Grebelsky & Partners specializes in representing its clients before international arbitral tribunals in disputes arising from various kinds of commercial transactions.
For the lawyers of our firm, international commercial arbitration is not episodic, “random” assignments, but the main specialization, which we devote most of our time. In a sense, we are those who have an “insight”:
- We are better than most of our competitors know the rules of the ICAC at the CCI and other popular arbitration institutions in the CIS and abroad;
- We have established relations with the administrative offices of most Russian and foreign arbitral institutions;
- Familiar not only with Russian, but also with many foreign arbitrators;
- It is important that we know most lawyers who can represent the opponents of our clients.
All this directly affects the outcome of the case.
We provide legal support at all stages related to arbitration, including the conclusion of an arbitration agreement, participation in pre-arbitration negotiations, oral hearings, recognition and enforcement of arbitration awards in Russian and foreign state courts. We work in close cooperation with corporate lawyers and the management of client companies, trying to take into account their needs as much as possible, continuously inform and advise them during the proceedings. We have earned the trust of our clients in resolving international commercial disputes – and therefore most of them come back to us again and again.
Along with practical skills, the lawyers of the firm have deep theoretical knowledge in the field of international arbitration. The managing partner of the firm Alexander Grebelsky is a lecturer at the S.N. Lebedev Department of Private International and Civil Law at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, where for the first time in our country a course in International Commercial Arbitration has begun to be taught as an independent subject. The core specialists of the department are the arbitrators of the ICAC at the RF CCI - the oldest and most respected arbitral institution in Russia and the CIS. In addition to International Commercial Arbitration, Alexander teaches the course in Investment Arbitration introduced in Russia for the first time, and is the MGIMO team coach at the annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, the most prestigious international university competition in International Commercial Arbitration and International Trade Law.
The scientific contacts of the firm in the field of international arbitration help our specialists solve one of the key tasks in preparing a case for arbitration - the task of choosing the right arbitrator, whose candidacy is optimal for the interests of a particular proceeding, with sufficient qualifications and the ability to quickly consider a dispute. The small size of the firm avoids a conflict of interest – a problem that participants in arbitration proceedings are currently facing most often.
The practice of the firm is very diverse – therefore, with rare exceptions, there are no “minor” disputes for us. We conduct both “small” and “large” cases – our professional reputation is at stake in each of them. Some of the proceedings that we conducted in international arbitration became precedent in terms of issues raised or features of the procedure.
We represent clients in many of the most popular arbitration jurisdictions, including the UK, Switzerland and Sweden. The lawyers of the firm have extensive experience in participating in proceedings under the rules of leading arbitral institutions, such as:
- International Commercial Arbitration Court (ICAC) and the Maritime Arbitration Commission (IAC) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation;
- International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine;
The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC); - London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA);
- International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC International Court of Arbitration);
- China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC);
- The Arbitration Institute of the Finland Chamber of Commerce, and several others.
In addition to participating in processes under the rules of institutional arbitration, we represented clients in ad hoc arbitrations under the rules of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
The firm’s experience in recognizing and enforcing international arbitral awards allows us the quickly enforce acts of international arbitral tribunals in many jurisdictions. In addition, we have taken part in numerous legal proceedings related to setting international arbitral awards aside in state courts.
The in-depth knowledge of the firm’s specialists in the field of international commercial disputes resolution, private international law, international trade law, civil and commercial law of foreign countries helps our clients to get access to prompt and qualified advice on many complex issues of international arbitration, such as validity of arbitration agreements, jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, the arbitrability of certain disputes, interim measures, collection and presentation of evidence, applicable law, the independence and impartiality of arbitrators, mandatory rules, public policy and many others.
Selected experience of Grebelsky & Partners in the field of international commercial arbitration includes:
- Representing Russian shareholders of a Finnish fish processing company in an arbitration chaired by a Swedish arbitrator under the Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Finland Chamber of Commerce in Helsinki. The dispute arose from a share purchase agreement subordinate to Finnish law. The opponent’s claims were based on warranties made by the Russian party and an indemnity clause.
- Advising the Government of the Russian Federation and the largest domestic state corporation, including the assessment of a dispute resolution clause and the prospects for the execution of a judicial act, in a dispute on recovering a sovereign debt (held in Eurobonds) for a record amount.
