Russia appoints former CJI DY Chandrachud as arbitrator in dispute with Ukrainian bank

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has been appointed by Russia as its arbitrator in an investment treaty dispute brought by Ukrainian state-owned bank Oschadbank.

According to a report by Global Arbitration Review, Costa Rican arbitrator and former trade minister Dyalá Jiménez will preside over the three-member tribunal.

Jiménez was jointly selected as president by both sides.

The third arbitrator will be Greek arbitrator and National University of Singapore professor Stavros Brekoulakis who was appointed by Oschadbank.

The arbitration has been initiated under the 1998 bilateral investment treaty between Ukraine and Russia.

Oschadbank’s claim concerns assets and operations in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that it claims it lost following Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, particularly after the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The claim is understood to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Oschadbank initiated the proceedings after a notice of dispute served on Russia in July 2025 allegedly went unanswered.

Justice Chandrachud had previously declined approaches from Russia to serve as its arbitrator in treaty claims brought by Wintershall Dea and Ukrenergo. The approaches were reportedly made on the same day that the Permanent Court of Arbitration designated him as the appointing authority in the Wintershall proceedings. He later stepped down from that role after disclosing the communications.

Oschadbank is represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partners Epaminontas Triantafilou and Alex Gerbi, along with Asters partners Oleksiy Didkovskiy, Andrii Pozhidayev and Oksana Legka.

Russia is represented by Pinna Goldberg partner Andrea Pinna, counsel Pratyush Panjwani and senior associate Dimitrios Papageorgiou.