THE LENA GOLDFIELD

Southland Times, Issue 21897, 24 December 1932, Page 5

THE LENA GOLDFIELD

QUESTION OF ARBITRAL AWARD. (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, December 21. Replying to a question in the House of Commons regarding the Lena goldfields award, Mr R. A. Eden (Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs) said that Sir John Simon (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs) had the matter under consideration, but that. he had been prevented by his recent illness from dealing with it as he intended. He hoped that when the House met again Sir John Simon would be able to announce such action as had been taken in the meantime. On July 11 last Sir John Simon in the House of Commons,- when asked what steps the Government had decided to take to secure payment from the Soviet Government of the repudiated arbitral award of September, 1930, amounting to approximately £13,000,000 in favour of the Lena Goldfields, Ltd., said that failing a more equitable offer, the British Government would again be obliged to claim full payment of the arbitral award, and take such other action as it deemed fit, the Soviet Government being given a reasonable opportunity to increase its offer by £1,000,000. The verdict of the Court of Arbitration was that Lena Goldfields, Limited, had been prevented by the Soviet from carrying out a concession agreement signed in 1925. The Court consisted of a German professor, elected by both parties, and Sir Leslie Scott, K.C., nominee of the Lena Company, which was awarded £12,965,000. The Russian Government member of the Court withdrew after the first sitting in Berlin.