Comment on General Court judgment in Case T-102/23 Introduction In a noteworthy judgment, the General Court (First Chamber) addressed the issue of indirect transactions involving frozen assets under Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 (OJ 2022, L 193, p. 133). The case (T-102/23) provides important guidance on the scope of the prohibition on disposal and the concept […]
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Is Volkswagen AG insolvent? In Russia, it is!
Introduction In recent years, cross-border insolvency and asset recovery against multinational corporations with involvement in Russia have taken on new complexity. A landmark decision by the Moscow Arbitrazh (Commercial) Court in October 2025, opening local insolvency (bankruptcy) proceedings against the German parent company Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG), exemplifies these developments. This article examines the case, […]
Arbitration Restrictions Challenged Before EU Courts
Introduction Two parallel actions for annulment have been filed before the European General Court, challenging specific provisions within the European Union’s sanctions framework targeting Russia. Cases T-655/25 and T-640/25 seek to invalidate newly introduced restrictions on the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards related to EU sanctions measures. Image by Marc Schneider from Pixabay Legal […]
Piercing the Corporate Veil: Siemens AG and its Russian subsidiary held subsidiarily liable for debts of Russian Spin-Off in Landmark Judgment by Russian Court
The St. Petersburg Arbitrazh Court has held Siemens AG and its former Russian subsidiary subsidiarily liable for the debts of OOO (Russian LLC equivalent) «Neftegaz i Energetika», marking a landmark insolvency judgment amid sanctions and contested restructuring. © unsplash, Sasun Bughdaryan I. Introduction On 21 August 2025, the Arbitrazh Court of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad […]
Is there a successful path for enforcement of an arbitral award in Russia?
In one of our recent articles (see here), we discussed a case in which the Russian commercial court refused to recognise an arbitral award because it was requested by a foreign company from a so-called unfriendly country without a domestic bank account. Enforcement would result in a violation of the provisional public order. Now, the […]
Arbitrators and Counsel face € 7.5 bn fine by Russian Court in case of continuation of arbitration proceedings
On 9 September 2025, the Moscow Arbitration Court published its full decision on the application for an injunction prohibiting any continuation or maintenance of the arbitration proceedings in relation to Wintershall Dea. This will be examined in more detail below. I. Introduction On 9 September 2025, the Moscow Arbitrazh Court published its full decision on […]
Cyprus court decision not recognised in Russia
Since 1984, Cyprus was one of the few EU countries to have concluded a mutual legal assistance agreement with Russia in civil and criminal matters, under which the two countries undertook to recognise the decisions of each other’s courts (Art. 23). However, current practice is such that this provision is no longer applied. Decisions by […]