Companies are watching the newly installed Libyan government closely for any sign of whether it will favour business, says a legal expert.
"We don't know what direction the economic policy of the new government will take," said Dr Kilian Baelz, a partner at Amereller Legal Consultants, a law firm that deals with numerous businesses in Libya. "Many companies hope that some of the restrictions from the Qaddafi times will be lifted, [such as] foreign ownership restrictions."
For now, contracts drawn up before regime of Muammar Qaddafi are a key point of contention. Tuareg Capital "wrote off 2011" after a client declared force majeure on a number of contracts when the country's revolution began, said Abdulla Boulsien, a partner at the private equity firm, which has operated in Libya since 2006.
By pulling out of contractual obligations when the civil war began, international companies infuriated many Libyan partners that did not see UN sanctions against the country as legitimate, Mr Baelz added.
"Now the Libyan side is under tremendous pressure to scale up operations and to get things moving again," he said.