Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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Foreign judgments are recognized and enforced in Ukraine only if so provided in an international agreement to which Ukraine is a party. Ukraine, however, has international agreements on legal cooperation with only a very few countries. Court judgments in the United States, Western Europe and most other countries are not recognized or enforceable in Ukraine.

Ukraine is a signatory to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”). It is also a signatory to the 1961 European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (“European Convention”). Thus, arbitral awards entered in any of the more than 125 countries that are signatories to the New York Convention or the European Convention are enforceable in Ukraine, making arbitration a vital component of any international contract involving Ukrainian parties.

The procedures for recognizing and enforcing a foreign arbitral award and a foreign court judgment in Ukraine are set forth below.

I. RECOGNIZING AND ENFORCING FOREIGN ARBITRAL AWARDS 

The Law of Ukraine on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Ukraine, adopted November 29, 2001 (“LORE”) outlines the procedure for recognizing and enforcing foreign court judgments and foreign arbitration awards, which are enforceable in Ukraine. 

The term “foreign judgments” is defined as “judgments of foreign courts in civil, labor and family matters, judgments of foreign courts in criminal cases in the part that is related to confiscation of property and compensation of damages, and foreign arbitration awards and acts of other foreign authorities within the competence of which is the resolution of civil, labor and family disputes, that came into force and are subject to recognition and enforcement in Ukraine according to the international treaties.”1