Category: Russia

Dentons’s St. Petersburg office has advised the Zyfra Group on its establishment of a joint venture with Gazprom Neft PJSC.

The Zyfra Group is a Russian developer of AI, Industrial Internet of Things solutions, and robotic mining equipment for heavy industry. The company’s main focus areas are machinery, mining, metals, oil & gas, and chemical sector.

According to Dentons, the goal of the joint venture is to focus on developing software for the extractive industry. According to the firm, the JV’s digital products “will be designed to centralize real-time control and create digital twins using artificial intelligence technologies.”

The Dentons team consisted of Partners Georgy Pchelintsev and Evgenia Teterevkova and Associate Viacheslav Gareev.

Dentons did not reply to an inquiry about the deal.

Rybalkin Gortsunyan Partners has advised the shareholders of the Uchi.ru educational platform on the sale of a 25% stake in the platform, with an option of an increase to a controlling interest, to the Mail.ru Group and a consortium of investors formed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Russia-China Investment Fund. DLA Piper reportedly advised the buyers.

The value of the transaction exceeds RUB 3.75 billion.

According to RGP, “Uchi.ru is a resident of the IT cluster of the Skolkovo Innovation Center, one of the largest online platforms in Russia for school and independent learning. According to information provided by the company, the service is used by approximately half of the school children in Russia – over eight million students and over 350 thousand teachers. The platform produces educational content for year 1 to year 11 students on all major subjects. In addition, it allows students to study coding and target-setting, prepare for school exams, and take part in academic competitions. The company also develops projects for foreign markets: HappyNumbers.com, Bricsmath.com, and Dragonlearn.org.”

RGP’s team included Partners Suren Gortsunyan and Oleg Isaev, Associates Marina Abazyan and Daniil Ivanov, and Junior Associate Danil Karimov. 

Gowling WLG has become a pro bono legal advisor to the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow.

Gowling WLG describes MAMM as, “Russia’s first state art institution focused entirely on photography and works created through multimedia technologies. “ According to the firm, “Olga Sviblova, a Soviet and Russian fine art expert, art historian, documentary filmmaker, and professor, founded the museum in 2010.”

“MAMM is the preeminent multimedia museum in the world and we all benefit so much from this important cultural institution,” said Madina Assylbekova, Gowling WLG’s Director of Business Development in Russia/CIS. “We are confident that Gowling WLG can serve MAMM well through our expansive experience and professional resources. This is especially important during these challenging times of the global pandemic and its effects on the arts and our commitment to MAMM will continue long after the pandemic passes.”

Orrick’s multi-office team has advised JSC Sukhoi Civil Aircraft on its USD 1 billion sale, lease, and financing of a fleet of 31 Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircrafts to Ireland’s CityJet.

CityJet is an Irish airline which operates out of London City Airport and other airports in Europe.

Orrick reported that three Superjets have already been delivered and that “the Irish National Football Team took the first flight on Sukhoi Superjet under CityJet brand.” According to the firm, this Dublin-Paris commercial flight was the first Superjet flight in the European Union.

According to the firm, “the delivery and unveiling of the Superjet 100 aircraft took place at the SuperJet International S.p.A.’s (SJI) premises.” The firm reported that, “SJI is a joint venture between Leonardo-Finmeccanica Company and Sukhoi Holding [and]…is responsible for marketing, sales, customization, and delivery of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 internationally.”

Orrick’s team consisted of, in Washington, D.C., Partner Olga Sirodoeva, Senior Associate Mikhail Usubyan, and Associate Maria Sergeyeva; in London, Partner Dominic O’Brien; and in New York, Partner Laura Metzger. 

Dmitry Lyubomudrov has been appointed Managing Partner at Andrey Gorodissky & Partners.

Lyubomudrov’s career began in 1994 when he joined AGP as an intern. Over the years, the firm reports, “Dmitry has gone through all the steps of the career ladder – from legal assistant to partner.” According to AGP, “the legal expertise accumulated over the years of practice in the field of corporate law, M&A, business financing, and arbitration disputes allows us to call Dmitry one of the best specialists in his field.”

“A managing partner is, first of all, a professional who must demonstrate his effectiveness on a daily basis and be able to develop his business — a leader, one of the key tasks of which is to be an example for his team, not only for its current members, but also for future ones,” commented Andrey Gorodissky, Chairman of the AGP Partnership. “I have no doubt that Dmitry Lyubomudrov will perfectly cope with all the tasks set as a Managing Partner.”

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has advised the ESN Group on the design and construction of a methanol plant in the Amur Region in Russia.

The plant will have a capacity of one million tons per year. According to BCLR, the start of commissioning and comprehensive testing of the plant is scheduled for 2024.

The BCLR team consisted of Partner Vitaly Mozharovsky, Counsel Ekaterina Verle, Senior Associate Dmitry, Associate Director Maxim Popov, and Associate Victoria Malashenkova.

Revera has advised My.Games on its investments in Belarusian game development studios Mamboo Games, Appyfurious, and Purple Games. 

