Russia Appoints Former CJI Chandrachud as Arbitrator in Ukrainian Bank Case

Former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has been appointed by Russia as its arbitrator in a high-stakes international arbitration case brought by Ukrainian state-owned bank Oschadbank. The dispute, which concerns the bank's assets in four Ukrainian regions, is being heard under the 1998 bilateral investment treaty between Russia and Ukraine.

The arbitration tribunal will be a three-member panel. Costa Rican arbitrator and former trade minister Dyalá Jiménez will serve as its president, having been jointly selected by both Russia and Oschadbank. The third member, Greek arbitrator and National University of Singapore professor Stavros Brekoulakis, was nominated by the Ukrainian bank.

The case stems from Oschadbank's claim that it lost substantial assets and the ability to conduct business operations in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The bank alleges these assets were seized or lost due to military actions. The claim is understood to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Oschadbank initiated the arbitration proceedings after sending a notice of dispute to Russia in July 2025, which...