CEE Legal Matters

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  • Anton Lukovkin Joined Misechko & Partners as a Partner

    In July 2014 Misechko & Partners law firm admitted a new Partner, Anton Lukovkin.  

    Anton Lukovkin

    Prior to joining the firm Lukovkin was in charge for legal issues at telecommunications company Energytel. During 2007-2011 he was employed in Lavrynovych & Partners.

    At these positions he was engaged in the projects in Banking and Finance, Real Estate, as well as Corporate Law and Bankruptcy. In working with Kvazar-Micro, a leading IT company inUkraine, and the PFTS Stock Exchange, Lukovkin gained expertise in the field of IP and Equity Markets. 

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  • Liniya Prava Wins Tender to Advise RUSNANO on Creation of Investment Partnership

    Liniya Prava has announced that it has been selected by RUSNANO OJSC’s tender committee to help the company create an investment partnership and place RUSNANO’s project portfolio under the control of RUSNANO Management Company LLC, acting as a managing partner.

    According to Liniya Prava, the firm’s support will include drafting an investment partnership agreement, amending the incorporation documents that regulate the RUSNANO Management Company and SUSNANO OJSC activities, reviewing the tax and legal effects of the transfer of RUSNANO’s investment projects to the investment partnership, and providing legal support on the procedure of asset transfer under the control of RUSNANO Management Company LLC.

     

  • Liniya Prava Wins Tender to Advise RUSNANO on Creation of Investment Partnership

    Liniya Prava has announced that it has been selected by RUSNANO OJSC’s tender committee to help the company create an investment partnership and place RUSNANO’s project portfolio under the control of RUSNANO Management Company LLC, acting as a managing partner.

    According to Liniya Prava, the firm’s support will include drafting an investment partnership agreement, amending the incorporation documents that regulate the RUSNANO Management Company and SUSNANO OJSC activities, reviewing the tax and legal effects of the transfer of RUSNANO’s investment projects to the investment partnership, and providing legal support on the procedure of asset transfer under the control of RUSNANO Management Company LLC.

     

  • Orrick Adds New Partner in Moscow

    Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has announced that M&A and Capital Markets specialist Konstantin Kroll has joined the firm as a partner in its M&A and Private Equity Practice Group.  

    Konstantin Kroll

    Kroll is dual-qualified in Russian and English law, and he has an LL.M. from Manchester University along with a Diploma in Law, with honors, from Moscow State University. He joins from Jones Day, where has has worked since 2011. Previously, he was a partner with Allen & Overy, where he led the firm’s debt capital markets and derivatives practices in Russia. 

    According to an Orrick press release, Kroll “has advised on some of the largest M&A and private equity transactions in the energy, manufacturing, consumer and banking sectors in the Russian market.” The firm also explained that “within capital markets, Mr. Kroll has acted for issuers and managers on Russian and international IPOs and has been involved in MICEX, LSE (AIM and primary market), Hong Kong, Luxembourg, NYSE and Irish listings. He advises on the issuance of debt, equity, and synthetic instruments, including GDRs/ADRs, LPNs, CLNs, ELNs, and CDOs, exchangeable and convertible bonds, repackagings and securitizations. Most recently, Mr. Kroll represented Russian Copper Company in the formation of a joint venture with Gerald Metals to develop a major copper deposit and in its acquisition of Enisseiskaya Industrial Company, the holder of an exploration license for Elegest coal deposit considered to be one of the largest deposits of baking coal in the world. He also represented Evraz in the formation of a joint venture with Alrosa in the metal industry, advised on a sovereign Eurobond issue by Byelorussia and acted for two Russian issuers on ‘dim sum’ bond issues in Hong Kong.”

    Kroll is enthusiastic about the new role: “I’ve long worked across the table from Orrick and am very excited to join this top quality team. Orrick’s 25-office global platform will be of great value to my clients as they increasingly focus on international opportunities.  The firm has distinctive international strengths, such as its top 3 ranked HKSE practice and its representation of large Chinese enterprises, as well as its top tier African infrastructure practice, that are key to business strategies my clients are pursuing.”  

     

  • Tuca Confirms Role in Marubeni Investment Project in Romania

    Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii has confirmed that it acted for the Japanese Marubeni Corporation in its joint venture with Romanian state-owned power producer ELCEN to build a 250 MW gas-fired electricity plant in the central Romanian county of Mures.

    The project — worth roughly EUR 170 million — was previously reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 30.  

