AGA Partners is pleased to announce a successful outcome in a London arbitration, where our firm represented a Cypriot agricultural trading company (the Buyers) in a contractual dispute with a major Polish agricultural supplier (the Sellers).

The dispute arose from the Sellers’ unjustified refusal to deliver the contracted goods, despite the existence of a binding agreement. In an attempt to avoid liability, the Sellers argued that no valid contract had been concluded, claiming that the agreement had not been properly signed by the Buyers’ company and that negotiations on behalf of the Sellers were conducted by an unauthorised representative.

However, these arguments were without merit. AGA Partners successfully demonstrated that during the negotiation stage, the Buyers had clearly and consistently expressed their agreement to the contract terms and confirmed their intention to be bound. Moreover, they recognised and dealt with the Sellers’ representative as duly authorised to conclude the agreement on behalf of the Sellers. Thus, AGA Partners insisted that the Buyers had to compensate the Sellers for the refusal to deliver the goods.

The Tribunal agreed with our position, upheld all of our Client’s claims in full, and awarded damages reflecting the difference between the contract price and the market price as of the date of default. This result reinforces a fundamental principle of English contract law: once parties provide their acceptance to be bound by the contractual provisions, they cannot rely on formalistic excuses, like a lack of signatures, to sabotage the performance. The case was handled by partner Ivan Kasynyuk, Senior Associate Dmytro Izotov, and Associate Maksym Fesenko.