Sayenko Kharenko, working with lead counsel Latham & Watkins, has successfully represented the State of Ukraine in a USD 6.1 billion investment treaty dispute with Littop Enterprises Limited, Bridgemont Ventures Limited, and Bordo Management Limited, the minority shareholders of Ukraine’s oil and gas producer PJSC Ukrnafta. The dispute was heard by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.
According to Sayenko Kharenko, the dispute began on June 30, 2015, involving the question of possession of the natural gas pumped by Ukrnafta in the Ukrainian gas transportation system. According to the firm, the dispute also involved certain governmental measures, such as interference with prices and tax increase on oil and gas extraction, allegedly targeted at Ukrnafta and its minority shareholders.
According to Sayenko Kharenko, on February 4, 2021, a tribunal composed of Julian Lew, Yves Fortier, and Rodrigo Oreamuno declined jurisdiction over the claims.
Sayenko Kharenko team consisted of Partners Olexander Droug and Tatyana Slipachuk, Counsel Volodymyr Yaremko, Senior Associate Olesia Gontar, and Associates Alina Danyleiko, Olena Solonska, and Vladlena Lavrushyna.
The Latham & Watkins team reportedly included Hamburg-based Partner Sebastian Seelmann-Eggebert and London-based Partner Charles Claypoole and Associates Daniel Harrison and Thomas Lane.