Category: Belarus

“As is the tradition in Belarus, the closing of a year is also a debriefing of large M&A transactions and real estate transactions,” says Maxim Lashkevich, Partner at Grata International in Belarus.

“There have been some notable deals in the country in the last few months,” Lashkevich says. “The one biggest retail operator — Eurotorg — has been selling real estate assets to balance its debt sheets. Two large retail objects in Minsk that have been operated by ProStore changed their owners and operators. The biggest agricultural holding — Savushkin Product — bought shares of the Baranovichi milk plant for over USD 20 million. The Apteka Group pharmacy chain bought another chain and became the biggest pharmacy chain in Belarus.” 

Lashkevich also points to several projects financed by the EBRD. “In the construction sector, it is clear that the country is ready to work with foreign contractors, and the necessary procedures have been created for this. For example, the Polish companies UNIBEP and Trasko and the German company STRABAG are quite active in our market.”

According to Lashkevic, some promise is held by the “rather interesting” legal regime of the Sino-Belarusian industrial park. However, although the park is “heavily advertised at all events and exhibitions where Belarus is represented and engineering and transport infrastructure have been created in the allotted area with the involvement of Chinese investors,” he concedes that the growth in the number of residents has come to a halt. 

At the same time, the IT sector is one that the country recurrently points to as a promising one, which Lashkevich explains is largely due to the regime of the high-tech park with a reduced tax burden for residents. From their side as well, Lashkevich points out that his firm recently provided legal opinions to some fintech companies planning to expand into the country and that American entities are “regularly interested in opening new companies or acquiring existing ones to maximize the benefits of the hi-tech park regime.”

Another area of activity, according to Lashkevich, involves European companies looking to set up production in Belarus to better access the EAEU market.

Finally, Lashkevich points to the “long-awaited” visa facilitation agreement between Belarus and the European Union. According to him, this agreement reduces the Schengen visa fee to EUR 35 for Belarusian citizens and shortens the evaluation period for visa applications to ten days. “Ratification on the Belarusian side and approval by the European side, as well as the entering of the document into force, is going to happen in June 2020,” he says.

Peterka & Partners’ lawyers Victor Rakovskij and Natalia Gievaya are taking on the roles of Partner and Members of the firm’s Local Management Board of Belarus, as previous Belarus office director Natalia Anoshka steps down from that position and leaves the firm.

Victor Rakovskij has been practicing law for eight years, and according to the firm, “before joining Peterka & Partners Belarus last year he worked as Deputy General Director in a holding management company in Minsk. In his practice, Victor focuses on state procurements, corporate governance, intellectual property and investment law.”

Russian lawyer Natalia Gievaya has been practicing law for nearly 18 years, and before joining Peterka & Partners in September 2017 she spent three years in-house with the Home Credit and Finance Bank, a year and a half as Head of Legal at Credit Europe Leasing LLC, and then almost ten years in private practice in the Moscow office of the Czech Republic’s BBH law firm. She specializes on corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, financial transactions, and commercial law.

In an official statement, Peterka & Partners declared, “so, a warm congratulations to Victor and Natalia on their promotions and we wish them many successful years in their new positions!” and added “we would like to thank Natalia for her service to the firm and we wish her the best of luck in her personal and professional life.”

Sorainen has advised Data Delivery LLC, a Belarus-based developer of the RocketData.io platform for managing business reputation and online data, on implementing share options for employees.

Sorainen’s team included Partner Maksim Salahub, Senior Associate Viktoryia Mikhnevich, and Associate Aliaksei Vashkevich.

Sorainen has helped Northern European fast-food chain Hesburger expand its operations in Belarus.

In 2016, Sorainen helped Hesburger establish its operations in Belarus (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 17, 2016). According to the firm, this time around it “assisted with establishing a legal entity as well as corporate, employment, migration and real estate matters.”

Sorainen’s team included Partners Kiryl Apanasevich and Maksim Salahub, Senior Associate Aliaksei Daryin, and Associates Alesia Khadasevich and Aliaksei Vashkevich.

Sorainen has advised the EBRD on its provision of a EUR 200 million financing package to Belarusian subsidiaries of the Kronospan group. 

According to Sorainen, “EUR 40 million out of this package will be syndicated to commercial banks.”

