Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the consortium that built the expansion locks of the Panama Canal must return $548 million to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), according to an award from the International Chamber of Commerce in Miami.

Sacyr, which has 41% in GUPC, must pay  $255 million (225 million euros, at the current exchange rate), say  Spanish media reports.

The payment date of the advances - whose disbursement is guaranteed by letters of credit - was established by June 2018. However, GUPC filed an arbitration to question the date of payment of all the advances.

In January 2017, GUPC requested "an arbitration to unequivocally determine that the repayment of these advances must be produced in accordance with the arbitration awards that must dictate which party is responsible for the unforeseen costs that arose over the course of the year." of the project".

GUPC, which in addition to Sacyr includes the Italian Impregilo, the Belgian Jan de Nul, and the Panamanian Cusa, was awarded the construction of the third set of locks in 2009 for $3.118 billion. However, after completing the work it submitted claims for alleged cost overruns that exceed $5 billion.