be replacing water pipelines in about 15,000 units to fix water leakage defects in the already completed portion of the waterway project.
In return, the authorities will be paying Dong Ah $270 million for the replacement work out of the project’s retention allowance.
The Libyan government had filed the lawsuit in November of last year when Dong Ah declared bankruptcy. At the time, the Libyan government seized the Korean company’s assets in the country, said Digital Chosun – Albawaba.com
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