The BIA Arbitration Court takes pride in its arbitrators. Today, we introduce Dragia Dragiev.
Dragia Dragiev was born in 1952 in Radnevo, Stara Zagora Province. He completed his secondary education at the Georgi Kirkov English Language High School in Plovdiv and graduated in law from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in 1977. He has specialised in civil law at Sofia University, investment fund management in Prague, Czech Republic, and competition law in Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Hungary, Belgium, Slovenia and Canada.
He began his legal career as a district court judge in his hometown of Radnevo, where he served from 1981 to 1985. He subsequently joined the Faculty of Law at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” as a lecturer, a role in which he continues to teach to this day. From 1991 to 1994, he served as a Member of Parliament, and in 1994 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice. Between 1996 and 2002, he was a member of the Commission for Protection of Competition.
He is a partner at Dragiev & Dragiev Law Firm. He is a member of the Sofia Bar Association and the International Bar Association in London. He has been an arbitrator since 1998 and has served as an arbitrator at the BIA Arbitration Court since its establishment in 1999.
What attracted you to arbitration?
I was drawn to arbitration by the group of highly competent arbitrators who had come together with a strong commitment to achieving professional results based on the judicial, academic and practical experience they had accumulated throughout their careers.
What are the most common challenges in arbitration proceedings?
Initially, the challenges were primarily organisational. They included securing suitable premises, establishing an effective working process and, above all, ensuring access to competent specialists in different fields who could be engaged as experts in individual cases.
When does the resolution of a dispute bring satisfaction to the parties and to you as an arbitrator?
It is hardly possible for an arbitral award to satisfy both the parties’ respective claims and the standards and requirements set by the arbitral tribunal itself.
The objectives pursued by the parties in the proceedings are different, as are the means by which they seek to achieve their desired outcome. For the arbitral tribunal – and for each individual arbitrator – what is essential is to have an objective assessment of their own capabilities and knowledge of the specific area of law, together with a high degree of diligence and a strong sense of personal responsibility, both throughout the arbitration proceedings and when rendering the final decision.
Hearing and deciding a case at a single instance imposes requirements and responsibilities that are different from those applicable to proceedings before a state court.
What advice would you give to companies facing unresolved commercial disputes?
An arbitrator may offer advice only for the purpose of facilitating a settlement between the parties at the initial stage of the arbitration proceedings. During the proceedings, the arbitrator may emphasise the importance of resolving the dispute amicably in order to preserve the commercial relationship between the parties. This may include creating conditions during hearings that enable the parties, to the greatest extent possible, to present and protect their respective positions and interests.
In any event, however, I would advise companies to consider the opportunities offered by the Arbitration Court to achieve a swift, cost-efficient and confidential resolution when a dispute arises with a business partner or counterparty.
