On June 27, the Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin & Partners (RGD) law firm organized a roundtable titled "International Arbitration in Singapore: Impartiality. Efficiency. Confidence" in St. Peterburg in collaboration with the Ministry of Law of Singapore and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). The event was held during the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF-2024) and supported by Russia's largest legal media outlet, Pravo.ru.

Attending the roundtable were Charlene Chang, Deputy Secretary (Development) of the Ministry of Law, Singapore; representatives of SIAC, including the CEO Gloria Lim and Deputy Registrar Vivekananda Neelakantan; Edmund J. Kronenburg, Managing Partner at Braddell Brothers, a leading Singapore law firm; Maxim Petchenko, Deputy Head of Legal Directorate at Gazprom Export; and Yan Kalish, Counsel of the Dispute Resolution Practice at RGD.

Moderating the event was Dmitry Dyakin, Co-head of RGD's Dispute Resolution Practice and member of the SIAC International Court of Arbitration.

The roundtable participants discussed Singapore's potential as a promising platform for resolving cross-border disputes involving Russian parties. Under the current sanctions, Russian companies are facing difficulties in accessing justice abroad. Despite this, Singapore remains a jurisdiction that is positively disposed towards Russian parties. It retains the ability to facilitate necessary payments through banks, attract leading and world-renowned international arbitrators, and enlist highly qualified local lawyers ready to represent Russian business interests in arbitration. Furthermore, Singapore can enforce judicial and arbitral awards in favor of Russian parties through independent courts. The experts also noted that Russian parties are increasingly opting for SIAC when drafting arbitration clauses in their international commercial contracts, recognizing these advantages.

The event generated significant interest among legal forum participants, attracting more than 70 representatives from large Russian companies.

Prior to the roundtable, Dmitry Dyakin, at the invitation of the Ministry of Law of Singapore, participated in a private meeting between the representatives of the Ministry of Law of Singapore and the Russian legal community. They discussed the practical aspects of Russian parties' participation in dispute resolution in Singapore, as well as the prospects for developing cooperation in this area.

With extensive experience in representing Russian businesses in international arbitration proceedings, RGD has repeatedly achieved successful outcomes for its clients in complex cross-border disputes, including those in Singapore. For instance, in 2023, a team of RGD lawyers secured an unequivocal victory in one of the largest proceedings in SIAC's history, winning a substantial claim worth $560 million and successfully defending their client against a counterclaim of approximately $3.5 billion. The project was led by Dmitry Dyakin.