Global Justice Now | 19 November 2025
UK being sued by billionaire Russian oligarch in ‘secret corporate court’
THE UK government is being sued by a billionaire Russian oligarch in a secret corporate court, it has been revealed.
Answering a question in Parliament from Labour MP Martin Rhodes on Tuesday, Minister of State for Trade Policy Chris Bryant confirmed that the government is a respondent in two active Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) arbitrations, one of which has been brought by Russian billionaire oligarch Mikhail Maratovich Fridman.
“Close crony of Putin’s regime”
Fridman is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, with an estimated net worth of $15 billion. Details of the case brought against the UK Government by Fridman are as of yet undisclosed.
Fridman has been subject to UK and EU sanctions over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 2022, on the basis of his ties to the Russian government. The UK has frozen Fridman’s assets, meaning no UK citizen or company can do business with him, and has also imposed a travel ban on him to or from the UK.
The EU has also provided evidence of Fridman’s links to the Russian military. An open letter by anti-corruption activists and political analysts named Fridman as amongst a group of “close cronies and insiders of Putin’s regime” who “do not operate independently of Putin’s demands.”
Fridman’s use of corporate courts
This is not Fridman’s first time using corporate courts to sue governments: he has filed five claims against sanctions-related measures and threatened a sixth case. He is currently suing Luxembourg over the freezing of his assets, demanding a staggering $16 billion payout – equivalent to half of the country’s entire central government revenue.
Three of Fridman’s cases are against Ukraine itself, with the country facing at least eight ISDS claims challenging its own sanctions and national security measures since 2022.
What are corporate courts – and what cases is the UK facing?
Corporate courts – formally known as Investor State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS – are provisions nestled into many trade and investment deals, which allow corporations to sue governments for policies they allege harm their profits. The claims are heard in ad hoc, international tribunals that bypass domestic courts.
ISDS cases brought against countries by corporations have challenged government laws and regulations such as the phase-out of coal power stations, windfall taxes on excess energy profits, and the introduction of plain-packing cigarettes.
This case is the second the UK government currently faces. In August the UK was sued by investors in the Cumbria coal mine, after it was quashed by the high court over its climate impacts. The controversial project was opposed by large community and environmental campaigns, leading to the successful domestic legal challenge. West Cumbria Mining is raising the dispute under the terms of UK-Singapore Bilateral Investment Treaty via its Singaporean-incorporated majority owner.
The Fridman vs. United Kingdom case adds to a growing number of ISDS claims initiated to directly challenge sanctions against Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A British oil and gas company raised a case against Ukraine this year, after its exploration licences were suspended due to sanctions on its owners.
The global movement against corporate courts
Around the world pressure is mounting against the ISDS system, with many countries recognising the risk to their sovereignty. A wave of European countries including the UK recently exited the most litigated ISDS agreement, the Energy Charter Treaty, and Australia, New Zealand and the US have made commitments to exclude ISDS from new trade deals and review existing ones.
Last week at COP30, a broad range of civil society organisations were joined by the Colombian government in highlighting ISDS as a major obstacle to climate policy and national sovereignty.
ENDS
Cleodie Rickard, trade campaign manager at Global Justice Now said:
“That allies of Putin can hold our government’s actions to ransom during Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine is an outrage. This latest case against the UK government highlights the huge threat that corporate courts pose not only to sovereignty and democracy, but to security. Keeping Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in our trade and investment deals leaves the door open to preposterous claims by billionaire oligarchs and multinational corporations alike. And win or lose, it’s taxpayers here who will pick up the bill. This claim – alongside the second facing the UK for stopping a coal mine – should make it a no-brainer: the UK must follow other countries in getting rid of ISDS.”
Notes to the editor
- Global Justice Now is a UK-based campaigning organisation part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world. We mobilise people in the UK for change, and act in solidarity with those fighting injustice, particularly in the global south.
- Global Justice Now – Britain sued in ‘corporate court’ over quashing of coal mine in Cumbria: https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/britain-sued-in-corporate-court-over-quashing-of-coal-mine-in-cumbria/
- A detailed case study of the Fridman vs. Luxembourg claim: https://10isdsstories.org/case/case-1/
