KIAP and HK45 have jointly hosted a seminar in Hong Kong devoted to arbitration against Russian parties

KIAP and HK45 have jointly hosted a seminar in Hong Kong devoted to arbitration against Russian parties

On March 30th, 2017, a training seminar on arbitration against Russian parties for Hong Kong lawyers was convened at HKIAC, Hong Kong.

   

Anna Grischenkova, partner of litigation and international arbitration practices of KIAP, HKIAC arbitrator and a Russia regional representative in HK45 committee, HKIAC, was the speaker on the seminar. Basing on a case-study, she illustrated 10 common mistakes which foreign lawyers should avoid at the stage of either executing contract or addressing a dispute to arbitration so that to optimize arbitration process and be able to enforce an arbitration award in Russia later on.  

Russian and Asian companies tend to demonstrate increasing interest towards each other, which inevitably raises misunderstanding where and how possible disputes between the parties shall be resolved. In this case, as Anna suggests, consideration of differences between civil and common law approaches to certain matters is crucial. 

Andrey Gorlenko, executive administrator of the Arbitration center at the Autonomous Non-Profit Organisation “Institute of Modern Arbitration” and the co-speaker at the seminar, made a speech about arbitration reform, arbitration institutes and arbitrability of disputes; whereas Olga Boltenko, counsel of CMS Hasche Sigle, has discussed certain practicalities of arbitration against Russian parties. Legal practitioners interested in the development of Russia-Hong Kong relationship also took an active part in the seminar, and the seminar was enriched with key meetings with local lawyers, arbitrators and arbitration center employees, where possible solutions how to achieve more effective arbitration have also been discussed. 

A seminar was conducted during the Willem Vis Moot international arbitration moot (Hong Kong), a student competition devoted to international arbitration. Therefore, a seminar was also paired with participation as arbitrators in the Moot, which was a unique opportunity to witness and discuss how national approaches to representation in arbitration vary depending on different cultures and jurisdictions.