Category: Russia

Eterna Law has announced that Anton Zhdanov, Head of the firm’s Moscow Office, was appointed partner. 

Zhdanov joined Eterna Law in December 2015 after spending the previous four years with Sayanko Kharenko in Kyiv. In a Eterna Law press release, he commented that, “my new post retains all management work for me and at the same time adds responsibility for the development of business in the Russian Federation as a whole. Of course, this is a significant step in the career, confirming my competence in the legal market. In this status, I will continue to adhere to the approved development strategy of the company. I plan to develop practices of corporate law and litigation, retail projects, and of course to seek and develop new directions that have a demand in the market. “

In the same announcement, Eterna Law reported that Kyiv-based Counsel Alexander Lugovskiy had been put on the firm’s partnership track. 

Orrick has advised U.S. impact finance company FINCA Impact Finance in the divestiture of its micro-finance operations in Russia to Luxembourg-based Mikro Kapital. The transaction involved restructuring third-party financing from the EBRD, the MEF, and the responsAbility Fund. Mikro Kapital was advised by Italian/Russian law firm Carnelutti, and the lenders were advised by Dentons. 

According to Orrick, “as a result, FINCA Impact Finance was able to hand over the legacy it has built in Russia over the past 18 years to a financial services provider that shares FINCA Impact Finance’s commitment to expanding access to responsible financial services by serving micro-finance segment. Mikro Kapital has become one of the leading microcredit providers in Russia and the CIS.”

Orrick has assisted FINCA Impact Finance on a number of transactions in Russia and the CIS region over the last three years, including the restructuring of FINCA Impact Finance’s operations in Armenia, obtaining financing in two Central Asian CIS countries, the divestiture of FINCA Impact Finance’s loan portfolio in Russia, and others. 

“Orrick is deeply committed to impact finance,” said Orrick Special Legal Consultant Mikhail Usubyan, who led the firm’s team on the transaction. “We are proud to partner with FINCA Impact Finance and other impact finance institutions who share a goal of bringing positive social change to their investment and business strategies.” In addition to Usubyan, the Orrick team included Partners Larisa Afanasyeva and Konstantin Kroll.

The Dentons team was led by Moscow-based Partner Timothy Stubbs, with Luxembourg-based Partner Stephane Hadet advising on Luxembourg aspects of the deal.

The Carnelutti team was led by Managing Partner Pietro Ferrero and included lawyers Denis Arkhipov and Tatiana Fedina.

White & Case has advised Russian food retailer X5 Retail Group on the acquisition of one of the largest retail supermarket chains in Russia, currently operating under the O’KEY brand.

The transaction involved the acquisition of 32 O’KEY supermarkets, including 18 in St Petersburg, four in Moscow, two in Volgograd, one each in the Moscow and Leningrad regions and in Astrakhan, Voronezh, Lipetsk, Togliatti, Krasnodar, and Novocherkassk. X5 will also acquire the real estate for 14 stores. All these supermarkets are due to be integrated into X5 Retail Group’s Perekrestok chain, which had 600 stores as at October 2017.

The White & Case team in Moscow was led by local Partner Nikolay Feoktistov and included Counsel Adam Smith and Associates Daria Plotnikova, Evgeny Chernyavsky, and Timofey Neklyudov.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published CEE Legal Matters learned that Herbert Smith Freehills advised O’KEY on the transaction. Their core Moscow team included Partner Evgeny Zelensky, Counsel Stanislav Grigoryev, Associate Elena Manasyan, with assistance from Counsel Justin Vaughan, and Associates Sergey Kolobov, Graeme McIntyre, and Annelise Barradale.

A team consisting of 10 lawyers and assistants from the Makarov Law Office specializing in assistance in complex court disputes and bankruptcies has merged with Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners, with Makarov Managing Partner Roman Makarov joining as a partner.

