24/07/2025
€24 Million – From a Dairy Factory to the Freezing of NOC Assets
The “Fat Cats” Case That Exploded Two Decades Later
Let me explain how it all began…
I recently came across the news about the Paris Court of Appeal freezing the assets of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) and ordering it to pay €24 million to Olin Holdings. My search through court records and media coverage led me to a story nearly two decades old — one that began with a dairy and juice factory near Tripoli Airport and ended with the freezing of assets belonging to Libya’s most important sovereign oil entity. Here’s what I discovered, with dates and names:
1️⃣ The Seed of Investment (2002–2005)
• 2002 – Libyan investor Akram Saeed Abu Ghumja obtained official authorization to build a dairy and juice factory under the French brand Candia.
• 2003–2005 – The factory was completed on land leased from his father, Saeed Abu Ghumja, with an estimated investment of €20 million.
2️⃣ The Confiscation Surprise (October–November 2006)
• 19 October 2006 – Administrative Order No. 241/2006 confiscated the land and entire factory without compensation.
• 12 November 2006 – The company was ordered to vacate within three days. Partial demolition of the site followed in the subsequent weeks.
3️⃣ The “Fat Cats” Era
Just two months before the confiscation, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi delivered his “Together for Tomorrow’s Libya” speech in Sirte (20 August 2006), targeting senior officials he dubbed “fat cats” and vowing to go after their illicit wealth.
That speech launched the “Where Did You Get This?” campaign, which was used to seize the assets of businessmen. It appears the Olin factory fell victim to this selective political-security environment.
4️⃣ Legal Battles in Libya (2006–2014)
• 2006–2009 – Multiple exemption requests were rejected.
• April 2010 – Tripoli Court of Appeal annulled the confiscation order, but authorities refused to return the factory.
• February 2014 – A Libyan court rejected Olin’s claim for compensation, prompting the investor to pursue international arbitration.
5️⃣ International Arbitration Rules in Favor of the Investor (2014–2018)
• 3 July 2014 – Arbitration request filed at the ICC, based on the 2004 Libya–Cyprus bilateral investment treaty.
• 25 May 2018 – The tribunal issued its final award: €18.225 million in compensation + €1.8 million in costs and interest.
• Olin’s legal team was led by Fasken Martineau and King & Spalding, while Libya was represented first by independent consultants, and later by Gide Loyrette Nouel during appeals.
6️⃣ Global Enforcement Fronts (2021–2023)
• April 2021 – April 2023 – New York courts affirmed the enforceability of the award and authorized the seizure of Libyan assets in the U.S.
7️⃣ New Target: The National Oil Corporation (2025)
• 1 July 2025 – The Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the NOC is a “state arm” and upheld preventive seizures of its bank accounts and affiliated companies in France. The court rejected claims of sovereign immunity and cleared the path to enforce a compensation judgment now totaling around $24 million, including accrued interest.
8️⃣ How Did a Dairy Factory Become an Oil Leverage Tool?
1. An arbitrary confiscation during a populist anti-corruption campaign, lacking legal justification.
2. Domestic courts failed to provide redress, even after a judgment reversing the confiscation.
3. A neutral international tribunal found Libya in breach of its investment treaty obligations.
4. Years of enforcement efforts eventually targeted the NOC, a vital and liquid state entity, after proving it operates under government control.
9️⃣ Were Other Companies Targeted Too?
Documents from the campaign point to similar measures against other local businesses in 2006–2007. However, Olin remains the only internationally documented case. The lack of transparency at the time makes it difficult to identify other victims — though the “Where Did You Get This?” climate likely triggered dozens of silent disputes.
Summary
The Olin case is a vivid example of how politics can intersect with investment:
A confiscation decree in 2006 has led, 19 years later, to the freezing of Libya’s National Oil Corporation’s assets in the heart of Paris.
📌 A hypothesis I’m currently investigating concerns the legal representation of Libya. Why was the NOC targeted, instead of the usual route of going after the Libyan Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO), as in Prince Laurent of Belgium’s case?
One reason could be that the claimant is Libyan, and he chose to pursue the NOC because its funds are not frozen or protected internationally — it’s a liquid and vital entity.
Another angle relates to a similarity in names between members of Libya’s legal defense and figures connected to the oil sector, which merits deeper scrutiny.
This remains a hypothesis that calls for a dedicated research team. For now, this is where individual effort ends, and collective inquiry must begin.
🖋 Research, Compilation, and Analysis: Mohammed Algarj – 23 July 2025
Verdict: A French court rules to freeze NOC assets, valued at approximately €24 million.
📸 Photo: Journalist and Financial Data Analyst Mr. Mohammed Algarj