The Kronospan group manufactures wood-based panel products at over 40 sites and has 16 distribution centers in 30 countries, including almost all European countries, the USA, and China.

The EBRD’s first long-term senior loan, of up to EUR 124.2 million, will finance an infrastructure upgrade at Kronospan’s plant in Smorgon, the creation of a furniture production cluster and a multifunctional training and exhibition complex, and the restructuring of the company’s balance sheet. The second long-term senior loan, of up to EUR 76.7 million, will finance a capacity expansion program and an infrastructure upgrade at the Kronospan OSB FLLC plant in the Belarusian city of Mogilev, as well as refinancing the company’s existing debt to the EBRD.

Sorainen’s Belarusian team consisted of Partner Kiryl Apanasevich, Senior Associate Ann Laevskaya, and Associates Artem Melnikovich and Artem Semchik.

Sorainen has advised Moomin Characters Oy Ltd, a company established by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson that is responsible for Moomin copyright and trademark protection, in pre-trial proceedings regarding a copyright infringement issue.

Tove Jansson created most of the Moominvalley characters in her books in 1945-1946.

According to Sorainen, “a legal and commercial issue arose from unauthorized usage of Moomin characters by a local infringer, who used them in the manufacture of hand-made toys which [were] then sold in Belarus and abroad.” The firm reports that it “prepared a cease and desist notice and arranged for signing an undertaking to prevent future usage of the client’s IP rights by the infringer. We relied on the first editions of books about Moomins and various copyright registration certificates to prove the copyright and to establish a solid legal position. As a result, the case was settled amicably at the stage of pre-trial proceedings.”

The Sorainen team included Senior Associate Marina Golovnitskaya and Associate Yauheni Budchanka.

Sorainen has advised Flex-n-Roll, a producer of self-adhesive labels, on its entrance into the China-Belarus “Great Stone” Industrial Park, a special economic zone located about 40 kilometers outside Minsk that was established by means of an intergovernmental agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Belarus.

According to Sorainen, Flex-n-Roll “acquired Great Stone resident status on 6 November 2019, signing a resident agreement at the China International Import Expo 2019 in Shanghai.”

The firm reports that its support “included advice on the Great Stone special legal and tax regime … negotiations with the Great Stone administration, and assisting in preparing the application package. The firm’s team was led by Partner Maksim Salahub, working with Associate Aliaksei Vashkevich.

Sorainen has advised Google on Belarusian aspects of its acquisition of San Francisco-based wearables brand Fitbit.

The acquisition, at USD 7.35 per share, puts Fitbit’s total equity value at USD 2.1 billion. The transaction is expected to close in 2020.

According to Sorainen, “Fitbit delivers devices and services that help people lead more active lives by empowering them with data, inspiration and guidance to reach their goals. Due to an immersive experience from the wrist to the app, designed to help users understand and change their behavior to improve their health, Fitbit has sold more than 100 million devices and supports an engaged global community of millions of active users.”

The Sorainen Minsk team included Partner Maksim Salahub, Senior Associate Viktoryia Mikhnevich, Associate Tatsiana Zubarava and Legal Assistant Anton Zakharau.

Sorainen did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Aleinikov & Partners has advised the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus on venture financing issues related to the Enhancing Access to Financing of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Republic of Belarus project implemented with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Aleinikov & Partners conducted research and provided a report, as well as advised employees of the Development Bank on necessary measures to use venture financing mechanisms.

Aleinikov & Partners did not reply to our inquiries about the deal.

Image Source: eng.belta.by

Sorainen has assisted Shaanxi Fast Gear in its entrance into a joint venture with Minsk Automobile Plant MAZ, the Belarusian state-owned manufacturer of trucks.

Shaannki Fast Gear is part of the Weichai Group, which manufactures and sells heavy-duty manual transmissions, automotive gears, forgings, and castings worldwide.

The Fast MAZ Ltd joint venture, which became the 56th resident of the “Great Stone” China-Belarus Industrial Park, will produce gearboxes for freight and passenger transportation. The plan is to complete construction of the factory by the end of 2020, with the first products being released in early 2021. The total investment amounts to USD 17 million. The project was kicked off in July 2019 when the first phase of construction started.

The Sorainen team included Partner Maksim Salahub, Senior Associate Viktoryia Mikhnevich, and Legal Assistant Anton Zakharau.