Roman Makarov graduated from the Legal Department of St. Petersburg State University in 2003. After working in-house for several years, in 2007 he moved to private practice, where, according to an NSP press release, “he represents interests of big businessmen in courts and commercial arbitrations.” In addition, NSP reports, “Roman is a member of Boards of Directors of a few companies.”

In that same NSP press release, Alexander Nektorov is quoted as saying: “Roman is a true professional having a fundamental approach to affairs. It is worthy of note that the Makarov Law Office administrative structure was like a Swiss watch. Every single thing is at its own place, every employee knows his or her business and it seems that everything works independently. I think that we have experience to share with each other and reach each other with best practices.”

Makarov brings with him lawyers Angelina Skorobogatko, Dimitry Nurzhinsky, Ilia Rachkov, and Egor Kondratenko. According to NSP, the new team, which will be managed by Partners Ilia Rachkov and Roman Makarov, “will focus on corporate conflicts, complex bankruptcy processes, commercial arbitration, and international disputes including ones connected with matters [related to the] application of the sanctions.”

Roman Makarov said: “We are glad to join to such strong and known team as NSP and become a part of this required and admitted law bureau. We wait that together we will become stronger, acquire new competences and can demonstrate our experience and care to NSP clients and demonstrate our devoted clients advantages of profound specialization using a complex approach.”

Goltsblat BLP advised Orientir Group (formerly Logopark Development) on its sale of part of a warehouse complex with a total area of about 195,000 square meters to Raven Russia. 

The Sever-2 class A logistics complex’s anchor tenants are OBI, O’key, Major, Miratorg, and R-Pharm. 

According to Goltsblat BLP, “the transaction was complicated by the fact that only part of the warehouse complex was acquired, which made it necessary to structure legal relationships with other residents of the complex, and also by the complex purchase price structure, which provided for payments in stages and adjustment mechanisms.”

Goltsblat BLP’s team was led by Senior Partner Vladislav Sourkov, and work on the transaction itself was managed by Dmitry Maltsev, Head of Group, Real Estate & Construction. 

The Art De Lex law firm in Russia is reporting that the Moscow Arbitrage Court has approved a settlement the firm negotiated for Global Ports Group in a dispute with Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service on a RUB 4 billion abuse of dominance case. 

The settlement follows the FAS’s April 2017 findings that the Group’s FCT Terminal (as well as a number of other Russian terminal operators) was in breach of antimonopoly laws in relation to the pricing of stevedoring services in Russian ports.

According to a Global Ports Group press release, “although the specific terms of the agreement are confidential, the Group can confirm that the terms of the settlement will not have any material impact on the Group’s financial position or cash flow and will not negatively affect FCT’s operating activities in any significant way. “

In April 2017 FAS also found that the Group’s VSC and PLP terminals were in breach of antimonopoly laws in relation to the pricing of stevedoring services. The Group challenged the FAS findings with respect to each of FCT, VSC, and PLP and appealed against the orders in court. According to Global Ports Group, it “expects that PLP and VSC will reach settlements with FAS on similar terms in the near future. Court hearings on those arrangements are scheduled for later this month.”

Global Ports Investments describes itself as “the leading operator of container terminals in the Russian market,” and reports that “its terminals are located in the Baltic and Far East Basins, key regions for foreign trade cargo flows.” Global Ports operates five container terminals in Russia (Petrolesport, First Container Terminal, Ust-Luga Container Terminal  and Moby Dik in the Russian Baltics, and Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company in the Russian Far East) and two container terminals in Finland (Multi-Link Terminals in Helsinki and Kotka). It also owns the inland Yanino Logistics Park and Logistika-Terminal container terminals, both located near St. Petersburg, and it has a 50% stake in Estonia’s oil products terminal Vopak E.O.S. The company’s revenue for the first half of 2017 was USD 162.5 million, and its adjusted EBITDA was USD 97.3 million.

