Un árbitro español, al frente del tribunal del pleito entre Mikhail Fridman y Reino Unido

Spanish referee Miguel Virgós has been appointed as the chairman of the arbitration tribunal handling the dispute between Mikhail Fridman, the founder of LetterOne and owner of the Dia supermarkets, and the United Kingdom over the freezing of his assets. This case joins other ongoing disputes against the Netherlands and Luxembourg due to sanctions imposed on Russia.

A Spanish legal expert will play a crucial role in one of the most media-sensational lawsuits stemming from international sanctions against Russia. Spanish jurist Miguel Virgós has been chosen as the president of the arbitral tribunal to resolve the lawsuit filed by Russian-Israeli multimillionaire Mikhail Fridman against the United Kingdom for the freezing of his assets in the country.

Fridman stepped down from the board of LetterOne in 2022, the owner of Dia supermarkets, following his inclusion in a list of sanctioned businessmen and oligarchs suspected of ties to the Vladimir Putin administration. The British government confirmed this claim in November of the previous year through a statement from Minister Chris Bryant.

The UK added Fridman to its sanctions list in 2022, mainly due to his alleged proximity to Putin and his pro-Kremlin role as a pro-business oligarch. Later, the UK government expanded its justification citing his management roles in various financial sector companies that they deemed strategically important to the Russian government.

Among Fridman's assets in the UK include a £65 million mansion in North London, a £44 million art collection, the health and wellness retail chain Holland & Barrett, and a stake in the Harbour Energy oil company. The UK Financial Sanctions Office (OFSI) granted licenses for certain payments, but in 2023 the London High Court rejected Fridman's appeal against the rejection of additional licenses.

After the UK raised objections about the tribunal's jurisdiction over the matter, the hearing on jurisdiction and merits of the case is set for May 2027. Spanish legal expert Miguel Virgós has been appointed as the chairman of the arbitral tribunal to issue the ruling, composed of Serbian academic Maja Stanivuković, appointed by Fridman, former president of the Center for Arbitration of Belgrade and a dissenting arbitrator in the ruling that condemned Russia to pay $5 billion to Ukrainian Naftogaz for the expropriation of its assets in Crimea, and American jurist Jean Kalicki, chosen by the UK, a former partner at Arnold & Porter who now practices independently.

Fridman's legal team is headed by former UK Crown Prosecutor Geoffrey Cox, alongside lawyers from Twenty Essex, Russian firm Dyakin Gortsunyan and Partners, Gherson Solicitors in London, and French firm Kiejman & Marembert. The UK has entrusted its defense to Freshfields, while Fridman's defense is handled by a team from Freshfields in Hong Kong (China) for the Luxembourg case and the UAE for the Netherlands case.

In the Luxemburg case, Fridman claims compensation for damages and losses related to $15.8 billion in asset freezes. French firm A&O Shearman defends Luxembourg, while the Netherlands is represented by Dutch firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.