Costa Rican arbitrator and former trade minister Dyalá Jiménez will preside over the tribunal. According to a report by Global Arbitration Review, Jiménez was jointly appointed by both sides to preside over the tribunal.
Oschadbank has appointed Stavros Brekoulakis, Greek arbitrator and National University of Singapore professor. Meanwhile, Russia has appointed Chandrachud as its arbitrator on the tribunal.
Dispute concerns assets in four Ukrainian regions
The claim concerns Oschadbank’s assets and operations in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The bank says it lost the assets following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and, in particular, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The claim is understood to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, as per the GAR report.
Oschadbank served notice of dispute in 2025
The proceedings follow a notice of dispute that Oschadbank served on Russia in July 2025. According to the report, the notice allegedly received no response from Russia. The latest case marks Oschadbank’s second treaty claim against Russia.
Chandrachud earlier declined Russia’s arbitrator role
Chandrachud’s appointment is significant as he had previously been approached by Russia for similar arbitration roles. In 2025, Russia asked Chandrachud to serve as its arbitrator in cases involving Wintershall Dea and Ukrenergo, but he declined both appointments.
He was later appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration as the appointing authority in the Wintershall case, but stepped down after disclosing his communications with Russia.
Earlier Oschadbank case resulted in $1.1 billion award
Oschadbank had earlier brought a treaty claim against Russia over losses it claimed to have suffered in Crimea following the territory’s annexation in 2014.
In 2018, a Paris-seated tribunal constituted under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules awarded Oschadbank around $1.1 billion in compensation. The amount later increased to approximately $1.3 billion with interest.
The award subsequently faced lengthy legal proceedings in French courts. In 2021, a French court set aside the award after accepting Russia’s argument that the bilateral investment treaty’s arbitration clause covered only investments made after Oschadbank had opened its branch in Crimea.
In 2022, the French Court of Cassation reinstated the award, holding that the relevant treaty provision was not open to review by the French courts.
The tribunal later issued decisions in 2023 and 2024, rejecting Russia’s request to revise the award based on new evidence and ordering Moscow to bear the costs of revision proceedings.
The Paris Court of Appeal recently annulled the tribunal’s decisions on Russia’s request to revise the 2018 award, citing concerns over arbitrator Charles Brower’s impartiality. Russia has since sought to restart the revision proceedings before the Permanent Court of Arbitration and appointed Georges Affaki as its arbitrator.
Oschadbank continues to pursue enforcement of its earlier award against Russia in several jurisdictions. Proceedings are underway in the US, UK, Finland and the Czech Republic, while discovery proceedings are also underway in New York.