Chronology of events. (1) On 13 October 2010, the Authority approved a scheme on investment incentives (‘the scheme’) (1) notified by the Icelandic authorities pursuant to Article 1(3) in Part I of Protocol 3, by Decision No 390/10/COL.
(2) The scheme provides for the possibility of granting aid in the form of direct grants, through various tax exemptions for up to 10 years and through the sale and lease of land below market value to companies in all sectors except the financial sector, in connection with an initial investment in areas eligible for regional aid (known as ‘c-regions’) in Iceland.
(3) The scheme expires on 31 December 2013.
(4) The legal basis for the scheme as approved by the Authority is:
(a) Act No 99/2010 on incentives for initial investments in Iceland (‘the Act’) (2), adopted by the Icelandic Parliament on 29 June 2010; and
(b) Regulation (EU) No 985/2010 on incentives for initial investments in Iceland (3), issued by the Ministry of Industry on 25 November 2010 (‘the Regulation’), corresponding to a draft regulation which was submitted to the Authority on 27 September 2010. The Regulation is a piece of secondary legislation, based on the Act.
(5) On 30 December 2010, the Ministry of Industry issued a new regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1150/2010 (‘the Supplementary Regulation’), amending the Regulation. The Supplementary Regu lation was not notified to the Authority.
(6) During the period 2010 to 2013, the Icelandic State entered into a number of agreements which it considered to fall under the scheme. The agreements are collectively referred to herein as ‘the six investment agreements’. They are as follows:
(a) on 30 December 2010, the Minister for Industry on behalf of the Icelandic Government entered into an investment agreement with Becromal Iceland ehf., Becromal Properties ehf., Stokkur Energy ehf. and Becromal SpA, with a projected investment cost of EUR 117,25 million;
(b) on 30 December 2010, the Minister for Industry on behalf of the Icelandic Government entered into an investment agreement with Thorsil ehf., Timminco Ltd. and Stokkur Energy ehf.;
(c) on 17 February 2011, the Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism and the Minister for Finance on behalf of the Icelandic Government entered into an investment agreement with Íslenska Kísilfélagið ehf., Tomahawk Development á Íslandi ehf. and GSM Enterprises LLC;
(d) on 22 September 2011, the Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism on behalf of the Icelandic Government entered into an investment ...
Chronology of events. On 7 February 2007, SDO had, through an application, proposed to the municipality the building of a service facility for ski resort customers on property 271/8. An amendment of the municipal regulations would be necessary to use the area as a public parking facility. In a letter to the municipality dated 19 February 2007, SDO expressed their interest in buying the property. The municipality replied in a letter dated 30 November 2007, that until it had decided on the amendment of the municipal regulations, SDO’s proposal to buy the property would be put on hold. On 31 March 2008, the municipality approved the application. XX then filed a complaint on the muni cipality’s decision. By letter dated 5 May 2008, the municipality informed SDO of the complaint, and that the request to buy the property could not be considered before a decision on the complaint was taken. On 26 May 2008, the municipality referred OBs’ complaint to the regional regulations authority (Fylkesmannen) for processing. By letter dated 30 May 2008, OB expressed its interest in buying the property to the municipality, in case their complaint was not sustained by the regional authority. By letter dated 6 June 2008, the municipality informed SDO that the municipality would not consider the request to buy the property until the complaint on the municipality’s decision had been dealt with by the regional authority. The municipality also explicitly denied that SDO had any option on buying the property. On 30 June 2008, Oppdal municipality decided to obtain two separate evaluations of the property, and thereafter proceed with sale negotiations with SDO (1). Oppdal municipality obtained two separate reports which assessed the value of the property. The first report dated 7 July 2008, was made by Xxxxxx Xxxx, and the second report, dated 9 July 2008, was made by Xxxx Xxxxxx. The property’s value was assessed respectively as NOK 850 000 and 800 000. Both experts had estimated a ‘normal sales value’, defined as the price the property could be sold for on the day of appraisal, meaning a price that more than one buyer would be willing to pay. One of the experts, Xxxx Xxxxxx, also added to this definition in his report, that the assessment disregarded potential buyers who due to exceptional circumstances were willing to pay a particularly high price. On 15 July 2008, the municipality invited SDO to a meeting to discuss a draft sales contract for the property for the first time. The municipality informed...