Russia’s prime minister and the country’s legal chiefs have denounced London’s grip on billion-pound disputes, on the eve of a new High Court battle between two oligarchs.
On Monday Michael Cherney begins a £2.3 billion claim against rival tycoon Oleg Deripaska, a friend of Peter Mandelson and Nathaniel Rothschild.
It is the latest in a series of complex and lucrative civil actions involving east Europeans that account for an estimated 60 per cent of cases in London’s chancery and commercial courts. But Russia is fighting back, led by premier Dmitry Medvedev and Anton Ivanov, chairman of the supreme commercial court.
In May Mr Ivanov demanded that “Russia should guarantee its citizens and entities protection from the unfair competition of foreign judicial systems”.
He suggested local judges should be able to set aside foreign judgments if they feel Russian parties are unjustly prejudiced. He has criticised foreign courts for seizing Russian assets.
Mr Medvedev condemned “prejudiced competition of foreign legal systems” and described Mr Ivanov’s plan as a “civilised means of resolving issues”.
In a hearing last month over a dispute involving Sony Ericsson and Russian Telephone Company, Russia’s supreme court rejected an attempt to refer a matter to arbitration in London.
Mr Deripaska is being sued by Uzbek-born Mr Cherney, who claims he signed deals with the Russian that gave him a 10 per cent stake in aluminium firm Rusal.
The case, launched in 2006, is being heard in London after Mr Cherney said he would be the target of assassination if he returned to Russia.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and London-based exile Boris Berezovsky continue to wait for a judgment on a £5 billion court clash. And this week billionaire Arkady Gaydamak said he would appeal after a High Court defeat in his £1 billion case against “King of Diamonds” Lev Leviev.
Philippa Charles, a litigation partner at law firm Mayer Brown, said there was a danger that future judgments in England may not be enforceable in Russia.
But “because there are now many Russian assets held outside Russia, it remains strategically useful to obtain English judgments or arbitration awards against Russian parties, as those can be enforced in jurisdictions outside Russia”.
