Olena Perepelynska FCIArb, Partner at INTEGRITES, Ukraine

Olena is a Partner and Head of the CIS Arbitration Practice at INTEGRITES. She has acted as counsel in about 90 arbitrations under the Arbitration Rules of the ICC, SCC, LCIA, SCAI, ICAC and MAC at UCCI, ICAC at CCIRF, GAFTA, FOSFA, LMAA, UNCITRAL and others. She has also acted as arbitrator in more than 45 arbitrations seated in Almaty, Bishkek, Kyiv, London, Minsk, Paris and Stockholm.

Olena Perepelynska is President of the Ukrainian Arbitration Association and Member of the TIAC Court of Arbitration. She also serves as Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, Board Member of the Arbitration Court “Chamber of Arbitrators” in Minsk and Member of the Global Steering Committee of the ERA-PLEDGE.

Olena holds Master of International Law form the Institute of International Relations of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Diploma in International Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK). She has also completed two years course at the ICC Advanced Arbitration Academy for Central & Eastern Europe. Olena is admitted to the Ukrainian Bar and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb).

Sophie Tkemaladze FCIArb, Founder of Resolve, Chair of the Georgian Association of Arbitrators.

Sophie Tkemaladze is an independent practitioner (mediator, arbitrator, dispute systems designer) and a consultant advising international organizations (ADB, USAID, UNDP, GIZ) as well as Georgian public agencies and professional associations on various aspects of dispute resolution system and policy. During her work at USAID-funded Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP) Sophie drafted major amendments to the Law on Arbitration (2015), helped draft the first Code of Ethics of Arbitrators (2014) and designed the first court-annexed mediation Pilot in the country. Most recently she served as an expert in drafting the Law of Georgia on Mediation and was part of the Government of Georgia delegation to the Singapore Convention Signing Ceremony.

Sophie is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). She has served as a sole arbitrator in a construction dispute under DRC Rules, chair of the tribunal in an international sales dispute under GIAC Rules, as well as chair of the dispute board in a dispute over a major sewage system rehabilitation project under FIDIC Pink Book. She also mediates commercial and community disputes in Georgia.

Presently, Sophie chairs the Georgian Association of Arbitrators, is member of the governing board of the Mediators’ Association of Georgia, and since 2020 - founder and managing partner of Resolve. She extensively teaches and trains judges, clerks, lawyers, students, mediators, in the skills of mediation as well as in the law and practice of commercial arbitration, in Georgia and abroad.

Denis Parchajev, Senior Associate at Motieka & Audzevičius, Lithuania

Denis has substantial experience in international arbitration disputes and negotiations. He frequently acts in arbitration cases under the ICC, SCC, LCIA, IAC at the BelCCI and other rules. Denis also specialises is sports matters, including matters before Court of Arbitration for Sport and International Olympic Committee. Denis worked on numerous enforcement cases and high-value litigation matters in Lithuania and abroad.

He regularly advises Clients in the CIS region on matters involving an international element. Denis has also advised local and international energy market leaders, including Gazprom and Srbijagas. Denis is an Honorary Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and a Lecturer at Mykolas Romeris University (Vilnius) on Arbitration and Negotiation. Denis is also recommended by international rankings, such as GAR100, Who’s Who Arbitration, etc.

Michal Kocur, Partner at Kocur & Partners, Poland

Michał Kocur has represented clients in corporate and commercial disputes, and has advised clients in real property and construction litigation and arbitration matters. He has also been active in intellectual property disputes. He has served as counsel in numerous arbitration proceedings. He is listed yearly in the Most in Demand Arbitrators in Poland ranking publisheed by Chambers & Partners. He regulary sits as an arbitrator, in both international (ICC and VIAC, among others) and national arbitral institutions (he was enetered on the list of arbitrators of Court of Arbitration at the Polish Chamber of Commerce and of Court of Arbitration at Polish Confederation Lewiatan). Prior to establishing Kocur & Partners, Michał was the founding partner of Wozniak Kocur (2007-2014), Poland’s first litigation boutique law firm. He also worked at Allen & Overy (1999-2005) and Gide Loyrette Nouel (2005-2006).

Michał is a graduate of the University of Silesia (1998) and holds an LL.M. in International Business Law from the Central European University in Budapest (1999). He also studied at Faculté Internationale du Droit Comparé in Strasbourg (1998) and at Brigham Young University in Utah, USA (1999). He has published various articles on arbitration, civil procedure and commercial law.

Ass. Prof. Dr Milena Djordjević, Director of Center for Legal Skills, University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Serbia

Milena Djordjević is a Director of Center for Legal Skills and an Assistant Professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law where she teaches International Commercial Law, International Commercial Arbitration, Foreign Investment Law, EU Trade Policy and Legal English. She holds an LL.B. (U. Belgrade), LL.M. (U. Pittsburgh), and a Dr. iur. (U. Belgrade) degree. She also coached Belgrade moot team for the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot for the past seventeen years and is the organizer of the Belgrade Open Pre-Moot and Belgrade Arbitration Conference.

