The beneficiary of a foreign company acted as a guarantor in a series of financial transactions involving a company controlled by him.
After the foreign company failed to fulfil its obligations, the Principal demanded payment of the funds owed to him under the guarantee agreements, but was refused on the grounds that the said security agreements had never been concluded and that all evidence to the contrary was falsified and aimed at depriving him of access to justice and his property. In connection with this failure to perform, the Principal initiated proceedings under the rules of the ICAC at the CCI RF.
The arbitration proceedings were complicated by the peculiarities of the disputed agreements, as well as parallel proceedings in a Russian arbitration institution and state courts in Russia and the UAE, in which the foreign beneficiary attempted to sabotage the dispute resolution process in the ICAC at the CCI RF in every possible way.
VERBA LEGAL's lawyers proved that the foreign beneficiary's arguments about not signing the contracts and arbitration agreements therein were unfounded and refuted by its conduct and statements, including in foreign court proceedings. VERBA LEGAL lawyers also successfully defended the position that the proceedings before the ICAC at the CCI of the Russian Federation are primary and should not be suspended pending the consideration of related proceedings in the UAE state courts.
The implementation of the developed procedural strategy resulted in the satisfaction of the Principal's claims under the disputed contracts in the amount of more than 50 billion roubles.
It is worth noting that this case represents a unique application of the lis alibi pendens principle in the context of coordinating international arbitration proceedings with parallel proceedings in the state courts of two jurisdictions.
The project was handled by managing partner Tatiana Neveeva, counsel Anton Alifanov, senior associate Vladimir Domashin, associate Evgeny Gasparyan, junior associate Veronika Kopeikina and paralegal Sofya Medyanik.
