Status: awaiting the President’ signature
On 28 April 2026, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Draft Law “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On International Commercial Arbitration’ Regarding the Extension of the Jurisdiction of International Arbitration”, which broadens the scope of disputes that can be resolved through international arbitration in Ukraine.
According to Ukraine’s Speaker of Parliament, the legislation is intended to expand the competence of international commercial arbitration, improve the status of Ukraine’s legal system as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction, and promote the country as a venue for investment arbitration.
Key changes
The amendments expand the jurisdiction of Ukrainian international arbitration institutions, including the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICAC), in the following three ways:
- Broadened internationality test: a dispute will qualify as "international" if a party's place of business is located abroad and/or where:
- the parties explicitly agree that the subject matter is connected with more than one state;
- the place of arbitration is outside the state of the parties’ place of business;
- a substantial part of the contract’s obligations will be performed abroad; or
- the subject matter of the dispute is most closely connected with another state.
- Investor-state disputes: for the first time, permanent Ukrainian arbitration institutions (including the ICAC, which is the main one) may adjudicate disputes between an investor and the state (its bodies and institutions) or intergovernmental organisations in connection with investments in the territory of Ukraine or abroad, provided that the parties have agreed to arbitration. Such consent may be expressed in an international treaty, Ukrainian law, other regulatory act or a contract.
- Capital markets disputes: the law extends arbitral jurisdiction to disputes between bond administrators and issuers (or persons providing collateral), where at least one party qualifies as a foreign-investment company.
Retroactive application and next steps
The new amendments will apply retroactively to arbitration agreements concluded before the legislation enters into force, immediately expanding the pool of disputes eligible for Ukrainian-seated arbitration.
The Ukrainian government is expected to designate the ICAC as a dispute resolution forum in all future or revised bilateral investment treaties, free-trade agreements, and public-private partnership contracts.
State companies and bodies are encouraged to identify permanent Ukrainian arbitration institutions as arbitration forums in their contracts.
The draft law now awaits the President’s signature and official publication before entering into force.
For more information on this legislation and business dispute mechanisms in Ukraine, contact your CMS client partner or the CMS experts who contributed to this article: Olga Shenk, Mykhaylo Korchynskyy.
