Moroccan Court Dismisses French Firm’s Lawsuit in 15-Year Cement Plant Dispute

The two parties had entered into a partnership for a cement plant creation project. Fives FCB was supposed to handle the technical and financial aspects of the project. But the French company allegedly did not respect the contract clauses, which led Ynna Ciment to suspend the execution of this project. The Moroccan justice’s ruling ends a long legal procedure that lasted more than fifteen years. This demonstrates the capacity of the kingdom’s judicial authorities to handle complex economic cases with complete independence. Moroccan judges were not distracted by the media campaigns conducted by the French party to try to influence the course of the trial.

"This judgment is not only a judicial victory, it is also a symbolic victory for the judicial system in Morocco, and for the values defended by the late Miloud Chaâbi, such as commitment, credibility, and sense of responsibility," declared the communication advisor to Al3omk, deploring "the way in which some media were instrumentalized to try to influence public opinion, by offering large spaces to the French company’s officials to unilaterally present their version of the facts, obscuring the Moroccan party’s point of view, going as far as accusing the judgment, at the time still awaited, of representing a threat to the investment climate in Morocco."

For the latter, "Fives FCB was not a real investor in Morocco as it was portrayed, but a contracting party that did not respect its commitments, which gave the Ynna Ciment group a legal basis to end the partnership, elements documented in the minutes and official correspondence presented before the justice." And to conclude: "The late Miloud Chaâbi built his name and stature with perseverance and self-determination, and what he endured in terms of smear campaigns in this case was hard and painful, but this judgment has restored the truth, and has offered some comfort to his soul, his family, and his economic group."