Γιεροσιέβσκι (Yerosievski) v. Phoenix Pharmacy Limited

At a glance

Parties

Yerosievski (Γιεροσιέβσκι) v. Phoenix Pharmacy Limited

Case no.

District Court of Nicosia, Application No. 479/18 (ECLI:CY:EDLEF:2019:A434)

Court

District Court of Nicosia, Cyprus – T. Paraskevaidou-Karakanna, Senior District Judge

Underlying award(s)

Final awards of 2 February 2015 (Arbitration No. 02-1-15) and 26 February 2016 (Arbitration No. 10-1-16), Economic Arbitration Court of St Petersburg

Forum and rules

Recognition and enforcement under the New York Convention 1958 (ratified by Law 84/1979), Law 101/1987 and Law 121(I)/2000

Sector

Loan agreement

Outcome

Application granted. Both awards were recognised and declared enforceable in Cyprus.

Amount

The judgment does not state the award amounts. Costs were awarded to the applicant, to be assessed by the Registrar and approved by the Court.

The dispute

The applicant, Yerosievski, asked the District Court of Nicosia to recognise and enforce in Cyprus two final awards against Phoenix Pharmacy Limited. The Economic Arbitration Court of St Petersburg made the awards on 2 February 2015 and 26 February 2016 in a dispute arising from a loan agreement. The respondent opposed the application on eight grounds. At the hearing it dropped most of them and kept only one objection: the Greek translations of the awards and of the agreement did not comply with Article IV of the New York Convention. It argued that the Press and Information Office of the Republic had made the translations and that this office is not a sworn translator. The applicant accepted that no sworn translator had been used. He argued that the Press and Information Office is the Republic's official translator.

Key holdings

1. The parties agreed, and the Court accepted, that Cyprus had no sworn translators until the Sworn Translator Services Registration and Regulation Law of 2019 was enacted. p. 3
2. Neither the Convention nor Law 84/1979 defines "official translator". The Greek rendering ("επίσημος μεταφραστής") can be read in more than one way, and the English text of the Convention prevails over the Greek translation. The Court therefore took the English term "official translator" as its guide and gave it its plain, literal meaning. p. 5
3. The Council of Ministers designated the Press and Information Office, which falls under the Ministry of Interior, as the competent service for certified translations (minutes of 24 May 1990). Because the executive itself gave the Office this task, its translations satisfy the Article IV requirement of a translation certified by an "official translator". p. 6
4. The application was granted and orders were issued as sought in paragraphs A, B, C and D of the application. Costs were awarded to the applicant against the respondent. p. 6

Procedural history

1. 2 February 2015The Economic Arbitration Court of St Petersburg made its final award in Arbitration No. 02-1-15.
2. 26 February 2016The Economic Arbitration Court of St Petersburg made its final award in Arbitration No. 10-1-16.
3. 13 December 2018The applicant filed the application for recognition and enforcement in the District Court of Nicosia.
4. 8 October 2019The District Court of Nicosia granted the application and recognised both awards.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by

• Τ. Παρασκευαϊδου-Καρακάννα (T. Paraskevaidou-Karakanna) Judge, District Court of Nicosia

For the claimant

Βελάρης και Βελάρης Δ.Ε.Π.Ε. (Velaris & Velaris LLC)

For the respondent

Π. Πρωτοπαπάς & Σία ΔΕΠΕ (P. Protopapas & Co LLC)

Run a conflict check on these names →

Keywords

• New York Convention Article IV
• recognition and enforcement
• foreign arbitral award
• official translator
• sworn translator
• certified translation
• Press and Information Office
• Cyprus
• Law 84/1979
• Economic Arbitration Court of St Petersburg
• Russia
• loan agreement
• treaty interpretation
• authentic English text

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.