Title

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS FOR THE PROMOTION AND RECIPROCAL PROTECTION OF INVESTMENTS

Preamble

The Czech Republic and the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter referred to as the "Contracting Parties"),

Desiring to intensify economic cooperation to the mutual benefit of both States,

Intending to create and maintain favourable conditions for investments of investors of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party, and

Conscious that the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments, according to the present Agreement, stimulates the business initiatives in this field,

Have agreed as follows:

Body

Article 1. Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement:

1. The term "investment" shall mean every kind of asset invested in connection with economic activities by an investor of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party in accordance with the laws and regulations of the latter and shall include, in particular, though not exclusively:

(a) Movable and immovable property as well as any other property rights in rem such as mortgages, liens, pledges, and similar rights;

(b) Shares, stocks and debentures of companies or any other form of participation in a company;

(c) Claims to money or to any performance having an economic value associated with an investment;

(d) Intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trade marks, patents, industrial designs, technical processes, know-how, trade names and goodwill associated with an investment;

(e) Any right conferred by laws or under contract and any licenses and permits pursuant to law, including the concessions to search for, extract, cultivate or exploit natural resources.

Any alteration of the form in which assets are invested shall not affect their character as investment.

2. The term "investor" shall mean any natural or legal person of one Contracting Party who invests in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

(a) The term "natural person" shall mean any natural person having the nationality of either Contracting Party in accordance with its laws.

(b) The term "legal person" shall mean, with respect to either Contracting Party, any entity incorporated or constituted in accordance with, and recognized as legal person by its laws, having permanent residence in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties.

3. The term "returns" shall mean amounts yielded by an investment and in particular, though not exclusively, includes profits, interest, interest related to loans, capital gains, shares, dividends, royalties or fees.

4. The term "territory" refers to the territory of the State concerned over which that State exercises sovereign rights or jurisdiction in accordance with international law.

Article 2. Promotion and Protection of Investments

1. Each Contracting Party shall encourage and create favourable conditions for investors of the other Contracting Party to make investments in its territory and shall admit such investments in accordance with its laws and regulations.

2. Investments and related returns of investors of either Contracting Party shall at all times be accorded fair and equitable treatment and shall enjoy full protection and security in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

Article 3. National and Most-favoured-nation Treatment

1. Each Contracting Party shall in its territory accord to investments and returns of investors of the other Contracting Party treatment which is not less favourable than that which it accords to investments and returns of its own investors or to investments and returns of investors of any third State, whichever is more favourable.

2. Each Contracting Party shall in its territory accord to investors of the other Contracting Party, as regards management, maintenance, use, enjoyment or disposal of their investment, treatment which is fair and equitable and not less favourable than that which it accords to its own investors or of any third State, whichever is more favourable.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 and 2 of this Article shall not be construed so as to oblige one Contracting Party to extend to the investors of the other the benefit of any treatment, preference or privilege which may be extended by the former Contracting Party by virtue of:

(a) Any customs union or free trade area or a monetary union or similar international agreements leading to such unions or institutions or other forms of regional cooperation to which either of the Contracting Party is or may become a party;

(b) Any international agreement or arrangement relating wholly or mainly to taxation.

Article 4. Compensation for Losses

1. When investments of investors of either Contracting Party suffer losses owing to war, armed conflict, a state of national emergency, revolt, insurrection, riot or other similar events in the territory of the other Contracting Party, they shall be accorded by the latter Contracting Party treatment, as regards restitution, indemnification, compensation or other settlement, not less favourable than that which the latter Contracting Party accords to its own investors or to investors of any third State.

2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1 of this Article, investors of one Contracting Party who in any of the events referred to in that paragraph suffer losses in the territory of the other Contracting Party resulting from:paragraph 1 of this Article, investors of one Contracting Party who in any of the events referred to in that paragraph suffer losses in the territory of the other Contracting Party resulting from:

(a) Requisitioning of their property by its forces or authorities,

(b) Destruction of their property by its forces or authorities which was not caused in combat action or was not required by the necessity of the situation

Shall be accorded just and adequate compensation for the losses sustained during the period of the requisitioning or as a result of the destruction of the property. Resulting payments shall be freely transferable in a freely convertible currency without undue delay.

Article 5. Expropriation

1. Investments of investors of either Contracting Party shall not be nationalized, expropriated or subjected to measures having effect equivalent to nationalization or expropriation (hereinafter referred to as "expropriation") in the territory of the other Contracting Party except for a public purpose. The expropriation shall be carried out under due process of law, on a non-discriminatory basis and shall be accompanied by provisions for the payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation. Such compensation shall amount to the actual value of the investment expropriated immediately before the expropriation or before the impending expropriation became public knowledge, whichever is the earlier, shall include interest calculated at the normal commercial rate from the date of expropriation until the date of payment, shall be made without undue delay, be effectively realizable and be freely transferable in a freely convertible currency.

2. The investor affected shall have a right to prompt review by a judicial or other independent authority of that Contracting Party, of his or its case and of the valuation of his or its investment in accordance with the principles set out in this Article.

