“Any disputes, arising from this contract or concerning its interpretation, invalidity, non-feasance or termination shall be resolved by arbitration following the Rules for “ad hoc” arbitration, assisted by the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The language to be used in the arbitration proceedings shall be ........ “.

1. sending (by mail, telefax or telex) the correspondence to the parties and the arbitrators related to the arbitrationproceedings, with the exception of such sent directly;
2. drawing up minutes of the hearings;
3. interpretation during the hearings;
4. provision of premises for the hearings and for deliberations of the arbitrators;
5. participation in the setting of dates and places of the hearings and the deliberations as well as in the notification of the respective interested parties;
6. hotel reservations for the arbitrators;
7. book-keeping of expenses related to the assisted “ad hoc” arbitration;
8. other assistance, provided for in the following articles, or which may be considered by the “ad hoc” Arbitral Tribunal necessary for the appropriate conduct of proceedings.

(2) The above functions shall be performed by the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the presiding arbitrator of the “ad hoc” Arbitral Tribunal or with the sole arbitrator.

(3) In order to facilitate the appointment of arbitrators, the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry shall draft and announce a list of persons of different nationalities, possessing the qualifications necessary to perform the functions of arbitrators in international commercial arbitration.

The parties and the arbitrators shall also be able to elect for arbitrators persons not included in the said list.

(2) The parties shall be able to agree upon the procedure for initiation of the “ad hoc” arbitration, for challenging arbitrators and for hearings of the cases. Such an agreement may be reached also by referring to the Rules of any arbitration institution chosen by the parties.

(3) When there is no agreement between the parties on the “ad hoc” arbitration rules, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, together with the amendments ensuing from art. 5 and art. 6 of these Rules, and as far as art. 38, art. 39 and art. 41 of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules are concerned – with the amendments ensuing from art. 7 to art. 16 of these Rules.

(4) The provisions of art. 7 through art. 17 of these Rules shall not be subject to any amendments made by the parties.

(2) The respondent in the reply to the statement of claim shall appoint an arbitrator and a substitute, furnish information about them and may submit a counter-claim, if any. The respondent shall send the reply directly to the claimant, and a copy of the reply to the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Simultaneously with the submission of a counter-claim, the respondent shall pay to the account of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry the amount of USD 250 for expenses referred to in the above para.

(3) If no advance, referred to in paragraphs (1) or (2) above, has been paid, the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry shall not be obliged to render its assistance to arbitration proceedings related to the original or the counter-claims.

(4) The “ad hoc” Arbitral Tribunal shall communicate with the parties through the Secretary of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Secretary may assign this function to a delegated employee of the Secretariat.

(5) The day when a letter or document is served on the Secretariat of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and \Industry or when a registered letter is mailed to the address of the Secretariat shall be considered as the date of serving the said documents on the “ad hoc” Arbitral Tribunal.

(6) The presiding arbitrator may consent to sending the letters, notices or documents directly to an address, with a copy to the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

(7) Letters, notices and documents, sent through the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shall be submitted to the Secretary in as many copies as the number of addresses plus one additional copy for the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

If within 30 days of the appointment of the second arbitrator, the two arbitrators fail to elect a presiding arbitrator, he/she shall be appointed by the President of the Court of Arbitration.

(2) The parties may agree that the presiding arbitrator be elected from the candidates nominated by the two arbitrators, and in such case each arbitrator shall be entitled to nominate no more than three arbitrators

(3) Upon request of any of the parties, the election of the presiding arbitrator may be effected by casting lots, drawn by the President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Authorized. representatives of the parties shall be admitted to the drawing of the lots. For this purpose the Secretary of the Court of Arbitration shall inform the parties not later than 15 days in advance of the date of drawing the lots.

(4) If within 15 days from the respective request of one of the parties the arbitrators or one of them fail(s) to nominate candidates for a presiding arbitrator, the latter shall be appointed by the President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

(5) When the parties have agreed that the dispute is to be resolved by a sole arbitrator but have failed to elect this sole arbitrator within 30 days of the date of the request of one of the parties for the election of a particular person, the sole arbitrator shall be appointed by the President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

(6) When the President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has to appoint a presiding arbitrator or a sole arbitrator, the person to be appointed shall be a citizen or a resident of a state, different from the states in which the seats of the parties are.

(7) The provisions of this article shall apply also in the cases of replacement of arbitrators, if such replacement is provided for in the arbitration rules applicable.

The amount of the advance payment shall depend on the value of the claim indicated in the statement of claim and on the value of the possible counter-claim, specified in the reply of the respondent as well as on the expected expenses of the arbitration proceedings.

When necessary, the amount of the advance payment may be increased in the course of the proceedings.

(2) Each party shall deposit a half of the advance payment with the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry within a time limit determined by the President of the said Court, which time limit, however, shall not be less than 30 days.

(3) If within the above- mentioned time limit the respondent on the original claim or the one on the counter-claim fails to pay his/her share of the advance payment, this same share may be paid by the claimant within the time limit determined by the President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

If no advance payment is deposited the proceedings on the claim or on the counter-claim shall be suspended. The President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry shall grant the claimant an additional time limit but if within this new time limit no advance payment is effected the proceedings on the original or the counter-claim shall be terminated.

(4) The case file shall be delivered to the arbitrators or to the sole arbitrator following the payment of the advance deposit.

(5) The advance deposits, referred to in art. 5, paras (1) and (2), shall be deducted from the due administrative charges, determined according to the provisions of art. 11 below.

(2) The amount of the advance deposit for the admitted expert opinions or for collection of other evidence shall be fixed by the Arbitral Tribunal in consultation with the Secretary of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The advance shall be deposited by the party requesting the collection of evidence. In the case when the expert is appointed by the “ad hoc’ Arbitral Tribunal or following a request by one or with the consent of both parties, each party shall deposit a half of the advance payment.

If there is no advance payment no evidence shall be collected.

(2) Depending on the degree of complexity of the subject matter of the dispute and the time used for its resolution, upon request of the presiding arbitrator or of the sole arbitrator, the President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry may increase the amount of remuneration of the arbitrators but with no more than 50% of the above table.

The amount of USD 250, referred to in art. 5, shall not be subject to refunding.

(2) In such cases the range of the administrative services from the Court of Arbitration as well as the amount of the administrative charges shall be determined an agreement, as referred to in para (1) above.

The administrative charges, the amounts for the remuneration of the arbitrators, as well as the expenses for the expert opinions or for collection of other evidence by the Court of Arbitration shall be deposited with the account of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.