The Panama Ports Company is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from the Panamanian government over the latter’s “illegal” takeover of two ports, reports the AP.
A subsidiary of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings, Panama Ports Company issued a statement on Friday demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings launched by the company in early February.
The Panamanian government seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports last week, following a Supreme Court decision that deemed the concession allowing Panama Ports Company to run the two ports was “unconstitutional.”
Panama Ports Company has operated the two ports since 1997, receiving a 25-year extension to its concession in 2021. Panama’s Comptroller Anel Flores claimed an audit of the concession found payments that were not made, accounting errors and the apparent existence of a “ghost” concession operating with the ports since 2015. The company has vigorously denied the allegations.
Panama’s audit played out in parallel with an international power struggle over the two ports, initiated by US President Donald Trump, who began lobbing accusations of unfair treatment and Chinese control of the Panama Canal even before taking office in January 2025. He reiterated threats to retake the Panama Canal in February amid a similarly aggressive posture over control of Greenland
[See more: Panama port seizure sparks Hong Kong fury amid global trade tensions]
By March 2025, CK Hutchison announced a deal to sell its majority stake in several ports around the world, including those in Panama, to an international consortium that included US investment firm BlackRock Inc. The US$23 billion deal would have effectively handed control of the Panama Canal to the US, but objections from Beijing brought the proposed sale to a standstill.
CK Hutchison and the Panama Ports Company “will not relent and they are not coming for some token relief – they will assert all of their rights and damages they are due because of the radical breaches and anti-investor conduct of the Panamanian State,” Friday’s statement said.
Panama Ports Company said the Panamanian government had previously misstated the compensation figure sought in press comments, referring to Panama Economy Minister Felipe Chapman’s assertion that the company was seeking US$1.5 billion.
In a separate statement, CK Hutchison accused Panama of occupying the two ports and taking the property and personnel of the Panama Ports Company “without transparency.”
The company also said it would continue to “pursue recourse to available national and international legal proceedings” on the matter.
