An arbitral tribunal at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has dismissed all claims brought by Turkish businessman Mehmet Zeki Obuz and his partners against the government of Uzbekistan. The proceedings, which lasted more than five years, concluded on October 26, according to the press service of the Central Asian nation's Ministry of Justice.
According to the ministry, Turkish nationals Mehmet Zeki Obuz, Sevde Yilmaz, and Hyurie Obuz, alongside the firm Obuzlar Gida—which was undergoing liquidation at the time—filed the ICSID claim in June 2021. The dispute concerned a food processing enterprise operating in Uzbekistan.
The claimants invoked the bilateral investment treaty on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments signed by Ankara and Tashkent in 1992. The Ministry of Justice did not disclose the specific nature of the foreign investors' grievances or the exact amount of compensation sought from the Uzbek government.
The arbitral tribunal panel was formed in February 2022 to adjudicate the dispute. Merits hearings took place in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 2024. Uzbekistan was represented by Ministry of Justice officials alongside international law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, which opened an office in Tashkent in November of last year.
ICSID ultimately rejected all of the claimants' demands, ruling entirely in Uzbekistan's favor. The Ministry of Justice emphasized that the tribunal's award is final and binding on all parties.
Local media previously reported that in 2007 an Uzbek court sentenced Mehmet Zeki Obuz to 16 years in prison for customs fraud, tax and excise evasion, and embezzlement of public funds. Obuz originally moved to Tashkent in 1995, establishing the Sundus joint venture and serving as its general director.
This is not the first case of its kind. In April of last year, an ICSID arbitral tribunal dismissed a $700 million claim brought against Uzbekistan by Turkish textile firm Bursel.
