After a brilliant victory last July, the Tunisian state is again on the front line of a legal battle. A Canadian company, Zenith Energy, whose complaint of US $ 130 million was rejected by an international arbitration court, is now trying to invalidate the decision, based on charges that seem to be desperate as they are infused.
A victory for the legitimacy of the state
The dispute, which relates to the petroleum concession of Sidi El Kilani, opposed Zenith Energy to the Tunisian State and the Tunisian company of oil activities (ETAP). The Canadian company, believing that it had been injured, had brought an arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce (CCI).
The decision rendered in July 2025 was welcomed in Tunisia as recognition of the legitimacy of state actions in the management of its national resources. The arbitral sentence rejected the entire extravagant complaint of Zenith, ending a dispute that potentially threatened public finances.
A maneuver to get around the defeat
Refusing to accept the decision, Zenith Energy has chosen to relaunch the conflict by attacking the process itself. The company filed a request for cancellation of the sentence before the Swiss Federal Courtarguing that certain members of the court would not have disclosed alleged ties with Tunisia.
This approach, which intervenes after losing on the substance of the file, is perceived as an attempt at the last chance on the part of the foreign company. In the absence of solid arguments to challenge the judgment, Zenith Energy tries to question the impartiality of an arbitration system yet respected internationally.
The fight for sovereignty
This is not the first dispute between this company and Tunisia. The legal relentlessness of Zenith Energy, which also maintains another arbitration procedure for a claim of $ 503 million US, raises the question of the sovereignty of our country. The stakes are high: it is a question of demonstrating that a state has the right to defend its interests without fear of repeated and costly legal attacks on the part of private companies which do not reach their ends.
Tunisia is preparing to defend its position once again, with an arbitral decision which has already proven it right. The case continues, and the country remains confident in justice, while keeping a vigilant eye on the maneuvers which aim to bypass its legitimacy.
