Foreigners won 93% of economic disputes in Russian courts in the first half of the year

In Russia, based on the results of the first six months of 2023, a significant increase in applications by foreigners to Russian arbitration courts was recorded, the share of won disputes reached 93%. The Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Lebedev, spoke about this at the International Legal Forum of Asia-Pacific countries.

“The number of economic disputes involving foreign entities in the first half of this year amounted to 10,600 – 60% more than in the same period last year. At the same time, the number of disputes they won was 9,900, or 93%,” he said.

The Supreme Court, its chairman noted, pays increased attention to issues of protecting the rights and interests of business in terms of cross-border circulation of goods and services. In the first half of the year, Lebedev explained, the courts satisfied 52% of the claims of foreigners to challenge “actions, inactions and decisions” of customs and officials, as well as 74% of the claims for compensation for damage caused by them.

Earlier, Lebedev, at the annual meeting of judges with the president in February, said that in 2022, 1.7 million economic disputes were considered in arbitration courts, 62,500 more cases than in 2021. 54% of them were cases of non-execution or improper execution of contracts.

About 14,000 economic disputes took place with the participation of foreign investors, whose demands were satisfied by 97%, Lebedev said. In 2021, speaking at the XI International Legal Forum of the Asia-Pacific Region with a report on protecting the rights of foreign investors in Russia, Lebedev said that they win 79% of cases.