Future Leaders

Ilija Mitrev Penusliski is a counsel in Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration and Public International Law practices.

He has experience in international arbitrations under the ICSID, UNCITRAL, SCC and ICC Rules. His practice focuses on complex investment and commercial arbitrations, particularly in the energy sector. He also has extensive experience with gas pricing arbitrations and disputes related to long-term energy contracts. Ilija has also acted as assistant to investment treaty tribunals.

Ilija has been a member of the senior team at Shearman & Sterling advising and representing the majority shareholders of the former Yukos Oil Company in their dispute against Russia. That arbitration led to the US$50 billion award in favor of the majority shareholders, the largest award ever rendered in the history of international arbitration. Ilija has also been advising and representing the Republic of Lithuania in several arbitrations against Russian and European multinationals. 

Ilija has also acted as an advisor to States in the context of the renegotiations of their bilateral investment treaties.

Prior to joining Shearman & Sterling, Ilija was a researcher in public international law at Harvard Law School and legal counsel with USAID in North Macedonia.

Ilija holds an LLM from Harvard Law School, a Magister Juris from the University of Oxford and an LLB from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in the Republic of North Macedonia.  He is admitted to practice in New York. He speaks Macedonian, English, French, Serbian, and Croatian.