ZAVOD EKRAN OAO V MAGNECO METREL UK LTD

[2017] EWHC 2208 (Comm), Queen’s Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Blair, 1 September 2017

Arbitration - Enforcement of foreign award - Notice of proceedings given in Russian - Whether proper notice given - New York Convention - Arbitration Act 1996, section 103(2)(c)

On 30 April 2013 Ekran, a Russian company, and Magneco, an English company, entered into a sale and purchase agreement under which Magneco agreed to supply refractory materials for use by Ekran in its furnaces. The contract was governed by Russian law and disputes were to be resolved by arbitration before the International Commercial Arbitration Court (ICAC) the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Moscow. The language of the arbitration was to be Russian. Disputes arose between the parties, Ekran alleging that the goods supplied by Magneco did not meet their contractual specification. Magneco received from ICAC a letter dated 14 January 2016 accompanied by 150 pages of annexes. Most of the material was in Russian, although the letter itself stated that it came from ICAC. The letter gave notice of arbitration and required Magneco to appoint an arbitrator within 15 days. Magneco did not have the letter translated and did not respond. In default of Magneco's participation, a tribunal was appointed (Magneco being informed by letter in Russian in March 2016) and it issued an award in favour of Ekran in July 2016. Ekran obtained an enforcement order from Males J on 16 January 2017 under the New York Convention. Magneco sought have the award set aside under section 103(2)(c) of the Arbitration Act 1996, under which the English court may refuse to enforce a New York Convention award, namely that the contesting party "was not given proper notice of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings or was otherwise unable to present his case".