She is a member of: the ICC Court of Arbitration, ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, ICC Central and Eastern European Arbitration Group, Supervisory Board of Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge, Board of Serbian Arbitration Association, Board of Serbian Association of Commercial Lawyers and she is a national CLOUT correspondent to UNCITRAL for Serbia. As an arbitrator she took part in over 30 cases so far under the rules of FTCA, VIAC and in ad hoc arbitrations, as a sole arbitrator, member of the panel or chair. She also regularly acts as an expert in arbitration and court proceedings on Serbian (former Yugoslav) contract law. She is listed on Global Arbitration Review Who is Who in International Commercial Arbitration for 2016-2020, as well in the Future Leaders in Arbitration 2017. Dr. Djordjević has published extensively on the CISG, arbitration, WTO law and EU trade law in prestigious domestic and international publications (including the CISG commentary edited by Kröll, Mistelis and Perales Viscasillas). Her doctoral dissertation on the topic "Damages for Breach of International Sales Contract" was awarded by the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce in 2013.

Alexander Grebelsky, Chairman of the Panel for International and Investment Disputes at the Arbitration Centre at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) and Managing Partner at Grebelsky & Partners, Russia

Alexander Grebelsky is the Chairman of the Panel for International and Investment Disputes at the Arbitration Centre at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) and the Managing Partner of the Moscow law firm “Grebelsky & Partners”.

Alexander holds a Ph. D. in Law and combines practical activities with academic research and lecturing. He is a Senior Lecturer at MGIMO University (S.N. Lebedev Department of Private International and Civil Law), the oldest and most prestigious scientific school in Russia in such areas as Comparative Law, Private International Law and International Commercial Arbitration. His research paper “Evidence in International Commercial Arbitration” (academic supervisors – Dr. Prof. S.N. Lebedev and Dr. Prof. A.A. Kostin) is awarded with the Russian Arbitration Day 2019 Award for the Best Paper on Arbitration in Russia. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Arbitration at the Association of the Lawyers of Russia and the Chairman of the Commission on Arbitration and ADR at the Moscow Branch of the same association. Alexander also acts as the Deputy Director of the Information Center of the Hague Conference on Private International Law in Moscow.

Oksana Kotel, Partner, Goretsky & Partners, Belarus

Oksana Kotel has received her qualifying law degree at the Faculty of Law of the Belarusian State University. Furthermore, she has finished a Mini-MBA programme of the business school “Business MaximuM” and the arbitration school at the Ukrainian Arbitration Association.

Oksana has been practising law in the sphere of dispute resolution since 2007. From 2007 to 2019 she worked at the largest Belarusian law firm and was the head of litigation practice. Oksana Kotel is recommended by international legal ratings Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal as a leading Belarusian lawyer in the sphere of dispute resolution.

She is a member of the Presidium of the International Arbitration Court “Chamber of Arbitrators at the Union of Lawyers” (Minsk, Belarus).Oksana’s native languages are Russian and Belarusian, she also speaks English fluently.Oksana is a member of the Minsk Regional Bar Association and possesses a special permission (license) to practice advocacy No. 02240/2481 dated 25 June 2013.

Valikhan Shaikenov, Partner, Head of AEQUITAS, Kazakhstan

Valikhan Shaikenov is the head of AEQUITAS's dispute resolution practice.  He represents clients in the Kazakh courts of all levels and handles complex evidence heavy cross-border commercial disputes.  He has represented clients as counsel and assisted them in other forms in commercial arbitrations under the SCC, LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL, and GAFTA rules and under the rules of several Kazakhstan arbitration institutes.  He has acted as an expert on Kazakh law matters in foreign court proceedings and ICSID. Valikhan's clients are mainly foreign investors, foreign contractors, and international development banks.

Valikhan has received appointments as arbitrator in international commercial arbitrations seated in Geneva, Stockholm, and Astana with Swiss, English, and Kazakh laws as the contract's governing laws.  Valikhan has extensive experience in handling disputes in the field of construction (with a focus on FIDIC contracts), the international supply of goods, energy projects, oil and gas, shareholder disputes, debt restructuring, professional negligence, derivative transactions, insolvency and rehabilitation, and tax litigation.

Under Valikhan's supervision, the firm's dispute resolution practice has been ranked in Tier 1 by Legal500 in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.  In 2020 and 2021, Valikhan has been identified by Who's Who Legal (WWL) and Global Arbitration Review independent research with clients and peers amongst the world's leading commercial arbitration experts.