    The Japanese company will control 90% of the newly formed company – SC Fantanele Gas Power – and it will bring an in-kind contribution of 30% to the share capital of the JV, with the rest stemming from loans. The SC Fantanele Gas Power will operate as an independent power producer (IPP) and is expected to connect to the grid in 2017. ELCEN will contribute with the land required for the development of the project and access to utilities.

    “Fantanele is our first infrastructure investment project in Romania and we are delighted to have reached this development phase which is part of our long-term strategy towards playing a more significant role in the Central and Eastern Europe region,” said Hiroshi Tachigami, President of Marubeni Europower. “Marubeni Europower seeks to expand its presence in Romania and this pilot project demonstrates the stability, safety and functionality of an energy market that aims to become independent. We will make every effort to successfully complete this investment with our partners and are trustfully looking forward to having a close cooperation with the authorities involved in financing the project according to the specific international rules and standards,” he added.

    The Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii team was led by Partner Sorin Vladescu.

     

  • Norton Rose Fulbright Picks up New Partner in Russia

    Norton Rose Fulbright has announced that Julian Traill will join the firm’s Moscow office as a Partner.

       

    Julian Traill (Norton Rose)

    Traill has been based in Russia since 2008. He advises international and Russian clients in various sectors including financial services, natural resources, agriculture, transport and infrastructure, consumer products and retail, IT, and pharmaceuticals. His practice focuses primarily on corporate, M&A and private equity. He previously practiced with law firms in London and Sydney.

    The firm reports that Traill will replace Nick Dingemans, who recently relocated to lead the firm’s corporate team in Singapore.

    Anatoly Andriash, joint head of the firm’s Moscow office, commented: “We remain strongly committed to Russia and I am delighted to welcome Julian, who has extensive experience of advising clients on deals in the market. His capabilities are very much aligned with the key strengths of our global practice. Julian will complement and enhance our Russian practice which is an integral part of our global capability. In parallel, we are seeing an increasing emphasis on Asia from our clients. Nick’s move adds further weight to our ability to meet the needs of Russian clients operating in the region and of Asia-based clients investing in Russia. We will continue to work closely with Nick in developing our Russian-Asian capabilities.”

     

     

  • EBRD Announces EUR 10 Million Loan to Moldova to Develop Water Supply System

    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced a EUR 10 million loan to Moldova to develop a regional water supply system in the country’s north, including the country’s second largest city of Balti.

    The loan, to be split in two tranches of EUR 6 million and EUR 4 million, is part of a financing package of EUR 30 million, which also includes a EUR 10 million loan from the European Investment Bank and an expected EUR 10 million capital grant from the European Union’s Neighborhood Investment Facility.

    According to an EBRD statement: “The financing will enable the municipality of Balti and six districts – Floresti, Soroca, Sangerei, Telenesti, Rascani, and Drochia – as well as the Ministry of Environment to consolidate their water and wastewater infrastructure into a joint operating company. The newly created regional operator will then develop the Soroca-Balti water pipeline into a more integrated water supply system, which is expected to improve the quality and efficiency of water and wastewater services across Moldova’s northern region. The investment should help rehabilitate the Soroca-Balti pipeline and other water networks in the region, increase the number of new connections to the pipeline and within the districts, reduce water losses and increase energy efficiency. The project also aims to attract a private operator to manage the water and wastewater services on behalf of the joint operating company, which will result in more efficient services.”

    Anatol Arapu, the Moldovan Finance Minister, said: “All towns and villages in northern Moldova, apart from Soroca and Balti, only have access to poor quality water. The EBRD, EIB and NIF financing will help modernize the existing Soroca-Balti pipeline built back in 1980s and will expand and rehabilitate the water infrastructure networks in the project districts, which will improve the standard of living in the region by providing residents with access to safe water and wastewater services. We are pleased that the loan agreement signed today will also pave the way for a viable regional operator in the north of Moldova.”

    As with all sovereign loans from the EBRD, standard terms & conditions were used, and the Bank worked directly with the ministers from the Moldovan government, without engaging external or local counsel for the deal documentation. EBRD Senior Counsel Markus Renfert provided legal supervision and management on the deal. 

    The EBRD is the largest foreign investor in Moldova. To date, the Bank has invested about EUR 900 million in over 100 successful projects, covering the energy, transport, agribusiness, general industry and banking sectors.

