Natalia Petrik new Deputy Secretary General

Congratulations and welcome in your new role as Deputy Secretary General and Head of Business Relations! You are a very familiar face to many of us as you have been Legal Counsel at SCC for many years – but can you tell us about your professional background and what made you decide to choose a career in arbitration?

"My career in arbitration started in 2001 when I got my first employment with a law firm in Stockholm. We worked in small teams on complex international arbitrations, and I learned a lot from that experience. A few years later, I was offered a legal counsel position at the SCC, which I couldn’t help accepting. I fell in love with the job from the first day at work. It was interesting, intellectual, and dynamic.  It gave me an opportunity to dive into dozens of cases at a time and get a much deeper understanding of the mechanics of arbitral proceedings. After all, who wouldn’t enjoy working with the stars of international arbitration? Being able to assist them on procedural matters was rewarding and even entertaining sometimes. And, of course, the friendly atmosphere of the SCC Secretariat, the collegiality and professionalism of the SCC Board made the career at the SCC an easy choice."

What do you most look forward to in this new capacity?

"The SCC team works hard on delivering best services to our users. At the same time, we are involved in a wealth of projects related to innovating and promoting arbitration and other ADR procedures in international trade and investments. One of the priorities in my new role includes elaboration of strategy for the SCC:s continued success. It entails, for instance, strengthening of the SCC:s presence on its strategic markets and globally, expansion of users’ networks, streamlining of the existing services and development of the new ones. Digitalization and sustainability of arbitration proceedings is another important area of our activities and I look forward to contributing to our tech-related projects. In sum, I feel excited about being able to devote my fulltime to these new and fascinating tasks."

What strengths and potential for development do you see in the SCC as an international arbitration forum?

"We live in a time when peaceful dispute resolution is required as never before. The services offered by the SCC has been always associated with such values as neutrality, impartiality and independence. We will continue working on making them known and accessible on broader markets and for broader groups of users."