Recognition and Enforcement of Awards in Ukraine: some Practical Aspects

Kseniia V. Pogruzhalska

The issue of recognition and enforcement of international arbitral awards is not new for Ukrainian courts. The procedure is established in chapter VIII of the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine (hereinafter — the Code), and in several places makes references to the provisions of international treaties to which Ukraine is a party. The main problem in application of the Code arises in practice when local courts (and sometimes appellate and cassation courts as well), which are authorized to consider applications for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, disregard the obligatory rules of the international agreements and groundlessly apply irrelevant provisions of the Code. As a result, the courts de facto prevent Ukraine from being recognized as an “arbitration friendly” jurisdiction…