Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has rejected all claims brought by Turkish investors against Uzbekistan in a case registered in 2021, the Uzbek Ministry of Justice reported.
The arbitration tribunal issued its decision on 26 October after more than five years of proceedings. The dispute concerned a food industry enterprise.
The claimants were three Turkish nationals — Mehmet Zeki Obuz, Sevde Yilmaz and Huriye Obuz — and Turkish company Obuzlar Gida, which was undergoing liquidation.
The claimants based their case on the 1992 bilateral agreement between Uzbekistan and Türkiye on the mutual promotion and protection of investments.
The tribunal was constituted in February 2022. Hearings on the merits of the dispute were held in Washington from 1 to 10 July 2024.
Uzbekistan was represented by the Ministry of Justice and international law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle (Curtis). The firm opened an office in Tashkent in November 2025.
The public materials do not disclose the measures challenged by the claimants or the amount of compensation sought.
The tribunal's decision is final for the parties to the dispute.
In 2007, the Narodnoye Slovo newspaper reported that Mehmet Zeki Obuz had been sentenced to 16 years in prison in Uzbekistan. He was accused of evading customs duties, value-added tax and excise payments, misappropriating and embezzling budget funds, and committing other offences.
According to the newspaper, Obuz arrived in Uzbekistan in 1995 and became one of the founders of the Sundus joint venture that year. He was appointed the company's director general in 1998.
