Ukraine’s bilateral investment treaties: list, status and what a BIT protects

UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Hub lists 78 bilateral investment treaties of Ukraine (data checked on 23 October 2026):

• 65 in force;
• 7 signed but not in force;
• 6 terminated, among them the treaties with Russia, Italy and India.

Besides the BITs, Ukraine is a party to multilateral instruments that matter to investors: the Energy Charter Treaty, the ICSID Convention (a Contracting State since 7 July 2000) and the 1958 New York Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

Below are selected treaties in force with the main investor countries, with the year of signature as UNCTAD lists it. This is not the full list: all 78 treaties, with their texts and dates of entry into force, are on UNCTAD’s Ukraine page (see the sources at the end of this guide).

Europe:

• Austria — 1996
• France — 1994
• Germany — 1993
• Netherlands — 1994
• Poland — 1993 (signed on 12 January 1993, in force since 14 September 1993)
• Spain — 1998
• Switzerland — 1995
• Türkiye — 1996 (a new treaty signed in 2017 is not yet in force)
• United Kingdom — 1993

North America:

• Canada — 1994
• United States — 1994

Latin America:

• Argentina — 1995
• Chile — 1995
• Panama — 2003

Middle East and Asia:

• Israel — 2010
• Japan — 2015
• Kuwait — 2002
• Oman — 2002
• Qatar — 2018
• Saudi Arabia — 2008
• United Arab Emirates — 2003

Six of Ukraine’s BITs have been terminated, including those with Russia, Italy and India. Termination does not always end protection at once: a treaty may keep covering investments made before it ended for a further period. The Poland–Ukraine treaty, for example, does so for ten years (Art. 11(3)). Check this clause in the specific treaty.

UNCTAD lists no bilateral investment treaty between Ukraine and Mexico, Brazil, Colombia or Peru. An investor from these countries relies on Ukrainian law, its contract and, where they apply, multilateral treaties. Whether an investment held through a company in a third country is covered depends on how that country’s treaty with Ukraine defines an “investor” — a question for a lawyer.

A BIT is an agreement between two states under which each promises to treat investments from the other state by certain standards. The wording differs from treaty to treaty, but most contain the same core:

• Fair and equitable treatment: a minimum standard of fair, non-arbitrary conduct by the state towards the investment, whatever the state’s treatment of its own investors.
• National and most-favoured-nation treatment: the investor is treated no worse than local investors or investors from third countries, within the limits the treaty sets.
• Protection against expropriation: the state may take an investment, directly or by measures with the same effect, only in the public interest, without discrimination, under due process and against compensation.
• Free transfers: profits, dividends, loan repayments and the proceeds of a sale can be transferred abroad.
• Investor–state arbitration: after a waiting period for negotiations, the investor can bring a claim against the state before an international tribunal instead of a national court.

A BIT does not insure commercial risk or guarantee a return. Its value lies in the standards the state must respect and in access to a neutral forum when it does not.

The Agreement between the Governments of Ukraine and Poland on the mutual promotion and protection of investments was signed in Kyiv on 12 January 1993 and has been in force since 14 September 1993. Its Ukrainian text is published on zakon.rada.gov.ua.

• Treatment. Each state protects investments of the other’s investors and does not impair their management, use, sale or liquidation by unreasonable or discriminatory measures (Art. 4(1)). It grants fair and equitable treatment no less favourable than that given to investors of the most favoured nation (Art. 4(2)), except for benefits from free trade areas, customs unions and other economic integration, and from tax agreements (Art. 4(3)).
• Transfers. Interest, dividends, loan repayments, licence fees and the proceeds of a sale or liquidation can be transferred without obstruction, promptly, in freely convertible currency at the rate of the day of transfer (Art. 5).
• Expropriation. Only in the public interest, without discrimination, under the procedure set by law and with fair and effective compensation. Compensation equals the market value of the investment before the expropriation or before it became public, with interest, and is freely transferable; “without undue delay” means no more than three months from the application (Art. 6(1)).
• War losses. An investor whose investment suffers losses from war or another armed conflict, civil disturbance or a state of emergency gets the treatment of Art. 4(1)–(2) as regards restitution, indemnification or compensation (Art. 6(2)). This is a rule against discrimination, not a promise to compensate every war loss.
• Disputes with the state. First, six months of consultations. After that, a dispute over the obligations in Arts. 5 and 6 goes to arbitration at the investor’s request; any other dispute goes there only if both sides agree (Art. 10(2)). The tribunal is set up for each case, and if appointments are not made in time the President of the ICC Court of Arbitration in Paris makes them (Art. 10(3)–(4)). The award is final and binding (Art. 10(5)).
• ICSID. The treaty sends disputes to ICSID only once both states are parties to the ICSID Convention (Art. 10(8)). Poland is not on ICSID’s list of member states, so the ad hoc route of Art. 10(3)–(5) applies.
• Term. The treaty runs for ten years and renews automatically for five-year periods unless denounced (Art. 11(2)); after termination, Arts. 1–10 keep applying to earlier investments for ten years (Art. 11(3)).

For energy investments, the Energy Charter Treaty may add protection on top of a BIT. Ukraine remains a party. A number of states and the EU have withdrawn; UNCTAD gives these effective dates:

• Italy — 1 January 2016
• France — 8 December 2023
• Germany — 20 December 2023
• Poland — 29 December 2023
• Luxembourg — 17 June 2024
• Slovenia — 14 October 2024
• Portugal — 2 February 2025
• Spain — 17 April 2025
• United Kingdom — 27 April 2025
• EU and Euratom, Netherlands — 28 June 2025
• Denmark — 4 September 2025
• Lithuania — 8 August 2026
• Iceland — 17 March 2027; Ireland — 28 April 2027; Romania — 23 May 2027 (scheduled)

Norway will not become a party: its provisional application ended on 10 January 2025. For an investor from a state that has left, two questions matter — whether investments made before the withdrawal remain protected, and whether the BIT with Ukraine covers the gap. Both are for a lawyer to answer on the facts.

1. Identify the state where the investing company is incorporated and find its treaty with Ukraine on UNCTAD’s list.
2. Check the status: in force, signed but not in force, or terminated (and, if terminated, how long earlier investments stay covered).
3. Read the definitions of “investor” and “investment”: they decide whether a holding structure or a particular asset is covered.
4. Read the dispute clause: which claims can go to arbitration, how long the negotiation period is, and which forum applies.
5. Check that the forum is available: ICSID arbitration requires both states to be parties to the ICSID Convention.
6. Match the treaty with your contract. In a PPP under Law No. 4510-IX the dispute mechanism is set in the tender documents and the contract and may include international investment arbitration (Art. 42(2)). The Law “On Concession” refers to ratified bilateral and multilateral investment agreements when it sets the negotiation period for disputes (Art. 58(1)).