1. The history of this case begins with a letter dated April 2, 2003 from (1) Wintershall Aktiengesellshaft (“Wintershall”) a company incorporated in the Federal Republic of Germany and (2) Wintershall Energía S.A. (“WIAR” or the “Argentine Company”) a wholly-owned Argentinean subsidiary of Wintershall, to the President of the Republic of Argentina: reciting the points of dispute with Argentina. It sets out how and in what way the Government of Argentina had failed to comply with the rights and guarantees granted to German investors under the terms of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) Concerning the Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investments between Argentina and the Federal Republic of Germany1 – hereinafter “Argentina–Germany BIT”: - a treaty ratified by both Contracting Parties and approved by Law No. 24.098 of the Argentine Congress.