KALININGRAD, February 20 (RAPSI) – Up to 10,000 cases implicating Russia's biggest lender Sberbank were filed with local arbitration courts in 2015, Sergei Minkin, the head of the division for judicial protection of legal department of the bank, said at the guest conference on the ongoing arbitration reform held under the aegis of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

Most cases which were filed with state or local arbitration courts were linked to outstanding or troubled debts, according to Minkin.

The better part of credit contracts offered by the bank include an arbitration clause that implies that a case may be filed either with an arbitration court or with a state court.

“We are satisfied both with the present legal framework and the institution of arbitral proceedings,” said Minkin. “As consumers, we are interested in timeframes and percentage of reversals.” 

Sberbank sees arbitration as a method of dispute resolution administered under the state control, according to Minkin.

The arbitration reform launched several years ago is aimed at increasing the credibility of this dispute resolution mechanism in Russia. The Ministry of Justice introduced legislation which was passed by the lower house of parliament,  the State Duma, in the final reading on December 15 and adopted by the Federation Council on  December 25. The Federal Law “On Arbitration (Arbitral Proceedings) in the Russian Federation” was signed by President Vladimir Putin on December 29.