Major Pitfalls for Foreign Investors in Russia: What Are Russian BITs Worth?
Over the past few months, Russia’s outgoing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been busy campaigning for foreign investment into various industries of the Russian economy. In a nutshell, the thinking behind the new plan for improving the investment climate in Russia is that easing access to strategic industries for foreign investors will do the trick. However, no proposals have been made to increase the level of investor protection in case a deal falls apart.
While it is dubious that better access to the mousetrap gives much comfort to the unlucky mouse caught in it, bilateral investment protection treaties (BITs) provide arguably the only tools “to open the mousetrap” in the context o [...]
Recent Swedish Ruling on Arbitrability
- By Ola Nilsson, White & Case LLP,
for White & Case
On 7 October 2011 the Svea Court of Appeal ruled on whether an arbitral award should be declared invalid or annulled because the dispute – as alleged by the plaintiff – was not arbitrable under the Swedish Arbitration Act.1 In finding that the dispute was arbitrable, the Svea Court considered several interesting issues analyzed below.
The background is as follows:
To build a golf course in Moscow, a Russian company (the “Russian Borrower”) had borrowed 22 million Swedish Crowns from a Swedish bank (the “Swedish Bank”) under a loan agreement entered into on 24 January 1990 (the “Loan Agreement”). The Loan Agreement included an arbitration clause providing for arbitration und [...]
10 Investor-State Awards I Had Hoped to Read in 2010
Last year, around this time, I offered a list of 10 investor-state arbitral awards I hoped to see in 2010.
If time permits, I may do another list for 2011. But, first I thought I’d take a look back at last year’s list and offer a brief update on those cases. Rather, than do all of the heavy-lifting here, I’ll direct readers of this blog to relevant reporting in my Investment Arbitration Reporter newsletter (not to be confused with Kluwer’s ITA newsletter) where appropriate. (You won’t need a subscription to view the articles that are referenced below, as we’ll make them publicly available.)
Without further ado, here’s a run-down of the ten cases from last year.
Suez, Vivendi, Ang [...]
Are Russian Commercial Courts Becoming More Cooperative (and Predictable) in Aid of Foreign Arbitration and Litigation?
- By David Goldberg, White & Case LLP,
for White & Case
The clearest indication of a shift in the approach of the Russian arbitrazh (commercial) courts* came in April 2010, when the Presidium of Russia’s Supreme Arbitrazh (Commercial) Court issued a precedential decision, holding that interim relief measures may be ordered by Russian arbitrazh courts in aid of foreign arbitration. The ruling has resolved an ongoing debate over the issue in the lower courts, and has suggested a positive shift in the attitude of the Russian judiciary towards supporting foreign dispute resolution proceedings.
In the underlying case, proceedings in Russia arose in connection with an arbitration commenced in 2009 in the London Court of International Arbitration ( [...]
The Forgotten Bilateral Arbitration Agreement Between Sweden and The USSR: A New View on Enforcement of Sweden and Russia
It is well known that the New York Convention is widely recognized as a foundational instrument of international arbitration. In addition to this Convention, there are also international bilateral agreements in which Paragraph 1 of Article VII of the New York Convention specifically refers to and determines the relationship between its provisions and other agreements.
One interesting and noteworthy bilateral agreement is the Trade and Payments Agreement concluded between the USSR and Sweden in Moscow on 7 September 1940 (the “Agreement”). Although this agreement was entered into during the Soviet time, it still continues to operate in Russia, particularly with regard to Article 14 of the [...]
The International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: New Developments and a Short Comment on the Rumor Mill
Last month a number of noteworthy arbitration-related developments took place in Moscow.
Firstly, the international conference “Commercial Arbitration in Russia, Sweden and the UK: New Business Opportunities”, was held on 9-10 June at the Congress Center of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The conference was jointly organized by the Center of Arbitration and Mediation at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, CIA and BE Capital. More than 100 lawyers from Russia and abroad attended the conference with a wide range of interesting topics. In conjunction with this event, a meeting of the newly elected SCC Secretary G [...]
