Ivan Urzhumov

Full Profile

Ivan’s practice concentrates on commercial and investment arbitration, as well as cross-border litigation.  His arbitration practice comprises work on ICC, UNCITRAL, ICSID and SCC matters, as well as set aside and enforcement proceedings.  He is experienced in multi-jurisdictional asset tracing and recovery, fraud litigation and cross-border bankruptcy matters, often involving parties from Russia and former USSR countries.  Enforcement of foreign judgments, taking of evidence abroad and obtaining conservatory measures in support of foreign proceedings is a part of his widespread international litigation experience. Ivan also provides legal advice in relation to cross-border transactions and international investment projects.

He has represented clients from oil & gas, construction, electricity, telecommunications, waste management, automotive, banking, high tech and other industries.

Ivan is recognised as a "Next Generation Partner" in Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration by Legal 500 EMEA France. He is a member of the International Arbitration Institute (IAI) and is listed as arbitrator on the roster of the Arbitration Centre at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP).

He holds a Masters of Law from University Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne in 2008 and Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 2007. He is admitted to the bars of Moscow and Paris and advises clients and pleads in English, French and Russian. 

Experience

Investor-State Arbitration

• Secured a victory for a Latin American State against a Canadian mining company, obtaining the set-aside by the Paris Court of Appeal of a US$ 1.3 billion ICSID award
• Obtained a dismissal of a US$ 180-million claim brought by a Canadian power company against a Latin American State under ICSID Additional Facility Rules
• Represented an Eastern European State in an ICSID arbitration concerning the State’s alleged failure to exercise regulatory oversight over claimants’ deposits in a local bank
• Assisted the Republic of Ecuador in obtaining a victory against an international oil company alleging breaches of the U.S.-Ecuador BIT arising from the State’s imposition of a windfall-profits levy

Commercial Arbitration

• Successfully represented a Russian public works company in an ICC arbitration with the seat in Paris regarding the non-conformity of equipment supplied for a plant in Saudi Arabia
• Counsel to a pan-European recycling company in two separate ICC arbitrations in Paris and Zurich, against German and French logistics service providers
• Secured a victory for a Belgian company against a leading German supplier of automotive parts, in an ICC arbitration in Paris concerning the ownership of patents and trade secrets
• Represented an international oil company in an ICC arbitration in Paris against an African State concerning the termination of production sharing agreements
• Counsel to a large French electricity company in an ICC arbitration in Switzerland against a European electricity trader and distributor arising out of an electricity distribution contract

Cross-Border Litigation

• Obtained and defended attachments of French properties held via a complex ownership scheme, in an effort to recover a multi-million debt arising out of a fraud scheme committed in Russia
• Representing a client in multiple French court proceedings relating to the enforcement in France of a large arbitral award issued against a Eastern European State-owned entity
• Represented a client in debt recovery arbitration proceedings, followed by a pierce of corporate veil action initiated in Spain and parallel insolvency proceedings in Luxembourg
• Successful representation of a European State in court proceedings in France and Luxembourg against a company seeking to enforce an SCC award issued against a defunct State entity

Publications

• Co-authored, French chapter of "In-Depth: International Arbitration", Lexology, Editor John V H Pierce, 15th Edition, 2024
• 2021 ICC rules of arbitration: towards making arbitration even more attractive, Lexology