Elina Mereminskaya joined the firm as a partner in 2017, bringing her extensive experience from the national and international arbitration field, where her leadership position has been consolidated.
She has focused her practice in advising large national, Latin American and European companies regarding construction, infrastructure, mining and energy projects. In addition to her expertise in arbitration, her experience includes advising in dispute prevention and claim management in construction contracts.
Given her experience in the field, she has a particular sensitivity relative to the needs of companies as end users of arbitration. Her legal advice provides value based on the knowledge of the best international arbitration practices and the handling of technical matters in the field of construction, thus achieving greater efficiency in the resolution of disputes.
Member of the list of arbitrators of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (CAM Santiago) since 2016, she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the guild entity, also forming part of its Ethics Committee between 2017 and 2021. She is also part of the lists of arbitrators of various arbitral institutions, including ICDR, CCL, PUCP, among others. In 2022, the European Commission included her -as the only Chilean- in the list of candidates to preside the arbitral tribunals that resolve disputes that may arise under trade treaties concluded by the European Union with other states.
She was distinguished in the international ranking 2020, 2021 and 2022 of Who’s Who Legal (WWL) en calidad de Global Leader, as one of the expert lawyers in the Arbitration and Construction category. WWL also recognized her as a Thought Leader in the Construction category. In 2021, The Legal 500 included her in the Arbitration Power List – Latin America.
Legal advice and representation
- Representation of a company in charge of the installation of an emission control system in an arbitration before the CAM Santiago against a state-owned company.
- Report on the application of a back-to-back clause in an arbitration related to FIDIC contracts, conducted before the arbitration center of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
- Representation of a Chilean subsidiary of a French company in an arbitration before the CAM Santiago against a Chinese contractor, regarding a subcontract for the installation of equipment for a high complexity public hospital.
- Legal report on the interpretation of temperature requirements for an Italian company in charge of the installation of photovoltaic equipment.
- Participation in an expert report for a CCL arbitration against a Peruvian state-owned oil company.
- Advising an Indian company in an ICC arbitration against a Spanish EPC contractor in a dispute related to a photovoltaic plant located in northern Chile.
- Representing a multinational wind farm owner in an arbitration before the CAM Santiago against a Portuguese EPC contractor.
- Representation of a Peruvian subcontractor in an arbitration against a U.S. company, that is a world leader in lithium production.
- Participation in a pro-bono expert report on the construction of a Women's Health Pavilion in Burundi (Africa), for an ad hoc arbitration based in London.
- Participation in an expert report for a Uruguayan company in charge of the construction of a road in a project in Paraguay, in an ICC arbitration.
- Representation of a Spanish subcontractor in several arbitrations before the CAM Santiago regarding the construction of transmission lines and electrical substations.
- Legal report on an anti-arbitration injunction in international arbitration, in an ICC arbitration.
- Preparation of a claim for a Spanish concessionaire against the Ministry of Public Works of Chile, regarding additional works executed in a public hospital.
- Representation of a provider of centralized control of communications and fiber optics in a high complexity public hospital.
- Representation of a local advertising agency in an ad hoc arbitration against a Dutch advertising group, regarding payment of royalties and termination of the contract.
- Representation of an Indian company in an arbitration before the CAM Santiago regarding a wind energy project in the south of Chile.
- Representation of a U.S. mining company in an arbitration before the CAM Santiago regarding the acquisition of mining concessions in the north of Chile.
- Representation of a U.S. company in an arbitration before the CAM Santiago regarding a renewable energy project in southern Chile.
- Representation of a Brazilian construction company in an ICC international arbitration against a Chinese general contractor.
- Representation of a European intergovernmental astronomy organization in the defense of an international arbitration award challenged by a Chilean construction company.
- Representation of a U.S. company in the defense of an international arbitration award challenged by a Colombian franchisee.
- Representation of a German distribution company in the defense of an international arbitration award challenged by a German buyer.
Dispute management
- Consultancy for a state-owned oil company during the execution of a contract with a local construction company for the installation of an emission control system (wet gas scrubber).
- Risk analysis and assessment for Spanish construction companies in several residential buildings and shopping centers to be built in Spain.
- Advising a Peruvian construction company during the administration of a contract and the filing of claims against a Canadian consortium in a mining project at 4,400 meters above sea level.
- Risk analysis and assessment for an Austrian supplier of medical equipment to a Chinese concessionaire in a public hospital.
- Advising a Chilean subsidiary of a French company in a dispute with a Chinese contractor on a subcontract for the installation of equipment for a high complexity public hospital.
- Preparation of a claim for a Spanish subcontractor on Force Majeure due to Covid-19, which, once submitted, was accepted by the National Electric Coordinator (CEN).
- Advising a Chinese construction company and the related concessionaire company in claims against the Ministry of Public Works regarding a concession project for a dam.
- Advising a Spanish construction company in the preparation of claims based on FIDC terms against Costa Rican authorities regarding a highway construction project.
- Advising a Chilean construction company during the execution of works and the filing of claims against a British multinational company regarding a mining project in northern Chile.
- Advising a Spanish contractor in the management of disputes, including mediations, in multiple construction projects of transmission lines and electrical substations.
- Advising a Chilean company providing waterproofing services (geomembranes) related to thickeners and pools in several mining projects.
- Advising the largest Chilean cellulose producer in the structuring of the contractual scheme (engineering, supplies, construction, EPC, risk assessment) with several subcontractors, for the construction of a new production line.
- Redesign and redrafting of Codelco's (Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile, state-owned company) standardized bidding information and contract forms.
- Advised an Irish client in the execution of an EPC contract with a Portuguese contractor, in charge of the construction of transmission lines and wind power generation.
- Advising a state-owned oil company in the execution of an EPC contract with a Spanish contractor, in charge of the construction of a steam generating plant.
- Strategic contractual advice and claims management for a Spanish contractor, regarding the relationship with its Italian partner within a consortium, and with its Japanese employer, in the construction of a desalination plant for a mining project.
- Advising a state-owned oil company in connection with the collection of fines in the execution of a tank maintenance contract with a Peruvian contractor.
- Defense of a Chinese client against claims of a Spanish contractor in connection with a contract for the construction of a shopping mall in Santiago.
- Strategic contractual advice and claims management for an Italian contractor in the execution of an EPC contract for the construction of a public hospital in central Chile.
- Strategic contractual advice and claims management for a Spanish contractor in the execution of an EPC contract for the construction of a public hospital.
- Advising a Spanish contractor in the execution of a subcontract for the construction of tunnels and detonations in a public project for a dam located in northern Chile.
- Design of a dispute resolution strategy for a Czech developer of photovoltaic projects with its Canadian partner.
- Advising a construction company in the execution of several real estate projects, including shopping centers and residential buildings.
- Advising a Peruvian construction company in the presentation of a claim to its Chilean client, related to the construction of a shopping mall.
- Doctor in Law (Ph.D.), University of Göttingen, Germany.
- Master of Laws, University of Göttingen, Germany.
- Attorney-at-law, Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (former Kaliningrad State University), Russia.
- FIDIC contracts practical use (module 1 FIDIC).
- Variation and claim management and dispute settlement (module 2 FIDIC).
- Dispute Board Experienced User & Practitioner Workshop DBRF.
- Specialty in Construction Law, Los Andes University.
- President of the Americas Initiative of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).
- Co-chair of the Project Establishment Subcommittee of the International Bar Association (IBA).
- Former Member of the Infrastructure Committee of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Chile (Camacoes).
- Member of the list of arbitrators of the International Center of Dispute
Resolution (ICDR). - Member of the list of arbitrators of the Interamerican Commercial Arbitration Commission (CIAC).
- Member of the list of international arbitrators and international adjudicators of the Lima Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Center (CCL).
- Member of the list of arbitrators of the Center for Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
- Member of the list of arbitrators and alternate member of the Court of AMCHAM Peru.
- Member of the list of arbitrators of the Conciliation and Arbitration Center of Panama.
- Member of the list of arbitrators of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (VIAC).
- Member of the Arbitration Center of the Montevideo Stock Exchange (Uruguay).
- Member of the Ethics Committee of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce.
- Member of the Chilean Society of Construction Law.
- Chilean chapter of "Chambers & Partners - Construction Law Practice Guide 2023", with Alex Wagemann, Álvaro Jara and Claudio Inostroza.
- Chilean chapter of “FIDIC Contracts in the Americas: A Practical Guide to Application” (2023), with Alex Wagemann and Fernando Landeros.
- Latin Lawyer Regulator – Construction Chile, with Alex Wagemann and Fernando Landeros, 2020-2021.
- “Should the law foresee the unforeseeable? The unforeseeable trends in Chile in view of the Covid-19 pandemic”, with Álvaro Jara, published in Construction Law International Magazine, Vol 15 N°3, September 2020, of the International
Bar Association, London, United Kingdom. - “Corruption in state arbitration in the Republic of Peru: cases, lessons and possible solutions”, with Claudio Inostroza, published in The Russian Arbitration Journal, January-February 2020 edition.
- “Latin Lawyer References – Construction Chile”, with Alex Wagemann, 2019.
- “When the seat of arbitration is not the place of arbitration and the lex arbitriis not the law of the seat of arbitration”, Lima Arbitration, 2018.
- “The formation of consent in the contract for the construction of private works: the role of clarifications and responses to inquiries”, Derecho de Construcción, Editorial Metropolitana, 2017, with Alex Wagemann, 2017.
- “Suggested Policies for Tribunal-Appointed Experts in Construction Disputes”, TDM Papers Special Issue on Non-Legal Adjudicators in National and International Disputes, with Fernando Landeros, 2017.
- “Third-party funding of litigation and its arrival in Chile”, CAM Santiago Newsletter, Nº 3, 2017.
- “Long live the arbitration! Once it has been born”, International Law Current Issues. In honor of Mario Ramírez Necochea,
- In collaboration with Andrés Jana, attorney-at-law, “International Commercial Arbitration in Latin America: Myths and Realities”, Journal of International Arbitration, 2015.
- “The path is made as you go: Appeal for nullity in Latin-American case-law”, International Commercial Arbitration. Recognition and Execution of foreign arbitration judgments and awards, Organization of American States (OAS),
2014. - International commercial arbitration in Chile: Challenges and Development, Thompson Reuters, Santiago, Chile, 2014.
- “Santiago Arbitration and Mediation Center (CAM Santiago)”, World Arbitration Reporter, JurisNet, 2014.
- “Results of the Survey on the Use of Soft Law Instruments in International Arbitration”, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2014.
- “Application of an arbitration agreement to a non-signatory party in Chilean law: Reality and prospects”, Commercial Law Department Journal, University of Chile, 2014.
Russian, Spanish, English and German.