Article 6. Transfers

1. The Contracting Parties shall guarantee to the investors of the other Contracting Party, after they have fulfilled all their fiscal obligations, the unrestricted transfer of payments related to their investments and returns. Transfers shall be effected without undue delay in the convertible currency in which the investment was originally made or in any other convertible currency. Unless otherwise agreed by the investor, transfers shall be made at the usual rate of exchange applicable on the date of transfer. Such transfers shall include in particular, though not exclusively:

(a) Capital and additional amounts to maintain or increase the investment;

(b) Profits, interest, dividends and other current income;

(c) Funds in repayment of loans;

(d) Royalties or fees;

(e) Proceeds of sale or liquidation of the investment;

(f) The earnings of nationals of one Contracting Party who are allowed to work in connection with an investment made by the investor of this Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

2. Transfers shall be considered to have been made "without undue delay" in the sense of paragraph 1 of this Article when they have been made within the period normally necessary for the completion of the transfer. Such period shall under no circumstances exceed three months.

Article 7. Subrogation

1. If one Contracting Party or its designated Agency ("the first Contracting Party") makes payment to its own investors under an indemnity given in respect of an investment in the territory of the other Contracting Party ("the second Contracting Party"), the second Contracting Party shall recognize:

(a) The assignment to the first Contracting Party by law or by legal transaction of all the rights and claims of the party indemnified, and

(b) That the first Contracting Party is entitled to exercise such rights and enforce such claims by virtue of subrogation to the same extent as the party indemnified.

2. The first Contracting Party shall be entitled in all circumstances to the same treatment in respect of:

(a) The rights and claims acquired by it by virtue of the assignment, and

(b) Any payments received in pursuance of those rights and claims,

As the party indemnified was entitled to receive by virtue of this Agreement in respect of the investment concerned and related returns.

Article 8. Settlement of Investment Disputes between a Contracting Party and an Investor of the other Contracting Party

1. Any dispute which may arise between an investor of one Contracting Party and the other Contracting Party in connection with an investment on the territory of that other Contracting Party shall be subject to negotiations between the parties in dispute.

2. If any dispute between an investor of one Contracting Party and the other Contracting Party cannot be thus settled within a period of six months, the investor shall be entitled to submit the case either to:

(a) The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) having regard to the applicable provisions of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States opened for signature at Washington D.C. on 18 March 1965;

Or

(b) An arbitrator or international ad hoc arbitral tribunal established under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The parties to the dispute may agree in writing to modify these Rules. The arbitral awards shall be final and binding on both parties to the dispute.

Article 9. Settlement of Disputes between the Contracting Parties

1. Disputes between the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall, if possible, be settled through consultations or negotiations.

2. If the dispute cannot be thus settled within six months, it shall upon the request of either Contracting Party be submitted to an Arbitral Tribunal in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

3. The Arbitral Tribunal shall be constituted for each individual case in the following way. Within two months of the receipt of the request for arbitration, each Contracting Party shall appoint one member of the Tribunal. These two members shall then select a national of a third State who on approval of the two Contracting Parties shall be appointed Chairman of the Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as the "Chairman"). The Chairman shall be appointed within three months from the date of appointment of the other two members.

4. If within the periods specified in paragraph 3 of this Article the necessary appointments have not been made, a request may be made to the President of the International Court of Justice to make the appointments. If he happens to be a national of either Contracting Party, or if he is otherwise prevented from discharging the said function, the Vice- President shall be invited to make the appointments. If the Vice-President also happens to be a national of either Contracting Party or is prevented from discharging the said function, the member of the International Court of Justice next in seniority who is not a national of either Contracting Party shall be invited to make the appointments.

5. The Arbitral Tribunal shall reach its decision by a majority of votes. Such decision shall be binding. Each Contracting Party shall bear the cost of its own arbitrator and its representation in the arbitral proceedings; the cost of the Chairman and the remaining costs shall be borne in equal parts by both Contracting Parties. The Arbitral Tribunal shall determine its own procedure.

Article 10. Application of other Rules and Special Commitments

If the provisions of law of either Contracting Party or provisions of any international agreement binding on both Contracting Parties existing at present or established hereafter in addition to the present Agreement contain rules, whether general or specific, entitling investments by investors of the other Contracting Party to a treatment more favourable than is provided for by the present Agreement, such rules shall, to the extent that they are more favourable, prevail over the present Agreement.

Article 11. Applicability of this Agreement

The provisions of this Agreement shall apply to future investments made by investors of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party, and also to the investments existing in accordance with the laws of the Contracting Parties on the date this Agreement coming into force.

Article 12. Entry Into Force, Duration and Termination

1. Each of the Contracting Parties shall notify the other of the completion of the procedures required by its law for bringing this Agreement into force. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the second notification.

2. This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Thereafter, it shall remain in force until the expiration of a twelve month period from the date either Contracting Party notifies the other in writing of its intention to terminate the Agreement.

3. In respect of investments made prior to the termination of this Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall continue to be effective for a period of ten years from the date of termination.

Conclusion

DONE in duplicate at Prague, this 14th day of October, 1996, in the Czech, Belarusian and English languages. In case of any divergence of interpretation the English text shall prevail.

For the Czech Republic

For the Republic of Belarus