Editor’s Note: Shortly after this article was published Art De Lex announced that that the Moscow Arbitrage Court had indeed approved the settlement agreements involving the Vostochnaya Steveedoring Company and the Petroslesport (VSC and PLP, respectively) terminals as well, bringing the FAS’s charges against the three terminals to a conclusion. The Art De Lex team working under the guidance of Partner Yaroslav Kulik, was led by Kirill Dozmarov and included lawyers Anna Mitroshkina and Elizaveta Savina.

White & Case has advised Credit Bank of Moscow on its RUB14.4 billion (approximately USD 248 million) public offering of additionally issued ordinary shares on the Moscow Exchange.

The White & Case team on the transaction was led by Partners Darina Lozovsky (Moscow & London) and Inigo Esteve (London), and Local Partner Dmitry Lapshin (Moscow), with support from Counsel Doron Loewinger (London) and Associates Renat Akhmetzyanov, Yulia Akulinina, and Anastasia Sheyndlina (all Moscow).

Former KPMG Head of Legal in Russia Natalia Diatlova has joined as a partner.

Since graduating from the Law Faculty of the St Petersburg State University with honors, Diatlova has, according to Maxima Legal, “assisted with large-scale international investments in various commercial and civil legal projects, real estate, investment agreements, projects in the construction and redevelopment of industrial premises for manufacturing, shopping and business centers, warehouses, and also for the creation of joint ventures.”

Diatlova spent four years as Counsel and Co-had of the Real Estate Practice at Salans in Saint Petersburg and led the Tax and Legal department at KPMG from 2010 until her move to Maxima Legal. She was also a Legal Manager at EY Law from 1997-2005 and spent one year as a Senior Associate at DLA Piper.

“We are delighted that such a high-quality expert has joined our team,” said Maxima Legal Managing Partner Maxim Avrashkov. “Together with Natalia Diatlova, Maxima Legal can widen its practice for public-private partnership, real estate and construction matters and strengthen its position in the sphere of corporate and commercial law and M&A.”

“I chose Maxima Legal as it is a firm with a portfolio of professionally very interesting projects and it is one of the leaders in the sphere of PPP in our city,” said Diatlova.

On December 6, 2017 the Siberian Concession Company (consortium of the VIS Group and Gazprombank), with support from Capital Legal Services, signed an agreement with the Novosibirsk Region government on the constructional and operational procedures of the fourth bridge over the Ob river in the city of Novosibirsk.

The agreement on the bridge that will span 1.5 kilometers is signed for a term of 25 years. The project entails construction of transportation junctions on both banks of the river, with total investments amounting up to RUB 34 billion. It will be financed by the VIS Group, Gazprombank, and the Russian Federation using funds collected through the Platon system.

Capital Legal Services reports that its team, headed by Partner Pavel Karpunin, “provided legal support for the concessioner Siberian Concession Company LLC at all stages, starting from tender procedures, to signing of the concession agreement.” Karpunin described the project as “among the first concession projects financed using funds from the Platon system,” and said, “we congratulate our colleagues on the successful signing of the agreement and are certain that implementation of this project will have enormous significance for the economic development of the region.:

The signing took place in Moscow during the 11th International Forum Transport Week 2017. Russian Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov, Minister Mikhail Abyzob, and interim acting Governor of Novosibirsk Region Andrey Travnikov were present at the signing ceremony.

Hogan Lovells has advised Sberbank on its acquisition of a 25% stake in facial recognition startup VisionLabs. Financial details of the deal, made via Sberbank’s Digital Business Development Administration fintech venture fund, were not disclosed.

VisionLabs has a ten-year partnership deal with Equifax in Russia and is used by more than 20 banks to prevent credit fraud.

The Hogan Lovells team included Moscow Office Managing Partner Oxana Balayan and Moscow Counsel Maria Baeva and Associates Olga Khachikyan and Alla Gorbushina, supported by Hogan Lovells Asterdam Corporate Partner Victor de Vlaam and Associate Kai Althaus.