Abstract
Russian companies doing business outside of the Russian Federation require special protection of their rights and lawful interests. Several methods of protecting foreign investor rights are available under the international law, including national courts and tribunals and commercial arbitrations (both institutionary and ad-hoc). International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes is a special institution established to resolve the controversies related to foreign investments. It was created under an international treaty and its decisions are not subject to sovereign immunity. The article considers ICSID practice regarding the definition of an investment, since disputes are related to an investment activity, which is a topical question when dealing with the determination of the Center competence. While the analyzed cases do not have the power of binding precedents, when the arbiters elaborate on the definition of a foreign investment they use specific criteria that could be relevant for the national law. Since international practice has a more specific definition of foreign investments than the Russian law, the author suggests that the former be taken into consideration when a foreign investment is defined in Russian legal texts. It could ensure better protection of the rights of Russian legal entities abroad.
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