Loading…
Russia has appointed former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud as its party-appointed arbitrator in an investment treaty arbitration brought by Ukraine's state-owned Oschadbank.
The claim concerns assets and operations Oschadbank says it lost in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia after Russia's 2022 invasion.
The case proceeds under the 1998 Russia-Ukraine bilateral investment treaty on the encouragement and reciprocal protection of investments.
The three-member tribunal is presided over by Costa Rican arbitrator Dyalá Jiménez, jointly chosen by both sides.
Chandrachud had earlier declined Russian approaches in disputes involving Wintershall Dea and Ukrenergo.
Russia and Ukraine sign the bilateral investment treaty under which the claim is brought
Russia announces the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia
Oschadbank transmits a formal Notice of Dispute to Russia under the treaty
The six-month window for Russia to respond passes without a response
Oschadbank formally initiates arbitration proceedings
Russia's appointment of D.Y. Chandrachud as its arbitrator is reported
A bilateral investment treaty is an agreement between two countries promising fair treatment and protection against uncompensated expropriation for each other's investors. Crucially, most BITs let the investor sue the host state directly before an international tribunal instead of going through that state's own courts — this is investor-state dispute settlement. The tribunal is usually three members: each side appoints one arbitrator, and the presiding arbitrator is chosen jointly or by an appointing authority. A party-appointed arbitrator is not that party's advocate; the duty of independence and impartiality applies to all three. That is why a former judge of one country can sit as the appointee of another.
Simple Analogy: Think of it as two neighbours who agreed in advance that any dispute goes to a panel of three referees — each picks one, and they jointly pick the third, so no one has to rely on the other's household rules.
India adopted a revised Model BIT in 2015 that narrowed investor protections and requires exhaustion of local remedies before arbitration — a standard Mains comparison point.
Investor-state cases are frequently administered by the PCA at The Hague, and India has itself been a party in such proceedings.
The multilateral treaty under which the Wintershall Dea proceedings were brought; a frequent subject of investor-state claims in the energy sector.
GS Paper II > International Relations and International Institutions; GS Paper III > Investment Models
General Awareness > Persons in News
A treaty between two states setting out protections for investors from each state investing in the other
A mechanism allowing a foreign investor to bring a claim directly against a host state before an international tribunal
An arbitrator nominated by one side of a dispute who nonetheless owes duties of independence and impartiality to the tribunal
A formal communication that starts the cooling-off period required by many treaties before arbitration can be commenced