Czech Republic wins arbitration against Israeli firm

The Czech Republic won a case of international arbitration against the Israeli firm Phoenix Action over nearly one billion crowns, or almost 50 million US dollars, the Czech Finance Ministry said on Thursday. The Israeli company pressed charges against the Czech state at a court of arbitration in Paris for having failed to protect its 2001 investment in a Czech machinery company, ČKD Blansko. The outgoing finance minister, Miroslav Kalousek, said the court rejected the claims at the beginning of the arbitration in September but the ministry only received the final decision on Thursday.