Nevertheless, we believe that it holds promise for western businesses active in both countries. Perhaps this characteristic arises from a sense of feeling less sophisticated than their western counterparts. Maybe it is a product of being less familiar with international business practices. For whatever reason, the adversarial nature of either arbitration or adjudication can aggravate this characteristic that exacerbates an already tense situation. While we believe that mediation could be successful in certain types of disputes between western and Russian or Ukrainian parties, we recognize that cross-cultural disputes can make international commercial mediation difficult.
Mediation depends on successful communication.
Differences in language, gestures and negotiating style are more acute in transnational mediations. To have the greatest likelihood of success, we would advise that a mediation team be used consisting of a mediator from the home country of each of the parties involved in the dispute. Ideally each mediator should have undergone common training and have a proven ability to work together. Each mediator should have some experience dealing with persons of the same nationality as the parties to the dispute and have some facility in the languages of both parties to the dispute so as to be able to converse, at least minimally, with the parties in their native language. If dissatisfaction with commercial courts and arbitration continues, business persons will be eager to find alternative means to resolve their disputes.