Ciments Français: Russian Putrabali No More
When the Arbitrazh Court of Kemerovo Region in Siberia granted leave to recognize an annulled ICC award in 2011 for the first time, international and domestic commentators rushed to acclaim the new arbitration-friendly attitude of the Russian courts, thus placing Russia ‘into line with a select number of jurisdictions’ (e.g. France and the Netherlands). Some compared the ruling in Ciments Français with the French Hilmarton and Putrabali, and the Dutch Yukos decisions, where the Cour de Cassation and the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, respectively, granted applications to enforce arbitral awards, even though the latter were set aside at the seat of arbitration.
Given the wide international r [...]
International Dispute Resolution Involving Russian and CIS Companies
Overview of the conference held on February 23 – 24 in London
A conference on international dispute resolution involving Russian and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States; association of former Soviet Republics) companies took place in London last week. The conference was well attended, mainly by major law firms in London and Russia, by Cypriot lawyers and by experts with experience in Russia and in the CIS region. Switzerland was represented by Lalive and Schellenberg Wittmer. Simultaneous translation (English-Russian and Russian-English) was provided throughout the conference.
This post would not be the place for a full summary of the two days of speeches. Here are nevertheless a few hi [...]
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 ( [...]
