Accor held a press conference yesterday to explain its position in the legal dispute between Diogenes Marino Gomez, the president of Dimargo SA, and the Dominican state (Corphotels) regarding the Hostal Nicolas de Ovando located on Calle Las Damas in the Colonial City, now under Accor management. According to Jacques Serpollier, the director general for Accor in the DR, the lease contract signed between Dimargo and the Dominican government indemnifies Accor from the dispute at hand. As reported in Diario Libre, the argument dates back to 1987 at which time the governmental hotels department Corphotel rescinded a contract signed with Dimargo by reason of failure to provide an agreed-upon investment amount for the physical installations of the Hostal Nicolas de Ovando. Accor would begin the reconstruction many years later.
Accor legal advisor Carlos Radhames Cornielle says that because of the agreement signed between Dimargo and Corphotels, the government is at most obliged to reimburse the previous investments made by Dimargo, indemnifying it from damages but that this does not go as far as requiring restitution of the contract nor return of the hotel to Dimargo management as demanded by Gomez.
Serpollier called the press conference explaining that the image of the hotel is being affected by the press coverage of the dispute. ?We are affected if Dominicans think that a major company such as Accor has ousted Mr. Dimargo from the hotel, but the truth is that Dimargo has a dispute with the Dominican government, not with us,? explained Serpollier. Serpollier explained Accor leased the hotel property in 1997, and the dispute between the Dominican government and Dimargo dates back to 1987. Serpollier reaffirmed that Dimargo?s recourse is to request financial compensation from the state for investments made when it had the property under lease. He explained that the contract Accor signed with the Dominican government upon taking over the management of the property established that Accor would not be affected by the legal dispute.
As reported in Hoy newspaper, the judgment from the Court of Appeals that ordered the return of the hotel to Dimargo is suspended until the Supreme Court of Justice decides on what Accor legal counsel described as irregularities in the legal procedures.