The 12th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum was held on June 26–28. Dmitry Dyakin, Partner and Co-Head of Dispute Resolution Practice at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin and Partners law firm (RGD), spoke at the session titled "Fighting for the sky: from challenges to opportunities. Strategies to protect businesses and passengers," which was held with the support of Aeroflot PJCS.

The sanctions imposed on Russia have affected the country’s aviation industry. Air carriers have to overcome many challenges and difficulties. The new legal realities that emerged at the junction of several jurisdictions set new industry trends and work approaches. The session’s participants discussed how to effectively protect the rights and interests of Russian clients in case of disagreements with foreign leasing companies, as well as how to avoid lengthy and expensive litigation and what arguments to use.

Dmitry Dyakin spoke about methods for overcoming various restrictions in foreign disputes, given that the Russian businesses’ access to foreign justice has become more difficult. He cited some examples: in one of them, it took four days for the RGD team to overturn the seizure of an Aeroflot aircraft in Sri Lanka; in another one, the firm managed to settle a dispute over the seizure of several aircraft, thus avoiding a major trial.

"In arbitration, it’s very important to have an unbiased tribunal ready to treat the positions of all parties with justice," said Dmitry Dyakin. "At RGD, we have always been paying much attention to this, especially in recent years, which has allowed us to achieve good results for our clients."