Former CJI DY Chandrachud appointed by Russia as arbitrator in investment treaty 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. He has been appointed as Russia’s nominee on a three-member arbitral tribunal hearing an investment treaty dispute brought by Ukrainian state-owned bank Oschadbank over the loss of its assets and operations in four Ukrainian regions.
Oschadbank is a major public bank in Ukraine. In early 2024, it was confirmed by the National Bank of Ukraine as one of the country’s systemically important banks.
Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud (born 11 November 1959) is a retired Indian jurist, who served as the 50th Chief Justice of India from 9 November 2022 to 10 November 2024
The dispute is related to Oschadbank’s assets and banking operations in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The Ukrainian bank claims that it suffered significant losses due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The claim is expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars.
Chandrachud’s appointment is notable because he had previously declined approaches from Russia to act as its arbitrator in separate investment treaty disputes. He had also earlier stepped down as an appointing authority in the Wintershall Dea arbitration after Russia disclosed that it had approached him to serve as its nominee. In the present Oschadbank dispute, however, he has agreed to act as Russia’s arbitrator. According to reports on the latest appointment, Chandrachud had declined Russia’s offer three times before eventually accepting the appointment.
The tribunal will be headed by Costa Rican arbitrator and former trade minister Dyalá Jiménez, who was jointly selected by Russia and Oschadbank. Chandrachud has been appointed by Russia, while Oschadbank has nominated Greek arbitrator and National University of Singapore professor Stavros Brekoulakis.
The arbitration was formally commenced by Oschadbank on April 7, 2026. The bank had earlier served Russia with a Notice of Dispute on July 24, 2025, which it said went unanswered. Oschadbank said its claim concerns the loss of substantial assets and operations in the four Ukrainian regions and alleges breaches by Russia of its obligations under the investment treaty.
The proceedings have been initiated under the 1998 Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the Encouragement and Mutual Protection of Investments, commonly referred to as the Russia-Ukraine bilateral investment treaty (BIT).
The treaty was signed in Moscow on November 27, 1998 and entered into force on January 27, 2000. It was designed to create favourable conditions for mutual investments and promote economic cooperation between the two countries. The treaty provides protections for investments made by investors of one contracting state in the territory of the other and contains provisions allowing qualifying investment disputes to be submitted to arbitration.
