Another Panama Victory Involving Arbitration Against Sacyr For $2.3 Billion

The Republic of Panama achieved a major legal victory after winning the investment arbitration brought by Sacyr SA, under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.  In 2018, Sacyr SA, part of the Unidos por el Canal Consortium (GUPC) for the construction of the Third Set of Locks of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), filed an international arbitration claim seeking US$2.362 billion, alleging that actions by the ACP during the bidding and execution of the project would have violated the Investment Protection Treaty between Spain and Panama.  However, the arbitral tribunal, in its award issued on October 31, 2025, rejected all of Sacyr’s claims. It determined that the company failed to prove its allegations and that the actions of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) cannot be attributed to Panama as sovereign acts. 

Furthermore, he stressed that, had they not been dismissed for lack of merit, the claims would be inadmissible, since their basis is contractual and not from the Treaty.  The award also orders Sacyr to pay US $6,391,831.66 to Panama in arbitration costs, including legal fees and expenses of the process.  Following the announcement, President José Raúl Mulino wrote on his X account that the success in the arbitration filed by Sacyr against ACP/Panama is a great achievement. “I acknowledge the effort of the ACP team, its lawyers, and Ministers Chapman and Icaza who collaborated. We are moving forward steadily.”