Diana Bayzakova, Director of the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC), Uzbekistan

Diana is a multi-lingual dispute resolution expert in the field of telecom, construction, real estate and natural resources sectors with a focus on complex, cross-border disputes pertaining to the CIS and MENA region.  She acted as a sole arbitrator, on a panel of arbitrators and as counsel in international arbitral proceedings under a variety of arbitration rules (DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, ICC, SCC, ADCCAC and others). Diana is the only arbitration practitioner from Uzbekistan ranked by Legal500 in Arbitration Powerlist: CIS and Caucasus. She was appointed to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators by the Government of Uzbekistan.

Anar Janmammadov, Partner at MGB Law Offices, Ltd., Azerbaijan

Anar Janmammadov is a partner at MGB Law Offices Ltd. He specializes in commercial litigation and dispute resolution and white collar crime matters and has very extensive experience of acting for international financial organizations and foreign companies in complex tax, construction, debt recovery, IP and immovable property cases. In addition to representing companies before the courts in Azerbaijan, Anar also acted as an expert on the matters of Azerbaijani law before foreign courts (court of USA and Australia) and foreign arbitrations. Prior to joining MGB Law Offices Ltd in 2007, Anar worked as a legal adviser in a number of foreign organizations where he, among other matters, also advised a legislative working group of Azerbaijani Government on the development of legislation. Anar was admitted to practice law in 2004.  He is a member of the Azerbaijani Collegium of Advocates and has a right to appear and conduct proceedings in all courts of Azerbaijan, including the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan. Anar is also a foreign arbitrator at the Arbitration Centre at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He is fluent in native Azerbaijani as well English and Russian.

Dr. Aram Orbelyan, Senior Partner at Concern Dialog Law Firm, Armenia

Aram Orbelyan is a Senior Partner at Concern Dialog Law Firm, where he leads the firm's Litigation and Arbitration practice since 2014. Aram Orbelyan holds a Law degree and PhD in Law from MGIMO University (Russia). He has served as deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia from 2011-2014, where he was responsible for the reform of civil and civil procedure legislation, regulations on Arbitration and introduction of Mediation, as well as the implementation of e-gov systems in Armenia (including e-registry [of legal entities], e-civil [of civil status acts], e-notary, e-citizen [centralized portal aimed at centralized view by citizens on all data collected by state electronic systems - data protection tool] and others). In addition to his attorney practice, he lectures at the French University of Armenia /UFAR/, at the School of Advocates and the Justice Academy. He is regularly consulting several international organizations and state agencies on reform planning, implementation and evaluation issues (mainly justice sector, human rights, good governance issues). Aram Orbelyan is the chairman of the Association of Arbitrators of the Republic of Armenia, arbitrator at Optimus Lex arbitration centre, arbitrator at Yerevan Arbitration Institute (founded by Concern Dialog), arbitrator at panel member of ICSID and a member to the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR.

Aram Orbelyan has further authored (or co-authored) a number of publications on Arbitration, including a chapter on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Armenia, Review of legislation and practice in former USSR countries 2019. The English version of this chapter will soon be published as well.

Nata Ghibradze, Senior Associate, Hogan Lovells

Nata Ghibradze is a Senior Associate at Hogan Lovells’ Munich office. With the increasing complexity of international disputes, clients in the energy (oil & gas, renewables), construction, infrastructure, and engineering industry look to Nata Ghibradze to provide guidance on their cross-border disputes. Using the experience she gained while working at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia (Department of State Representation to International Courts), Nata focuses on international arbitration with particular attention to disputes in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and CIS regions.

Nata has experience in handling arbitrations under the major sets of arbitration rules (ICC, UNCITRAL, DIS, and DIA rules) seated in various jurisdictions. She also has experience representing clients before Dispute Board proceedings for construction projects. Originally from Georgia, Nata is well-versed in the complexities of Georgian law and culture, and how these complexities affect cross-border disputes. She is fluent in English, German, Russian, and Georgian, being educated in Georgia and Germany. Nata also regularly speaks and publishes on international arbitration.

Dr. Anna Kozmenko, Partner, Schellenberg Wittmer

Dr. Anna Kozmenko is a Partner in Schellenberg Wittmer, Zurich Dispute Resolution and Sports Groups in Zurich. Having practiced in Russia, France and the US, Dr. Kozmenko represents state and private entities in high profile international disputes, including complex litigations, commercial and investment arbitrations.

Dr. Kozmenko is recognized as one of the top international lawyers of her generation. She has been named as one of "most highly regarded individuals" (Who’s Who Legal: Future Leaders Arbitration) and a "top international arbitration practitioner" (Russian Arbitration Association). Who’s Who Legal quotes her as being "outstanding as counsel and as arbitrator" and "truly what an international arbitration lawyer should be: singularly advanced in her field in knowledge and in strategic skills in public and private arbitration", in addition to "drawing particular praise for top-tier work on Russia-related disputes."