Russia Appoints Former CJI DY Chandrachud as Arbitrator in Ukraine Bank Dispute

Former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has been appointed by Russia as its arbitrator in an investment treaty dispute involving Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank, according to a report by Global Arbitration Review cited by Bar and Bench.

The Russia-Ukraine arbitration case concerns Oschadbank’s claims over assets and business operations in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which the bank says were affected by Russia’s military operations following the 2022 invasion.

The dispute is being pursued under the 1998 Russia-Ukraine bilateral investment treaty. Oschadbank’s claim is reportedly valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Three-member tribunal to hear Oschadbank dispute

The arbitration tribunal will consist of three members. Costa Rican arbitrator Dyala Jimenez will serve as the tribunal’s president, while Greek arbitrator Stavros Brekoulakis of the National University of Singapore will serve as the third member.

Chandrachud has been appointed as the arbitrator nominated by Russia in the proceedings.

The case follows a notice of dispute issued by Oschadbank to Russia in July 2025. According to the available report, the Ukrainian state-owned bank initiated arbitration after Russia allegedly did not respond to the notice.

Chandrachud had earlier declined Russia’s approaches

The appointment is notable because Chandrachud had previously declined approaches from Russia to represent it in other treaty disputes.

Those earlier cases involved Wintershall Dea, an oil and gas production company, and Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state-owned power transmission operator.

The approaches came around the time the Permanent Court of Arbitration appointed Chandrachud as an appointing authority in the Wintershall proceedings. He later stepped down from that role after disclosing the communications related to Russia’s approaches.

His acceptance of the role in the Oschadbank arbitration therefore marks a change from his earlier decision to decline Russia’s requests in other disputes.

Oschadbank has previously pursued Russia over Crimea

The latest Oschadbank arbitration against Russia is not the Ukrainian bank’s first treaty claim against Moscow.

The bank had previously brought proceedings over losses to its assets in Crimea following Russia’s annexation of the territory in 2014.

In 2018, a Paris-seated arbitral tribunal constituted under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules awarded Oschadbank approximately $1.1 billion in damages. The amount later rose to around $1.3 billion, including interest, according to the report.

The latest case concerns assets in four Ukrainian regions affected by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Chandrachud’s post-CJI international legal role

The appointment adds to Chandrachud’s work in international arbitration following his retirement as Chief Justice of India in November 2024.

As CJI, Chandrachud headed the Supreme Court of India until his retirement and was succeeded by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

His appointment in the Russia-Ukraine investment arbitration places a former head of India’s judiciary in a high-value international dispute involving two countries at the center of an ongoing geopolitical conflict.

The arbitration will now determine the claims raised by Oschadbank and Russia’s position in the dispute under the applicable investment treaty framework.