‘No ruling yet in arbitration case on goodwill tax fines’

AMMAN — The government on Tuesday said the Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) had not yet issued a ruling in an arbitration case involving the founding partners of Umniah.

The case is still being looked into, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Azzam Sleit told The Jordan Times.

“Media reports claiming that a ruling was issued by the centre are baseless,” Sleit said, noting that the final ruling is expected to be announced in 2016.

Early this year, Fouad Al Ghanem and Sons Group, one of Umniah’s founding partners, resorted to the ICSID after the government asked the founding partners, who also include businessman Michael Dagher, to pay $65 million to the Treasury after they sold the telecom operator.

In 2005, Fouad Al Ghanem and Sons Group and Dagher obtained a licence to establish Umniah in return for JD4 million. 

One year later, they sold Umniah to Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) for $415 million.

The sale triggered a heated debate and calls by parliamentarians to reconsider the licence as it was given at a “very low” price and the acquisition was at a very high price, which prompted the government to ask for $65 million in goodwill tax fines. 

Sleit noted that Al Ghanem group had resorted to the ICSID, and Dagher is not part of the case.