PrivatBank, now owned by the Ukrainian state, brought a claim against Russia under the 1998 Russia-Ukraine bilateral investment treaty over the loss of its Crimean branches and assets in 2014. On October 1, 2026, the Hague-seated tribunal awarded $180.87M plus interest from April 18, 2014. PrivatBank puts the total at more than $327M with costs. Russia is asking the Court of Appeal of The Hague to revoke the tribunal’s 2017 and 2019 awards.
Latest development Oct 1, 2026
On October 1, 2026, the tribunal issued its final award, ordering Russia to pay PrivatBank $180.87M plus interest from April 18, 2014, and allocating the costs of the arbitration. PrivatBank puts the total at more than $327M. The Permanent Court of Arbitration announced the award on October 6, 2026.
Why it matters
The final award sets the compensation for PrivatBank’s Crimean business under the 1998 treaty. Russia’s objection that the investments were unlawful, deferred to the final phase, can now be tested in a set-aside action, while its requests to revoke the earlier awards are pending.
Background
PrivatBank had operated in Crimea since 1994. After Russia took control of the peninsula in 2014, the Bank of Russia ordered an end to PrivatBank’s activities there on April 21, 2014. The Crimean authorities issued a decree nationalizing some of its property. In 2015, PrivatBank and Finance Company Finilon brought claims against Russia under the 1998 Russia-Ukraine bilateral investment treaty (BIT) and the 1976 UNCITRAL Rules. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) acts as registry, and the seat is The Hague. Ukraine nationalized PrivatBank in December 2016.
Russia did not take part at first. The tribunal issued an interim award, corrected on March 27, 2017, and a partial award on February 4, 2019. The partial award held that the tribunal had jurisdiction over PrivatBank’s claims but not Finilon’s, and that Russia had breached the treaty’s expropriation article. Russia sought to set aside both awards in the Dutch courts. The Court of Appeal of The Hague dismissed its claims on July 19, 2022. On December 6, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands rejected Russia’s appeal. It noted that objections the tribunal deferred to a later phase can be challenged once the tribunal decides them.
Russia joined the arbitration in 2019 and took part in the final phase, which dealt with compensation and Russia’s objection that PrivatBank was not a legitimate investor. On October 1, 2026, the tribunal of Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Daniel Bethlehem, and Václav Mikulka issued its unanimous final award. It rejected the objection, ordered Russia to pay $180.87M plus interest from April 18, 2014, and allocated the costs. TASS reported that PrivatBank had claimed more than $1B. Global Arbitration Review reported that a parallel treaty claim by Igor Kolomoisky, a former owner of PrivatBank, over Crimean assets also ended in a damages award.
The PCA announced the award on October 6, 2026. PrivatBank puts the total at more than $327M with interest and costs. It says it expects Russia to pay in full and will take steps to secure payment. Under Dutch law, Russia may apply to the Court of Appeal of The Hague to set the award aside within three months of its dispatch to the parties. Russia’s separate actions to revoke the 2017 and 2019 awards and the Dutch judgments that upheld them are pending before that court. Russia filed them on October 30, 2025, and on July 21, 2026, the court listed them to proceed in parallel.
Timeline 9 events
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OtherPrivatBank says it expects Russia to pay the award in full
The bank puts the award at more than $327M with interest and costs, and says it will take steps to secure payment.
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AwardTribunal orders Russia to pay PrivatBank $180.87M plus interest
The final award rejected Russia’s objection that PrivatBank was not a legitimate investor. Interest runs from April 18, 2014.
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OrderCourt of Appeal of The Hague declines to join Russia’s revocation actions
The court listed the two actions to proceed in parallel and set a date six weeks later for PrivatBank’s defense.
Court of Appeal of The Hague: ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2026:2172 (via italaw)Rechtspraak.nl: ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2026:2172
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FilingRussia seeks revocation of the awards and the Dutch judgments upholding them
Russia filed two actions in the Court of Appeal of The Hague, one against the 2017 and 2019 awards and one against the judgments of 2021, 2022, and 2024.
Court of Appeal of The Hague: ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2026:2172 (via italaw)Rechtspraak.nl: ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2026:2172
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AppealSupreme Court of the Netherlands rejects Russia’s appeal
The Supreme Court held that objections deferred by the tribunal to a later phase can be challenged when the tribunal decides them.
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JudgmentCourt of Appeal of The Hague dismisses Russia’s set-aside claims
The court upheld the interim and partial awards.
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AwardTribunal finds Russia breached the treaty’s expropriation article
The partial award upheld jurisdiction over PrivatBank’s claims and held that Finilon’s claims fell outside it. Compensation was left to a later phase.
Jus Mundi: Privatbank and Finilon v. Russia, Partial Award (February 4, 2019)TASS
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AwardTribunal issues corrected interim award in PrivatBank’s case
The tribunal reissued its interim award with corrections. Russia later sought to set it aside in the Dutch courts.
Rechtspraak.nl: ECLI:NL:HR:2024:1807italaw: PCA Case No. 2015-21
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OrderPCA says arbitration continues despite Russia’s non-participation
The PCA announced that the proceedings would go ahead although Russia was not taking part.