Oksana Legka spoke on cross-border enforcement of arbitral awards at Paris Arbitration Week

Asters' Partner Oksana Legka spoke at a panel discussion "Signed, Sealed, Refused: The Enforcement Battlefield" held under the auspices of the Ukrainian Bar Association within the Paris Arbitration Week 2026. The high-level panellists from Oschadbank, Naftogaz, Kennedys, and HKA dived into the evolving challenges of cross-border enforcement and explored, inter alia, particularities of the enforcement against sovereigns in multiple jurisdictions, operation of sovereign immunity defence, sanctions constraints, political sensitivities and strategic considerations when pursuing judgment debtors.

In her introductory remarks, Oksana Legka noted: "Ukrainian courts traditionally take a pro-arbitration approach when recognising and enforcing arbitral awards. However, the ongoing war inevitably finds its reflection in jurisprudence and recent developments in the approach of Ukrainian courts when dealing with public policy defence illustrates the complexity of legal environment in the context of armed aggression".

Oksana explained that in Ukraine public policy concept has become particularly relevant in two categories of wartime cases: (i) enforcement against Ukrainian state-owned defence enterprises where the award creditor is connected to Russia and (ii) enforcement involving sanctioned persons, either as debtors or creditors. On the latter, the Ukrainian Supreme Court held that sanctions is a new element of public policy that reflects the interconnection between public order, national security and sanctions policy.

Further, Oksana provided an overview of another defence encountered in the enforcement proceedings, which is sovereign immunity comprising immunity from jurisdiction and from execution. She also covered the nuances of the application of a “purpose” test when determining the possibility to enforce against state-owned property used for commercial or sovereign purposes. Finally, Oksana touched upon the experience of Ukrainian courts supportive of the concept of double waiver from sovereign immunity.

Asters is the largest full-service law firm in Ukraine with offices in Kyiv, Brussels, London, and Washington, D.C. The firm has access to over 125 jurisdictions through a well-developed network of partner law firms.