PKP Intercity awarded record compensation

The law firm Domański Zakrzewski Palinka represented PKP Intercity in an arbitration over the payment of a contractual penalty by Alstom for delayed supply of Pendolino trains. The arbitral tribunal awarded PKP Intercity EUR 42.3 million with interest, allowing the greater part of its action. This is one of the largest amounts awarded to a claimant in the history of Polish arbitration. The arbitral tribunal also dismissed the greater part of the supplier’s counterclaim (allowing only about 0.5% of its claim).

The case was pending before the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw. The dispute focused on the principles of liability of the defendant supplier of the rolling stock and reasons for the delay.

In order to handle the case, not only a thorough knowledge of law but also familiarity with the organisation of the railway market and technical aspects of the supply of trains were required.

The case was handled by an interdisciplinary DZP team led by Dr Aleksandra Auleytner, Partner and Head of IP&TM Practice, who specialises in advising on rail transport and other matters, and Józef Palinka, Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution Practice at DZP.

The team also included Paweł Lewandowski, Partner, Maciej Orkusz, Senior Associate, and Anna Ciepla, Associate, from the Dispute Resolution Practice; Tomasz Darowski, Partner, Dr Krzysztof Fliszkiewicz, Senior Associate, and Michał Przychoda, Associate, from the Infrastructure and Energy Practice, and Tadeusz Piątek, counsel from the IP&TMT Practice.