On 06-07 December 2023 an international conference – the Solidarity Arbitration and Mediation Days – took place in Warsaw, Poland.
The ICAC has supported the initiative of the Polish Court of Arbitration and the University of Warsaw for the second year in a row and has acted as a co-organizer of the Solidarity Arbitration and Mediation Days. The conference was initiated to demonstrate support of the international arbitration and mediation community to their Ukrainian colleagues. Both Ukrainian and EU delegates took part in the event.
Mykola Selivon, the President of the ICAC and the UMAC, welcomed the delegates and thanked the international arbitration community for solidarity with Ukraine in fighting off the russian military aggression.
Volodymyr Nagnybida, Vice-President of the ICAC, moderated Session I – the Future of International Arbitration in the New Security Situation: Ukrainian and International Perspectives.
The Session’s speakers included: Prof. Dr Beata Gessel-Kalinovska vel Kalisz,
Gessel Law Firm; Maciej Jamka, ICC International Court of Arbitration, DWF; Olga Kostyshyna, Advisor to the ICAC’s President; Maria Kostytska, Winston & Strawn; Andrea Menaker, White&Case; Natalia Petrik, Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce; Sarah Z. Vasani, CMS.
Maria Kostytska presented statistics and analysis of the impact of russia’s war against Ukraine on the number of arbitration cases with russian parties. She also discussed the influence of sanctions on international arbitration. Olga Kostyshyna noted that the ICAC became the only arbitration institution in the world that had not only effectively overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also continued to do business as usual under the martial law. Despite the martial law, the ICAC continues to ensure fast and efficient consideration of cases – near 90% of cases were considered within half a year from the date of formation of the Arbitral Tribunal. Ms. Kostyshyna also described the steps that allowed the arbitration institution to function effectively.
Yuliya Chernykh, the ICAC arbitrator, Associate Professor of the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and the University of Oslo, spoke about the importance of enhancing the efficiency of arbitration. She argued that the reputation of an arbitration institution depended not only on the number of cases considered, but also on the efficiency of the arbitration process. “If the procedure is efficient, takes less time and costs less, it is a sustainable procedure, ” – the speaker noted.
Galyna Yeromenko, the ICAC’s mediator, the founder and Director General of the Ukrainian Mediation Center, considered the prospects of mediation in infrastructure disputes. She underlined some peculiarities of mediating infrastructure disputes, including: conflict of interests, the sequence of interests in mediating multiparty disputes, the conflict of interests in time, cross-cultural aspects of infrastructure disputes. Ms. Yeromenko expressed firmness that mediation could and would be applied during Ukraine’s recovery.
Markian Malskyy, an ICAC’s arbitrator, a partner at Kochanski&Partners, summarized the opinions of the speakers at the end of the second day of the conference. He alerted the participants about the insufficient volumes of military support to Ukraine as well as the blockade of international arbitration awards by russian courts. Mr. Malskyy expressed gratitude to the Conference organizers and their solidarity with Ukraine.
Similar to last year, the Conference was held at a non-for-profit basis – all fees collected will be directed to a special scholarship fund supporting Ukrainian law students and junior practicing lawyers.
