MOSCOW, October 31 – RAPSI. Saudi Arabia plans to begin lobbying the UK government to establish a London arbitration tribunal in order to handle disputes arising from large-scale commercial transactions in the Middle Eastern country, according to a Financial Times article published Tuesday.

Speaking with RAPSI Wednesday, the UK Ministry of Justice was unable to comment on the Saudi affair specifically, but confirmed that the UK welcomes disputes from around the world. A Justice Ministry spokesperson explained, “"The world's business leaders come to the UK to settle their disputes so that they can protect their hard work, ensure payments are made, contracts are enforced - allowing their businesses to grow... UK courts provide an internationally recognised guarantee of impartiality, independence and enforceability."

UK court have proved fertile grounds for large-scale Russian disputes in recent years; particularly those between oligarchs squabbling over business deals that occurred in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Notably, oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich battled over a $5 billion claim launched by the former in the High Court of London. The court held for Abramovich. Another recent high-profile legal battle between oligarchs Oleg Deripaska and Mikhail Cherney ended suddenly and without explanation immediately prior to the start of proceedings this past September.

According to international law firm Jones Day, Saudi Arabia issued a new arbitration law in April of this year which served to bring the legislation into closer compliance with the international standards of arbitration. The law firm explained that that the new law will foster a “more welcoming arbitration environment” by granting greater discretion to parties and tribunals in arbitral proceedings.