A. RESPONDENT’S REQUEST AND GROUNDS FOR THE BIFURCATION OF

THE PROCEEDINGS

1. By letter of 9 August 2012, the Respondent requested the bifurcation of the arbitration to have the jurisdictional objections decided before the next steps of the proceedings, as previously decided through Procedural Orders nº 1, 2 and 3.

2. The Respondent presented the following grounds for the request:

a) Strong grounds for objecting to the Arbitral Tribunal’s jurisdiction have been recently discovered by the Respondent.

b) Article 23(3) of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law 2010 Arbitration Rules (“UNCITRAL Rules”) grants the Arbitral Tribunal the possibility of addressing and deciding the jurisdictional objections as a preliminary question.

c) Reasons of efficiency, cost control and sound administration of justice favor bifurcation when issues of arbitrability/jurisdiction are invoked by one of the parties.

d) The Respondent set forth three principal jurisdictional objections: