A lawsuit of Everest Estate LLC (Kyiv), former Board Chairman of PrivatBank Oleksandr Dubilet and 17 more companies against the Russian Federation filed to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague have reached the stage of hearing on jurisdiction and admissibility. The first hearing was held in New York on December 15, 2016.

"Although invited, the Russian Federation did not attend or otherwise participate… The Parties were granted until January 31, 2017 to address any issues arising from the hearing in post-hearing submissions," the arbitration court said in a press release.

According to the press release, Mr. John M. Townsend, Mr. James H. Boykin, Mr. Vitaly Morozov, Mr. Samuel Cowin, Ms. Eleanor Erney and Mr. Alexander Bedrosyan of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP attended for the claimants. In the course of the hearing, Townsend made an opening statement on behalf of the claimants and the members of the Tribunal posed questions to the claimants.

According to the document, on November 7, 2016, having sought the views of the parties, the Tribunal granted an application from Ukraine to make submissions in this arbitration as the non-disputing party under the Ukraine-Russia bilateral investment treaty. On November 25, 2016, the tribunal denied a request from Ukraine to attend and participate in the hearing on jurisdiction and admissibility.

As reported, the lawsuit was initiated by the claimants against Russia on June 19, 2015 under the Ukraine-Russia bilateral investment treaty signed on November 27, 21998 and under the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) regulations.

The claimants submit that, as of April 2014, the Russian Federation breached its obligations under the Ukraine-Russia bilateral investment treaty by interfering with and ultimately expropriating their investments in real estate located in Crimea. The tribunal was constituted on October 27, 2015. It is comprised of Dr. Andrés Rigo Sureda (Presiding Arbitrator), Professor W. Michael Reisman (appointed by the claimants), and Professor Dr. Rolf Knieper (appointed by the appointing authority, Mr. Michael Hwang, on behalf of the respondent).

Aerobud, Crimea Development, NIVa-tour, UBK-Invest, Edelveis-2000, Planeta, Privatoffice, Privatland, Dan-Panorama, Energetik recreation center, Financial Capital asset management company and Financial Vector asset management company are among claimants.