Ilija Mitrev Penusliski is counsel in the International Arbitration and Public International Law practices.  He has experience in international arbitrations under most major institutional rules, including the ICSID, UNCITRAL, SCC and ICC Rules, with a focus on investment and energy disputes.
Ilija features in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration – Future Leaders 2020, which hails him as a “‘truly remarkable’ arbitration lawyer who ‘has an impressive ability to manage very complex cases and to develop strategy’.”

EXPERIENCE INCLUDES REPRESENTATION OF:

Experience as Counsel
•    A European energy company and the municipality of a European city against an international utility company in relation to a long-term lease agreement.  The arbitration is conducted under the SCC arbitration rules.
•    The Republic of Lithuania, Respondent in an ICSID arbitration brought by Veolia Environnement S.A. and others in relation to district heating and power generation systems in Lithuania (ICSID Case No. ARB/16/3). The claims are brought under the Lithuania-France bilateral investment treaty.
•    The Republic of Lithuania, Claimant in an SCC arbitration in Stockholm against Gazprom in relation to Gazprom’s obligations to supply gas based on fair prices under the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement between Lithuania and Gazprom as well as Gazprom’s breaches of its obligations under the Shareholders’ Agreement, resulting in overpayments in excess of EUR 1.54 billion.
•    The majority shareholders in the former Yukos Oil Company, Claimants in a series of three UNCITRAL arbitrations in The Hague against the Russian Federation in relation to the expropriation of their investment in the company. The claims were brought under the Energy Charter Treaty. The Tribunal ordered the Russian Federation to pay over USD 50 billion in damages to our clients, the largest award ever rendered by an arbitral tribunal. The Tribunal also ordered the Respondent to reimburse to our clients 75% of the legal fees they had incurred in these proceedings, as well as 100% of the arbitration costs.
•    The Republic of Lithuania in arbitration proceedings commenced by Russian State-owned gas company Gazprom in relation to Lithuania’s unbundling of gas transmission from gas production and supply in the Lithuanian gas distribution company Lietuvos Dujos, in compliance with the EU Third Energy Package and in particular Directive (EC) 2009/73. The proceedings were brought under the 1999 Lithuania-Russia BIT and were conducted under the 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.
•    Electricité de France (EDF), Claimant in a UNCITRAL arbitration against the Republic of Hungary. The dispute arose from termination of the Power Purchase Agreements put in place during the privatisation of the electricity sector. The claims were brought under the Energy Charter Treaty and the arbitration was conducted in accordance with UNCITRAL Rules.
•    A European energy company, buyer in a long-term gas supply agreement, in an ICC arbitration in Geneva against another European energy company. The dispute arose out of a long-term gas purchase agreement and the disconnect between the price formula, based on oil products, and the situation in the buyer’s market, in which market price plays an important role. English law applied.
•    A West African energy company, Respondent in a UNCITRAL arbitration in Geneva initiated by a European energy company. The dispute arose from the revision of a price formula in two long-term contracts for the sale of liquefied natural gas. English law applied.
Experience as Arbitrator
•    Administrative Secretary and Assistant to an arbitrator in investment treaty arbitrations.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education
•    Harvard Law School, U.S.A. (LL.M.)
•    University of Oxford, U.K. (Magister Juris)
•    Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia (LL.B.)
Admissions & Courts
New York
Languages
•    English
•    French
•    Macedonian
•    Serbian
•    Croatian
Nationality
Macedonian, French

OF NOTE

Professional Affiliations
•    Member, International Arbitration Institute (IAI)
•    Member, LCIA European Users’ Council
•    Member, ICC Young Arbitration Forum (YAF)
•    Member, LCIA Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG)
•    Member, Young ICSID

Other
•    Before joining Shearman & Sterling, Ilija was a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School, assisted in proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and served as a legal advisor with Booz Allen Hamilton / USAID in North Macedonia.