Projects in the Middle East are under pressure. And it has consequences.
Last week my good friend BJ Lee** from HKA forwarded me an interesting webinar series from Pinsent Masons, named “Water Desalination Projects in a Middle East Conflict Scenario”.
**they are one of the best partners you can rely on for contract risk mitigation or claims management. Believe me, one of my best professional experiences came from working with him a few years ago.
I added it immediately to my Events/Webinar tracker in the Knowledge Hub.
I’ve written before about the movements I made when the war started earlier this year, and we’ve talked about force majeure clauses too.
Adding that I’m currently working on Middle East projects across pretty much every stage: under construction, recently signed and entering supply chain, in the gap between bid and financial close, and under bidding.
I therefore found it a great opportunity to catch up on the legal side of these projects.
So, I share below a list of 13 points you should bear in mind to understand the situation as it unfolds.
Definitely, the situation is BIG.
Watching the 1st session hosted by Gurmeet Kaur and Ash Murtha of this webinar series (you can register here for the next 4 coming up), many things clicked, for instance those projects located in “The Bid-to-Signature Gap” as conflict risk can arise before contractual protections become effective.
Specially interesting also how a force majeure clause during a Project can evolve into a full-blown financing crisis, a restructuring and project-rescue exercise.
Due to the strategic importance of water, investment must continue despite geopolitical and supply chain uncertainty.