- Representing a Russian chemical holding company in two arbitration proceedings under the Rules of ICAC at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation against suppliers of equipment and raw materials from China and South Korea. In both cases, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 1980 (Vienna Convention) was applicable. The award against the Chinese company required further recognition and was successfully recognized and enforced in Guangdong (China) despite the respondent’s resistance.
- Defending an Israeli company – a major cosmetics manufacturer – in a dispute with “Magnit” retail chain based on product quality claims. The dispute was considered under the Rules of ICAC at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation; Russian legislation was chosen as the applicable statute. Despite the significant volume of evidence provided by Claimant, the arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the Israeli company. Attempts to further challenge the award in state courts have not been successful.
- Advising a Russian group of companies from Ulyanovsk Region in the course of recognition and enforcement of an award of the Foreign Trade Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Serbia made in favor of the Privatization Agency of the Republic of Serbia in connection with a violation of certain provisions of the investment contract by the Russian party.
- Defending a subsidiary of a leading Northern European fishing company headquartered in Denmark in the recovering the main debt and interest from the Chinese company for the delay in fulfilling obligation under CFR Contract (Incoterms 2000). The dispute was considered by the authoritative arbitral tribunal under the Rules of ICAC at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. The General Terms of Delivery to and from the People's Republic of China (1990) and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 1980 (Vienna Convention) were chosen by the arbitral tribunal as applicable statutes.
- Advising a group of companies – the largest Russian supplier of ingredients and packaging for the food industry – on the prospects of a dispute with a German company on the debt recovery under a DDU contract (Incoterms 2000), in connection with the failure of the German party to comply with the contract obligations. The dispute was subject to the Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the substantive law of Sweden was chosen as applicable by the parties.
- Representing an oil industry metalwork supplier (from the Chelyabinsk region) in a case against a major distributor of metal products and other equipment for industrial and energy facilities (Visaginas, Lithuania) initiated for the debt recovery under the supply of goods contract. The Respondent filed a counterclaim to recover damages caused by the delivery of law quality. The dispute was considered under the rules of the ICAC at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation; as the applicable statute, the parties agreed on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 1980 (Vienna Convention) and, subsidiary, the Russian civil legislation.
- Representing Russian oil and gas company in arbitration proceedings held under the Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) in Sweden. A dispute of more than 12 million euros was initiated by a Belgian counterparty of the client company and concerned the possible failure to fulfill the contract for the international sale of specialized equipment for the oil industry; law of Belgium was chosen as applicable. The arbitral tribunal included the leading Russian expert in the field of the energy law selected by the client side.
Chapters:
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Evidence in Arbitration’ in O. Skvortsov, M. Savransky, G. Sevastyanov (Ed.). International commercial arbitration: Textbook. 2nd ed. Statut Publishing, 2018. Р. 664.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘The end of an era? The Fate of Investment Arbitration in the Light of Attempts to Create an EU Investment Court System’ in A. Muranov (Ed.), V.Kabatov, S.Lebedev: In Memoriam. Collection of memoirs, articles, other materials. 2nd ed. Statut Publishing, 2017. P. 476.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Nationality of Investor as One of the Conditions for the Investment Protection by the Recipient State’ in E. Zavyalova, V. Kondratiev (Ed.), Corporate governance as a factor in increasing investment attractiveness. MGIMO Publishing, 2014. P. 265.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘The Distribution of the Burden of Proof in International Arbitration’. in Issues of Private International, Comparative and Civil Law and International Commercial Arbitration: Liber Amicorum in Honor of A.Kostin, O.Zimenkova, N.Eliseev. Statute, 2013.
Articles:
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Disclosure of Documentary Evidence in International Commercial Arbitration’. Law and Economics, 2015. Vol. 8. P. 64.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Electronic Evidence in International Commercial Arbitration’. The Statute, 2015. Vol. 10. P. 59.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Witness Testimony in International Commercial Arbitration’. Economy and Law, 2015. Vol. 10. P. 73.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Experts Appointed by Arbitral Tribunals’. Arbitration Court, 2015. Vol. 6. P. 99.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Arbitrability of Corporate Disputes’. Russian Yearbook of International Law, 2013. P. 219.
A.V. Grebelsky ‘Actions of State Courts in Support of International Commercial Arbitration’. Bulletin of the State Registration Chamber under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, 2013. Vol. 2. P. 12.
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