According to Revera, “My.Games is an international game brand and part of Mail.ru Group, the leader of the Eastern European online entertainment market. The company has 11 offices in Russia, Europe, the USA, and Asian countries, more than 1,800 employees, and 13 in-house development studios. [The company] develops games for PC, consoles, and mobile devices.” According to the firm, “as a result of all three transactions, the investor acquired a minority ownership interest in the company’s charter capital with an option to acquire a controlling interest. All three transactions were structured under Belarusian law. This was possible due to the fact that all three studios are residents of the Belarus Hi-Tech Park.”

The Belarus Hi-Tech Park is a tax and legal regime in Belarus, which provides a special environment for the development of IT business. Under the HTP regime, its residents have a right to execute convertible loan agreements, option agreements, and shareholders’ agreements governed under foreign law.

Revera’s team included Senior Associate Artem Handriko and Associate Alena Potorskaya.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s Moscow office has advised Gazpromneft-Snabzhenie on the establishment of the Isource joint venture with Gazprombank.

Isource is described by Gazprom Neft as a “digital twin of the supply chain that automates procurement, logistics and financial transactions …. The work of the platform is aimed at maximally simplifying and increasing the transparency of the procurement and logistics functions of industrial companies.”

According to Gazprom Neft, the new platform “operates on the basis of the resources and competencies of Gazprombank’s Electronic Trading Platform … and Gazprom Neft’s specialized subsidiary, Gazpromneft-Snabzhenie.”

BCLP’s team consisted of Partner Anton Sitnikov, Counsels Oksana Orlovskaya, Andrey Neminuschiy, and Anton Nefediev, Senior Associate Ksenia Shevchenko, Lawyer Ruslan Nurullaev, and  Junior Lawyers Elena Naumova and Daniil Betuganov.

BCLP did not reply to an inquiry about the deal.

Akin Gump has advised Equinor on its USD 550 million acquisition of a 49% stake in KrasGeoNaC from Rosneft. Linklaters’s Moscow office advised the seller on the deal.

Equinor is a Norwegian state-owned international energy company that operates in 36 countries. The company’s primary areas of focus are oil and gas exploration and production, pipeline operations, biofuels, and renewable energy.

KrasGeoNaC holds 12 conventional onshore exploration and production licenses in eastern Siberia. According to Akin Gump, “one of the 12 licenses, the North Danilovsky development, started production in July this year, with output expected to reach 40,000 barrels of oil per day by 2024, with plans to increase this to 70,000 barrels per day.”

Rosneft is a Moscow-based energy company which specializes in exploration, extraction, production, refinement, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products.

Akin Gump’s team included, in Moscow Partners Alexey Kondratchik and Vladimir Kouznetsov, Senior Counsel Alexander Trukhtanov, Counsels Pavel Kabatov, Anna Semashko, Andrey Kulikov, Olga Te, and Arsen Khachikyan, and Associates Alexey Maslyaev, Anna Kardash, and Nikolay Ryashin; in London, Partners Artem Faekov, Jasper Helder, and Chiara Klaui; and in Washington, Partner Nnedinma Ifudu Nweke.

Linklaters’s team consisted of Partner Grigory Gadzhiev, Managing Associates Maxim Solomin and Maria Ziborova, and Associate Anna Yakomaskina.

Noerr has advised Axion Cyprus Holding Limited, a holding company of Russia’s Softline Group, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Softline AG, a company listed on the open market segment of the Dusseldorf stock exchange, from its current major shareholder, Baden-Baden-based S.K. Management-und Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH. Houthoff Cooperatief and August Debouzy also advised Axion on the deal, which is expected to close before March 31, 2021.

The transaction includes the purchase of 1,086,951 shares in Softline AG, representing 63.38% of the voting rights, as well as the transfer of a debtor warrant relating to a loan agreement between SKMB and Softline AG. 

Noerr describes the Softline Group, which was founded in 1993, as a “leading global provider of information technology solutions and services with a focus on emerging markets in Eastern Europe, America, and Asia.” According to the firm, “it has more than 3,000 employees and is present in 50 countries across the globe. In 2019 the group, with its more than 60,000 clients, generated an annual sales volume of USD 1.54 billion.”

According to Noerr, “by taking over Softline AG, an internationally active IT consulting company specializing in software asset management, information and IT security, cloud and future data center concepts, and the digital workplace, the Softline Group is taking another step to increase its global presence.”

Noerr’s team included Moscow-based Partner Vladislav Skvortsov, Hamburg-based Partners Stephan Schulz and Till Steinvorth and Associate Vanessa Wusthoff, Frankfurt-based Partners Julian Schulze De la Cruz, Fabian Badtke, and Tillmann Hecht, Associated Partner Andrea Zwarg, and Associates Philip Schmoll, Jens Gob, and Thomas Thies, Munich-based Partner Christoph Rieken and Associated Partner Elmar Bindl, Berlin-based Associates Vitaliy Kaminskiy and Max Helleberg, and Dusseldorf-based Associate Mareike Gotte.