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WORLD INVESTMENT TREATY ARBITRATION UPDATE By Wojciech Sadowski and Patrycja Treder (Warsaw) In each edition of Arbitration World, members of K&L Gates’ Investment Treaty practice provide updates concerning recent, significant investment treaty arbitration news items. This edition features the review of the investment treaty disputes arisen from the Crimea conflict, and the novel aspects addressed by the Rusoro v. Venezuela damages award. POST-CRIMEA DISPUTES On 18 March 2014 the formerly Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation. The repercussions for the Russian Federation which followed the military action on the Ukrainian territory were predominantly of a political and economic nature, mainly taking the form of sanctions imposed by, among others, the European Union, the United States, Canada and Japan. However, the Russian Federation is now facing the consequences of its actions also in the legal sphere. A number of foreign investors are now bringing expropriation claims against the Russian Federation based on the Russian Federation - Ukraine BIT. On 9 January 2015 the first investors, Aerport Belbek LLC and Igor Valerievich initiated the arbitral proceedings under the Permanent Court of Arbitration auspices, PCA Case No. 2014-30 (“Aerport Belbek”). It was followed on 1 April 2015 by PJSC CB PrivatBank and Finance Company Finilon LLC, PCA Case 20 | K&L Gates: ARBITRATION WORLD No. 2015-21 (“PJSC CB PrivatBank”), on 3 June 2015 by PJSC Ukrnafta, UNCITRAL, PCA (“PJSC Ukrnafta”) and by Stabil LLC and others, PCA Case No. [2015-35] (“Stabil”) and finally on 19 June 2015 by Everest Estate LLC and others, PCA Case No. 2015-36 (“Everest Estate”). The Aerport Belbek dispute arises out of the alleged measures taken by the Russian Federation which resulted in the deprivation of the claimants’ property, contractual and other rights necessary to operate a passenger terminal for commercial flights at the Belbek International Airport in Crimea. The arbitral tribunal consists of Professor Pierre Marie-Dupuy (Presiding Arbitrator), Sir Daniel Bethlehem, KCMG, QC (claimants’ nominee) and Dr. Václav Mikulka (appointed by the former appointing authority, Judge Bruno Simma, on behalf of the respondent).