Chandrachud Named Russia’s Arbitrator

New Delhi: Former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has been appointed by Russia as its arbitrator in an investment treaty dispute brought by Ukrainian state-owned bank Oschadbank over assets and operations it claims to have lost following Russia's military actions in Ukraine.

According to a report by Global Arbitration Review, Justice Chandrachud will be part of a three-member arbitral tribunal hearing the dispute.

Costa Rican arbitrator and former trade minister Dyalá Jiménez will preside over the tribunal. She was jointly selected by the two sides as president. Oschadbank has appointed Greek arbitrator and National University of Singapore professor Stavros Brekoulakis as its nominee.

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

Oschadbank's claim concerns its assets and operations in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which the bank claims it lost following Russian military action, particularly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The claim is understood to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The proceedings were reportedly initiated after Oschadbank served Russia with a notice of dispute in July 2025 and received no response.

Justice Chandrachud had earlier declined approaches from Russia to act as its arbitrator in treaty disputes brought by German energy company Wintershall Dea and Ukrainian electricity transmission operator Ukrenergo.

The approaches were reportedly made on the same day that the Permanent Court of Arbitration designated Justice Chandrachud as the appointing authority in the Wintershall proceedings. He subsequently stepped down from that role after disclosing the communications.

Oschadbank is being represented by lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Ukrainian law firm Asters, while Russia is represented by lawyers from Pinna Goldberg