I. BACKGROUND

1. On 7 July 2012, the Arbitral Tribunal issued Procedural Order No. 12, providing for the next steps of the procedure and in particular for the implementation of an expertise for the verification of the database (the “Database Verification”). The Arbitral Tribunal announced that it would prepare a further Procedural Order to “deal with the mission of the Expert(s) to be appointed”.

2. On 17 July 2012, Claimants sent an unsolicited letter emphasizing the qualities that the expert(s) should have, and announced that they were prepared to update their Annexes and Database regarding the identity of Claimants.

3. On 3rd August 2012, Respondent sent unsolicited comments on Procedural Order No. 12 expressing certain complaints towards Procedural Order No. 12, without filing any specific requests for relief.

4. On 7 August 2012, the Arbitral Tribunal circulated a draft Procedural Order No. 13, proposed by the majority of the Arbitral Tribunal, and aimed at suggesting an expert, specifying the scope of his mission and setting out a timeline for the Database Verification.