Romania has won the lawsuit in the Rosia Montana case brought by Gabriel Resources in 2015.

The Romanian state will not have to pay any compensation to the Canadian group, and moreover, it must receive over 1.000.000 euros, 30 million lei and over 1.000.000 dollars in court costs and costs of arbitration proceedings.

The international courts' decision was communicated late last night to the government in Bucharest and is a surprising one, after in recent weeks politicians in power, including Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and the finance minister, have sent signals that Romania expects to lose the case and pay billions of euros.

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu thanks first of all the team of lawyers who represented Romania. "We fought because it was unfair that every wage earner and pensioner in this country should suffer because of the decisions of former prime ministers", added Marcel Ciolacu.

Also in an online reaction, the leader of PNL's governing partners, Nicolae Ciuca, credits the Ministry of Finance for winning the case. After nine years of trial, it was possible to reach this final and enforceable decision, especially as a result of the work done by the experts of the Ministry of Finance, led by Marcel Bolos and the team of lawyers selected by the ministry, says the Senate President.

However, Minister Bolos says, also in a first reaction, that the decision in this case could be appealed in the next four months.

A reaction also came from former prime minister Dacian Ciolos, one of the politicians criticised as being to blame for the lawsuit opened by the Canadians. He said all those who accused him should understand that he was right to protect the Rosia Montana site. "National heritage of world value is not for sale", he wrote.

USR leader Catalin Drula, also from the opposition, criticised the fact that before the decision there were reports that Romania would have to pay billions in compensation. "Was there a campaign to make the PSD leaders make money on the stock market from the increase in the shares of Gabriel Resources?" - asks the USR president, who believes that the National Anticorruption Directorate should urgently investigate itself.

Translated by Radu Matei

SOURCE: Radio România Actualități