March 8–9, 2012, Stockholm (Sweden) hosted the 15th Annual IBA International Arbitration Day, organized by IBA Arbitration Committee with the support of IBA European Regional Forum.

The keynote idea of this year’s conference was “Neutrality: myth or reality?” which prompted leading arbitration experts, lawyers, attorneys, arbitrators and representatives of international arbitration institutions to take a close look at the issues of arbitrators' neutrality and the neutrality of the procedure, and to analyse IBA guidelines on conflicts (2004), assessing whether or not they are setting the standard or are in need of revision.

Oleksiy Filatov, Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution Practice, and Pavlo Byelousov, associate, represented Vasil Kisil & Partners Law Firm at this event.

During the conference, the experts addressed uniformity in arbitration procedures, what contributes to the neutrality of the arbitration, the choice of arbitral institutions and regulations, as well as issues related to the venue of the arbitration. In addition, recognized international practitioners shared their experiences and expertise regarding the practical aspects and criteria for selecting arbitrators, while debating how compatible the role of an arbitrator is with that of a legal representative of the party in investment arbitration.

The IBA International Arbitration Day is one of the most significant arbitration events in the world. This year's conference was attended by over 500 representatives from 52 countries worldwide.

Before, during and after the conference there had been a number of social events, seminars, workshops and receptions given by leading law firms in honour of the Stockholm Arbitration days, during which participants had a unique opportunity to exchange information and views on recent developments in international arbitration in various jurisdictions.

In particular, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the Swedish Arbitration Association (SAA) and Young Arbitrators Stockholm (YAS) co-hosted a half-day seminar entirely devoted to Innovation in Arbitration and held at the site of the Nobel Prize Ceremony. Other notable events included the opening reception of the conference, a reception for young lawyers organized by YAS, Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG), IBA and ICDR Young & International, a new professional-development organization for international dispute resolution practitioners under the age of 40 within the American Arbitration Association (ААА), receptions organized by leading Swedish law firms «Mannheimer Swartling» and «MAQS», LCIA symposium on Arbitration and ADR, and many others.

The 16th Annual IBA International Arbitration Day will take place in Bogota (Columbia) February 21-22, 2013.

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For more details please contact Tatyana Efremova,

Head of PR/BD Department

Tel.: +380 44 581 7777

E-mail: pr@vkp.kiev.ua

About the Firm

Established in 1992, Vasil Kisil & Partners is a Ukrainian law firm that delivers integrated legal advice in banking & finance, mergers & acquisitions, capital markets, antitrust, competition and trade, dispute resolution, tax law, energy and natural resources law, intellectual property law, labor and employment law, real estate and construction law, as well as PPP, concessions and infrastructure law.

The firm`s clients include such world-known companies as Alpcot Agro, Africa-Israel Group, Astellas Pharma, BASF, Bayer Consumer, BNP Paribas, British American Tobacco, Central European Media Enterprises, Coca Cola, Credit Agricole Group, Danone, Dell Inc., Du Pont, Energy Standard Group, Eurosport, Google, IKB Deutsche Industriebank, LG Electronics, Leroy Merlin Ukraine, Lukoil, Metso Automation Oy, Moody’s, Mott MacDonald Limited, NCH Capital, Novacke chemicke zavody, Opel, Philips, Pioneer, Red Bull, Russian Standard Bank, St. Sophia Homes, SEB AB, SEB Group, Swedbank AB, Seven Hills, Shell, Standard Charted Bank, Tchibo, UniCredit Group, Vanco International / Vanco Energy, Volkswagen, VympelCom, YouTube.