After more than a year of preparation of the arbitration case, our team in China has realised a milestone case relating to unfair treatment by the Ukrainian government of Chinese investors, spanning the past five years. Specifically, the case relates to the Ukrainian Anti-Monopoly Committee’s continuous denial of procedural fairness to Chinese investors, unfounded criminal investigations by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), illegal seizure of Chinese investors’ shares, illegal raids, and ex parte freezing orders by Ukrainian courts. This case has involved issues concerning bilateral relations between China and Ukraine, as well as intricate political dealings between the United States and many other countries.
Our team has filed a Statement of Claim against the Ukrainian Government on behalf of various Chinese investors under the agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Ukraine and for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (the China-Ukraine bilateral investment treaty (BIT)) at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague for an amount exceeding USD4.5 billion. According to the Chinese Department of Commerce, China has entered into BIT agreements with 104 countries or areas. The essence of these agreements is to ensure the investments of investors of both parties are treated fairly and that they are not subject to nationalisation, expropriation or similar measures, except as required for the public interest.
Our lawyers have acted for aviation firm Skyrizon along with other Chinese investors since the initial instruction in 2014, and have also subsequently represented Motor Sich, one of the world's largest manufacturers of turbine engines. Indeed, we have become the trusted legal advisor for the Chinese investors throughout the long journey.
In September 2020, the Claimants filed a Notice of Dispute and Request for Amicable Negotiations pursuant to the China-Ukraine BIT, which resulted the Ukrainian government taking even more aggressive steps against the Claimants, including extraordinary sanctions imposed by the President of Ukraine against Claimants Wang Jing and Du Tao, as well as Skyrizon companies.
Working with leading US law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale And Dorr LLP and assisted by Ukrainian local law firms Kinstellar and Azinger, our firm has built a top international and professional legal team to represent our clients in this case. This is a significant matter for our team in China due to the complexities involved on both legal and political fronts and the long timeline.
This project is led by partner Shan Lai, and supported by managing associate Amy Yang, associates Jessie Tang and other lawyers.
