Category: Russia

CMS has advised Green Source and Core Value Capital on the acquisition and development of nine photovoltaic parks in Russia.

According to CMS, “with nine photovoltaic parks and 135 milli-watt system capacity in planning, Green Source and Core Value Capital intend to muscle heavily into the Russian renewable energy market in future. Two parks with an output of 30 MW are already being financed and currently under construction (scheduled for completion by the end of 2018), while the others are still in the development stage.” 

Johannes Trenkwalder, Partner and Member of the CMS Vienna transaction team says, “In Russia, in particular, where renewable energy does not yet have the same weight as in Austria, a project of this order of magnitude is hugely important to the future development of the industry.”

The CMS international team headed by Johannes Trenkwalder includes Attorney-at-laws Lisa Oberlechner and Daniel Courtney, Associates Marie Lidl and Sanela Furstenberg in Austria, Moscow and Dusseldorf Partner Thomas Heidemann, and Moscow-based Senior Associates Anastasia Makarova and Paul Miasnik.

Konstantin Bochkarev is joining the Moscow office of CMS as the Head of Technology, Media, and Communications. 

CMS describes Bochkarev as having “over 14 years of experience in advising top-tier Russian and multinational companies, internet start-ups and venture funds on intellectual property, data protection, software, media, technology, and general corporate matters.”

Before joining CMS, Bochkarev worked for almost two years as the Head of IP and Technology in Russia and CIS for PwC, and for a little over two years as Head of Business and Legal Affairs for Wargaming.net in Cyprus. He also spent several years with both White & Case and Hogan Lovells.

Bochkarev holds a degree in Law from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and an LL.M. degree in Law, Science and Technology from Stanford. 

KIAP attorney Georgy Karaoglanov has been named head of the firm’s Employment practice.

Karaoglanov, who joined KIAP in 2012, provides legal assistance in  labor law and litigation. Apart from consulting services, he represents the interests of companies in labor disputes and trials.

According to KIAP, “during his six years at the firm, Karaoglanov continually provided legal support to complicated procedures of mass reduction of employees in Russian and foreign companies. He is experienced in holding negotiations with labor unions in enterprises and consulting upon a large range of migration questions, mainly for representative offices and branches of foreign companies operating in Russia. Besides standard labor disputes on restoration at work, he also supported legal cases for the recovery of bonuses by workers, severance pay, and compensation for forced absence from work, amounting to several hundreds of millions of rubles.”

Goltsblat BLP has advised Otkrytaya Mobilnaya Pltaforma LLC and RUSINTEH on the sale of 75% of shares of Otkrytaya Mobilnaya Pltaforma and 75% of shares of Vatron LLC respectively to PJSC Rostelecom. Rostelecom was advised by White & Case Moscow office. 

As a result, Rostelecom, Russia’s national telecommunications operator, has secured a controlling stake in Sailfish Mobile OS and Sailfish Mobile OS RUS, a mobile operating system developer. The acquisition price was not disclosed.

The Goltsblat BLP team was led by Partner Anton Sitnikov and included Partner Elena Trusova, Associate Director Vera Gorbacheva, Senior Associates Oksana Orlovskaya and Anton Nefediev, and Associate Dmitry Sheludyaev. 

The White & Case team consisted of Partners Andrei Dontsov and Nikolay Feoktistov and Associates Evgeny Chernyavsky and Timofey Neklyudov.

Goltsblat BLP has advised the shareholder of Tymensky Fanerny Zavod (Tyumen Plywood Plant), a plywood producer in Russia’s Western Siberia, on the sale of the company’s 100% stake to SVEZA, a global producer of birch plywood. SVEZA was advised by Baker McKenzie. 

The Tyumen plant produces 92,000 cubic meters of plywood a year. According to Goltsblat BLP, “the figure looks set to grow to 120,000 cubic meters after the deal.” The plant’s clients span the construction, machinery, aircraft, and shipbuilding sectors in 35 countries.  

SVEZA, a Russian company belonging to Alexey Mordashov’s Severgroup, is a supplier of cast-in-place concrete construction in Russia, producing 1.3 million cubic meters of plywood and particle board a year.

The Goltsblat BLP Corporate team included Partner Anton Panchenkov, Senior Associate Kseniya Shevchenko, and Junior Associate Mikhail Erokhin.

The Baker McKenzie team was led by St. Petersburg Managing Partner Maxim Kalinin and included Associates Roman Ishmukhametov and Olga Pankova.

Dispute Resolution lawyer Alexander Popelyuk and IP lawyer Boris Malakhov have been promoted to Partner at Lidings. 

Alexander Popelyuk joined the Lidings’ team in 2013. According to Lidings, “his expertise within the firm spans bankruptcy, insolvency proceedings, and business restructuring, as well as representing clients’ interests in employment disputes and corporate conflicts, insurance disputes and advising on debt collection issues.  Alexander has an extensive experience in advising Russian and international companies from different industrial sectors, mainly from oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, manufacturing, IT and electronics, as well as major financial institutions, and energy sector companies. He is a graduate of Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law.”

