Nearly a dozen Ukrainian companies represented by Hughes Hubbard & Reed may continue to pursue enforcement of a $34 million international arbitration award against Russia in the U.S. legal system, a federal court ruled.

The arbitration exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act “strips Russia of immunity,” U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden wrote in his memorandum opinion filed Dec. 12. “And because the Court has subject matter jurisdiction and Russia does not dispute service, the Court also has personal jurisdiction over Russia.”