The Law is designed to enhance the attractiveness of Ukraine as a pro-arbitration jurisdiction by harmonising national legislation with the UNCITRAL Model Law standards, broadening the categories of disputes that may be referred to international commercial arbitration, and establishing a legislative framework for the resolution of investment disputes.
May 2026
On 28 April 2026, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed Draft Law No.12141 "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On International Commercial Arbitration Regarding the Expansion of the Jurisdiction of International Arbitration". The Law has already been signed by the President of Ukraine, officially published and entered into force on 21 May 2026 under No. 4856-IX.
KEY CHANGES
1. Broadening the arbitrability of disputes
The previous version of the Law of Ukraine on International Commercial Arbitration (the ICA Law) in Article 1(2) provided three categories of disputes that may be referred to international commercial arbitration.
One of such categories covered the disputes arising from contractual and other civil-law relationships in the context of foreign trade and other forms of international economic activity. Under the previous version of the ICA Law, such disputes were considered arbitrable only if the place of business of at least one of the parties was located outside Ukraine.
The new Law now expands the arbitrability criteria in respect of such category of disputesin a mannerconsistent with the “internationality test” reflected in Article 1(3) of the UNCITRAL Model Law:
one of the following places is situated outside the State in which the parties have their places of business:
- the place of arbitration, if determined in or pursuant to the arbitration agreement;
- any place where a substantial part of the obligations arising from the contractual or other civil-law relationship is to be performed;
- the place with which the subject matter of the dispute is most closely connected; or
the parties have expressly agreed that the subject matter of the arbitration agreement relates to more than one country.
The new Law also clarifies that the fact that a place of business is located abroad shall be assessed at the moment of conclusion of the arbitration agreement.
Meanwhile, the Law preserves – as separate categories of disputes which may be submitted to international commercial arbitration – disputes involving enterprises with foreign investment and international associations and organisations, as well as disputes involving a bond issue administrator.
⚠ Important: Retroactive Effect
The amendments apply to arbitration agreements concluded before the Law enters into force.
Accordingly, arbitration agreements in respect of disputes that could not previously be referred to international commercial arbitration under the previous regulatory framework will, upon entry into force of the new Law, be valid and enforceable to the extent that they comply with the new regulatory requirements. Now, therefore, the Parties have valid grounds to initiate international arbitration under such arbitration agreements.
At the same time, the Law does not expressly refer to the judgments / arbitral awards on merits of the disputes, which have already been rendered under the arbitrability rules specified in the previous version of the ICA Law. In the absence of such clarification in the new Law, it may be inferred that the Law is not intended to apply retroactively to such judgments / arbitral awards.
2. The new ICA Law applies to investor-State arbitration and creates the legal framework for investment arbitration to be seated in Ukraine
A fundamental change introduced by the Law is that it effectively blurs the traditional distinction between investment and commercial arbitration by bringing investment disputes under commercial arbitration framework.
Namely, the new Law allows to refer to international commercial arbitration the disputes involving an investor (or other participant in investment activities) and the State (its bodies and institutions) or an intergovernmental organisation, in connection with the carrying out of investment activities on the territory of Ukraine or another State.
The basis for referring such disputes to international commercial arbitration may be an international treaty, a law of Ukraine or other regulatory act, or an agreement between the parties contained in a contract or other document.
In practice, the reform creates a framework for States and foreign investors to choose Ukraine as a place of arbitration conducted under various arbitration rules (both institutional and ad hoc). In doing so, the new Law aims to strengthen Ukraine’s potential as a neutral forum for investment dispute resolution in the region.
The corresponding amendments have also been introduced into Annex No. 1 to the ICA Law - the Regulation on the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the ICAC). The changes provide that such investment disputes may now be considered specifically by the ICAC – the major permanent arbitration institution in Ukraine.
To encourage the use of the Ukrainian permanent arbitration institutions for the resolution of investment disputes, the new Law directs the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to:
include the ICAC as one of the options for the resolution of investor-State investment disputes when preparing new bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and free trade agreements with investment provisions, and when reviewing existing agreements;
recommend that State enterprises and institutions include in their international commercial contracts arbitration clauses designating a national permanent arbitration institution as one of the options for the resolution of investment disputes.
At the same time, the Ukrainian procedural legislation is not tailored to investor-State arbitration. Therefore, full implementation of the approach introduced by the new Law still requires corresponding amendments to the procedural rules (e.g. to address issues related to the form of the arbitration agreement for the purpose of post-arbitration court proceedings.
3. Allocating functions of arbitration assistance
Under the previous version of the ICA Law, all functions of arbitration assistance regarding appointment of and challenge to an arbitrator, and termination of an arbitrator’s mandate were centralized in the hands of the President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the UCCI).
The amendments now differentiate the authority which performs these functions of arbitration assistance depending on the type of arbitration proceedings. According to the new Law, in ad hoc arbitration these functions are to be performed by the President of the UCCI (as it was under the previous regime). In institutional arbitration (with the place of arbitration in Ukraine) administered under the various arbitration rules of both domestic and foreign arbitration institutions such functions are allocated to the authority designated in the rules of the relevant arbitration institution.
The legislative reform therefore opens the door to a possible amendment of the ICAC Rules.
The reform is a welcome step forward, though it still calls for further amendments to the Ukrainian procedural legislation.
Authored by
Olena Perepelynska
Partner
Krystyna Khripkova
Counsel
Anna Kozyreva
Senior Associate
Khrystyna Pogoretska
Associate