Olena Perepelynska, partner and head of International Arbitration at INTEGRITES, became founding member and joined the board of the newly established Arbitration Association of Central and Eastern Europe (ArbCEE). The association has 26 founding members from 10 countries of the CEE region. The launch event took place on June 7, 2023, in Bratislava, Slovakia.
ArbCEE is the first independent and inclusive arbitration association developed by, and for, practitioners connected within the CEE region. Its primary goal is to provide a knowledge-sharing and networking platform for arbitration practitioners, to advance and facilitate the development of the arbitration and ADR community in Central and Eastern Europe.
ArbCEE will also strive to promote diversity and equal representation in international arbitration for practitioners from the CEE region through actively promoting and showcasing their skills, experience and expertise and through investing in up-and-coming talent.
The statement of the ArbCEE, inter alia, mentions that “Despite the significant pool of experienced arbitration practitioners in the CEE region, arbitrators from CEE are particularly underrepresented in international arbitration, even when compared to other developing regions of the world. ArbCEE is committed to addressing this disparity and to ensuring that users of arbitration and the global arbitration community can benefit from all the talent that the CEE region has to offer.”
Olena Perepelynska: “It’s a great inspiration to be among those who pave the way for the ArbCEE. Since 2012 when I became a founding member and a Board member of the Ukrainian Arbitration Association, I’ve served the goal of developing this national organization for the benefit of the Ukrainian arbitration practitioners and for Ukraine as a seat of arbitration. The experience consolidated in the UAA might be very useful on the regional level as well. I am happy I can go on both levels now, as regional cooperation and development offered by the ArbCEE might open plenty of new opportunities for arbitration practitioners from each jurisdiction of the region, including Ukraine”.