Boris Malakhov joined the Lidings’ team in 2012. According to the firm, “he specializes on intellectual property disputes and has built up an expertise in proceedings involving manufacturing, FMCG, IT and Eletronics, as well as pharmaceuticals and healthcare sector companies. The scope of Boris’ particular professional interest covers data protection, IP infringements on the Internet and media law. He is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, has a bachelor’s degree in Public International Law and a master’s degree in International Economic Law.”

“The decision to strengthen the firm’s Dispute Resolution and Intellectual Property teams is determined by a significant increase in the number of new matters involving large Russian and foreign companies from different sectors of economy,” commented Lidings’ Managing Partner Andrey Zelenin. “Boris with his extensive expertise in advising pharmaceutical companies on a wide range of intellectual property protection issues will continue to develop Lidings’ life sciences industrial practice, and Alexander’s successful expertise in representing interests of major energy and insurance companies will strengthen and further expand firm’s capabilities in these relevant areas.”

“The rising demand from the firm’s clients for dispute resolution services and especially legal support in bankruptcy procedures is an excellent incentive for our team to both improve the efficiency of existing tools as well as to create new approaches and methods for comprehensive protection of clients’ interests,” commented Popelyuk about the appointment. “I thank my colleagues for entrusting me to continue the work on further development of the firm in a new interesting role and to achieve new progress together.”

Malakhov was also enthusiastic.“ Starting at Lidings as a young professional with great desire to grow and fantastic support from colleagues, I am very glad for an opportunity to contribute to the firm’s further development now as a partner in rapidly growing Intellectual Property practice. I’m positive about our future success and ready for new professional challenges.”

Ekaterina Rudova has joined Integrites as a Partner in the firm’s Moscow office.

Rudova will primarily focus on support of major international businesses  in Russia and the CIS, and will advise on private equity and venture capital funds, and assist with the fulfillment of large-scale privatization and reorganization projects for Russian enterprises, including public joint stock companies.

According to Integrites, “Rudova has over 15 years of experience in representing major international and Russian companies in the areas of corporate and regulatory law, cross-border M&A transactions, anticorruption law, and general commercial law.”

Prior to joining Integrites she worked as a Principal Associate at Capital Legal Services for three years and as a Senior Associate at Dentons for 16 years.

Russia’s KIAP and Architecture of Law tax boutique have announced a merger that will result in Architecture of Law becoming part of KIAP’s professional team.

Architecture of Law provides legal services in Russia to corporate and individual clients. According to a KIAP’s press release, the merger of the two law firms under KIAP’s brand will enable them “to considerably enhance their capabilities in providing high-quality service to their clients, and gain new opportunities to develop their expertise in tax law.”

Andrey Korelskiy, Managing Partner at KIAP, said: “Our merger is the outcome of strategic planning, carried out as part of KIAP’s global development strategy. It will enable us to offer our clients new significant opportunities and to enhance our position in the tax expertise market.”

Andrey Zuykov, Managing Partner at Architecture of Law, was elected Partner and Head of Tax Practice at KIAP. He is a tax expert with more than 17 years of experience in the market. “The fundamental principles of our company are our commitment to results, fair practice, and responsibility for our obligations,” he said. “I am pleased that, in KIAP, we have found a worthy partner that shares our principles, and we will continue to work with them and provide legal services of the highest quality under the KIAP brand. I have no doubt that, together, we will be able to bring a lot of benefits to our clients and to the Russian legal market.”

Ivanyan & Partners has promoted Counsel Sergei Kushnarenko to Partner. 

Kushnarenko advises Russian and foreign investors on Russian corporate law issues, often acting as lead counsel in public and private M&As, large-scale joint venture projects, and general corporate and commercial matters. According to the firm, “he supports clients from diverse industries, primarily from the oil & gas, mining, and transportation sectors.”

According to Ivanyan & Partners, “his appointment aligns with the firm’s human resources development strategy and is a result of his significant contribution to building up the Corporate/M&A Practice and diversifying the firm’s client base.”

Partner Maria Miroshnikova, the Head of Corporate/M&A at Ivanyan & Partners, said: “In the three and a half years of his work here, Sergey has helped the practice to reach a new level of quality, to structure the team’s work, and to develop new business areas, in particular, support for Asian investors in Russia.”

Capital Legal Services has advised Leroy Merlin on its RUB 12 billion acquisition of 12 out of the 14 K-Rauta stores owned by Finland’s Kesko, with the latter discontinuing its operations in Russia. Baker McKenzie reportedly has advised Kesko on the sale.

The ownership of the properties will transfer to Leroy Merlin in the first quarter of 2018, at which time the operations of the two remaining K-Rauta properties in the Moscow region not included in the transaction will be discontinued. The surviving shopping locations will become Leroy Merlin hypermarkets.

The Capital Legal Services team was headed by Partner Elena Stepanova and included Senior Associate Olga Sofinskaya and Associates Natalia Gegechkori and Galina Zolotukhina. English law support was provided by Of Counsel Kyle Davis.