On 27 June 2023, states-members of the International Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine voted by consensus to accept the candidacy of Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi for the position of Executive Director of the Register. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe will now formally appoint Markiyan. Earlier, on 24 June 2023, Markiyan's candidacy for this position was approved for nomination by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The Register of Damage has been established in May 2023, and it will have its seat in The Hague. Its function is to serve as a record claims and evidence on damage, loss or injury caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine. It paves the way towards a future international comprehensive compensation mechanism for the victims of the Russian aggression. 42 states, as well as the European Union are members of the Register.
Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi will lead the Register, as well as the further work to establish a reparations mechanism for Ukraine, and he will thus resign from his partnership at Asters as of 1 July 2023.
Asters' Co-Managing Partner Oleksiy Didkovskiy, who previously co-headed the International Arbitration and Cross-Border Litigation department with Markiyan, will now assume leadership of the practice. Commenting on the appointment, he says: "We are grateful to Markiyan for our long-standing cooperation, thank him for his leadership and valuable contribution to the firm's development and wish him success in his new role. While it is always sad when a great colleague and a close friend departs, we also believe that his work will be of great benefit to Ukraine. His unique experience and expertise will be instrumental in establishing a solid legal framework to hold the aggressor state accountable for the damage caused to Ukraine and Ukrainians."
Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi is a recognised expert with 19 years of experience in international arbitration and cross-border litigation, he has been consistently ranked in top tier of arbitration practitioners in Ukraine by various international rankings. He has been also recognized by GAR100. In May 2022, Markiyan was appointed a member of the working group on the development and implementation of international legal mechanisms for compensation for damage caused by Russia's war against Ukraine. Previously, worked on the concept of an international reparations mechanism for Ukraine and he participated in negotiations that resulted in adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the resolution endorsing such mechanism on 14 November 2022.