     

  • White & Case Advises Cukurova in Long Dispute Over Turkcell Controlling Interest

    White & Case has secured victory for Turkish conglomerate Cukurova Holding, as a seven-year dispute with Russia’s Alfa Group came to an end yesterday when Cukurova regained its controlling interest in Turkcell, the largest mobile telecommunications company in Turkey.

    The firm reported that Cukurova paid USD 1.6 billion to redeem the security over the Turkcell shares, “giving effect to the order that it had won in the Privy Council in March 2014.” The redemption was financed by a loan from Ziraat Bank, a state-owned Turkish bank.

    “It has been an extraordinary case on many levels,” said White & Case Partner John Reynolds. “Cases of such legal and commercial significance are rare.”

    The case concerned a strategically significant block of Turkcell shares which Cukurova had provided to Alfa as collateral for a loan in 2005. Alfa claimed that Cukurova was in default under the loan facility and purported to appropriate the shares by way of enforcement. The core issue in the litigation was whether Alfa had effectively appropriated the shares and, if so, whether Cukurova had a right to redeem that security. The Privy Council determined in March this year, having considered authorities stretching back more than 200 years, that the long-established equitable principle of “relief against forfeiture” applies in the case of an appropriation under the 2003 Financial Collateral Arrangement Regulations.

    The litigation began in 2007 in the British Virgin Islands and has involved 14 hearings before the Commercial Court in the BVI, seven appeals to the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, and eight hearings before the Privy Council in London.

    In the first phase of the case, between 2007 and 2008, the Courts determined a preliminary issue concerning the scope of the 2003 Regulations and Financial Collateral Directive, the first time that this pan-European legislation had been tested in any court. The matter went to a full trial in 2010, won by Cukurova, and the appeal was determined by the Privy Council in March 2014.

    Reynolds added: “The British Virgin Islands is growing in popularity as a jurisdiction for cross-border investment vehicles and joint ventures and the BVI Commercial Court has become correspondingly busy. Cases like ours demonstrate the effectiveness of that jurisdiction in resolving complex international disputes.”

    The White & Case litigation team was led throughout by Reynolds, who was supported by Partner Charles Balmain and Associate Amanda Cowell, all based in London.

    The team worked closely with a BVI litigation team led by Arabella di Iorio, head of Maples and Calder’s BVI office. The counsel team throughout was Kenneth Maclean QC, James Nadin, and David Caplan of One Essex Court.

    White & Case also advised Cukurova in relation to the Ziraat Bank loan. That London-based team was led by Partner Christopher Czarnocki and included Associates Sally Koo and Sophie West.

     

  • Dentons Takes Partner from Chads in Kiev

    Dentons has announced that Partner Adam Mycyk has joined the firm’s Kiev office.

       

    Adam Mycyk

    Mycyk is well-established in Kiev, having worked first with Altheimer & Gray, and then with Chadbourne from 2003-2007, and then again from March, 2013, until July of this year. In between stints with Chadbourne, Mycyk served from 2007-2013 as the Managing Partner of CMS Cameron McKenna in Kiev.

    Mycyk has two decades of experience advising Ukrainian and international companies, banks, investment banks, and a range of other financial institutions and investors on structuring and implementing debt and equity inward investments involving privatizations, mergers and acquisitions or joint ventures and on complex cross-border commercial and financing transactions. 

    This marks the third big addition to Dentons CEE team in the last month, following the mid-July announcement that Partner Perry Zizzi is returning to the firm in Romania, and last week’s announcement that COO for Europe Richard Singer had joined the firm in Prague.

     

  • Norton Rose Fulbright Advises CEE Equity Partners on Acquisition of Stake in PEP

    Norton Rose Fulbright has confirmed that it advised CEE Equity Partners in its acquisition — through a special purpose vehicle — of a minority stake in Polish Energy Partners (PEP).

    PEP is the biggest Polish private power company, and is, according to a Norton Rose Fulbright press release, “one of the leaders in the field of renewable energy-based power projects.” The value of the transaction was PLN 240 million (approx. EUR 60 million). 

    CEE Equity Partners is a private equity fund established by China Exim Bank in partnership with other institutional investors from the CEE region to capitalize on investment opportunities in the infrastructure, energy, telecom and new technology sectors in CEE countries. 

    Norton Rose Fulbright’s Warsaw team on the transaction was led by Private Equity Partner Pawel Bajno and Energy Partner Rafal Hajduk. As previously reported, PEP was represented by lawyers from Baker & McKenzie.