Cooperation will expand

On June 27, on the sidelines of the XII St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, a meeting was held between the President of the RFBA Svetlana Volodina, the Executive Vice President of the RFBA Oksana Sergeeva and the Vice President of the RFBA, President of the Moscow Bar Association Sergei Zubkov with Singapore Ministry of Law Deputy Secretary Ms. Charlene Chang, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Singapore to the Russian Federation Mark Neo, officials from the Singapore Ministry of Law and Singapore Embassy in Moscow, and representatives from the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

Ms. Gloria Lim spoke about the activities of the Center, which is a non-profit organization that provides arbitration services to the global business community, including Russia.

Sergei Zubkov noted that in Russia, the number of lawyers defending the interests of business abroad is growing, and mentioned his meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Singapore to Russia Mark Neo at the Moscow Bar Association, where issues of establishing contact between the bar associations of Singapore and Moscow were discussed. Speaking about ways of possible interaction between the legal communities of the two countries, Sergei Zubkov mentioned, in particular, situations where legal services are required by Russian citizens in Singapore and vice versa. The Vice President of the Moscow Bar Association told the guests about the organizational structure of the Russian legal profession, explaining that regional bar associations are included in the rights of mandatory membership in the RFBA.

Svetlana Volodina, Oksana Sergeeva, and Sergey Zubkov announced their readiness to assist in informing Russian advocates about colleagues from Singapore with whom cooperation is possible, as well as about the available resolution mechanisms international economic disputes.

Ms Gloria Lim spoke about the SIAC’s upcoming arbitration symposium, to be held during Singapore Convention Week in August 2024, which would welcome international participants. The issue of the growth potential of mediation in Russia and Singapore was also discussed.

At the end of the meeting, Svetlana Volodina, on behalf of the Russian legal profession, expressed her readiness to interact with the legal community of Singapore. She thanked the guests for the meeting and reported on the VI Congress of Young Lawyers of Russia recently held in Veliky Novgorod, after which the parties exchanged memorable gifts.