Rybalkin, Gortsunyan & Partners (RGP) defended an award on jurisdiction rendered by an arbitrator appointed by ICC before it obtained the status of the Permanent Arbitration Institution in Russia.

The Moscow Arbitrazh Court confirmed that the ICC as a foreign arbitration institution had had the right to perform certain functions in administering ad hoc arbitrations in Russia.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan challenged the World Bank model arbitration clause providing for resolution of disputes under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and the ICC as an appointing authority.

The project was handled by the team with Dispute Resolution practice led by Dmitry Kaysin with the participation of Evgeny Voronin and Dmitry Smirnov.

Dmitry Dyakin, the Co-head of RGP Dispute Resolution practice, commented: “We are thrilled with our victory in the court. The court declined to set aside the international arbitration award on jurisdiction issued in the territory of Russia after ICC had been granted the Permanent Arbitration Institution status. This is a remarkable decision in favor of our client in a series of cases against foreign states that our firm successfully leads».

Rustam Davletkhan, Director of UNICON Ltd., commented: «We are thankful to RGP for its high-end legal support. We managed to win a complex case against the Ministry of Kazakhstan. In my opinion, it is absurd to challenge a model arbitration clause of the World Bank. The judgment allows us to continue defending the legitimate right to remuneration in arbitration proceedings».

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The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan and UNICON Ltd. concluded a consultancy agreement. The parties agreed that disputes should be resolved under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and expressly specified the procedure of appointing a sole arbitrator. UNICON Ltd. resorted to international arbitration. The sole arbitrator appointed by the ICC rendered an award on jurisdiction. The Ministry moved to set it aside on the ground that the ICC didn’t have authority to administer arbitration in the territory of the Russian Federation.

The Court disagreed with the movant and recognized that the composition of the arbitral tribunal complied with the parties’ agreement and the tribunal had authority to try a dispute.

Pursuant to Article 235(6) of the Code of Arbitrazh Procedure of the Russian Federation, the judgement is not subject to appeal. The judgement is available in the Database of arbitrazh cases (in Russian).

The ICC was granted the Permanent Arbitration Institution status in Russia on 18 May 2021.