On 29 March 2019, the amendments to the Federal Law “On Arbitration in the Russian Federation” come into force.
The amendments will concern (I) arbitrability of certain types of corporate disputes, including those arising out of shareholders’ agreement (SHAs), (II) arbitrability of disputes arising out of the state procurement contracts, and (III) the set-up of Russia’s system of permanent arbitration institutions and related issues of ad hoc proceedings.
The amendments are a response to issues that arose in the practical application of the Russian Arbitration Law in the last three years and a welcome step towards liberalizing certain requirements of the Arbitration Law. However, as discussed in the alert memorandum, certain questions on the application of the Arbitration Law still remain unresolved.