Category: Russia

A court in Guam has personal jurisdiction over Russian national Roman Seleznev who was arrested in the Maldives and brought to the US to stand trial in cash register systems hacking case, according to the memorandum filed by prosecutors with the court and obtained by RAPSI.

“The Supreme Court [of the US] has held that personal jurisdiction in a criminal case is established by the simple fact of the defendant’s presence before the court, regardless of how that presence was secured,” the document reads.

The memorandum was filed in response to Seleznev’s motion to dismiss the case and set him free. The defense team of Seleznev claim that he was seized by US Secret Service agents and whisked away to the US in violation of the US and international law. Seleznev’s attorney Pat Civille believes that his client’s presence in the US court has not been lawfully procured.

In the meantime, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that Seleznev was abducted.

Seleznev, 30, faces charges of hacking into retail point-of-sale systems to install malicious software to steal credit card numbers and with operating servers and international carding forum websites to facilitate the theft and sale of stolen credit card data.

An arrest warrant for Seleznev was issued by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in 2011. The prosecutors insist on Seleznev’s removal to the Western District of Washington for trial on a pending indictment.

“Because this Court has been provided a reliable copy of that indictment and accompanying arrest warrant (ECF No. 1 [attachments]), the only remaining issue is the question of identity, i.e., whether Seleznev is “the same person named in the indictment,” the memorandum reads.

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Liniya Prava has been selected by Sberbank of Russia’s Tender Committee to render legal support in relation to the establishment of a Domestic Bond Program for Sberbank of Russia. 

According to a Liniya Prava press release, “the establishment of Domestic RUR Bond Program will allow investors in Sberbank of Russia to obtain the minimum guaranteed coupon rate and a potential additional income that will depend on the market variations of one or more derivatives for a large pool of assets.”

Liniya Prava reports that its lawyers will render legal support on 34 bond issues with an overall volume of RUB 50 billion, including structuring the transaction, drafting all necessary documentation, reviewing the purchase of bonds by the issuer, advising on disclosure, issuing a legal opinion, compiling a transaction bible, and providing other on-going project advice.

As reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 28 and June 23 of this year, Liniya Prava has advised Sberbank on antimonopoly matters as well.

Goltsblat BLP has successfully defended the interests of IKEA regarding what it describes as “unsubstantiated claims” made by the “Khimki” collective agricultural enterprise, including the recovery of 100% of legal costs.

The case involved a dispute over the ownership of real estate located on a former collective farm. After a drawn-out process Goltsblat BLP achieved a full victory for IKEA. The Court then also granted IKEA’s application to have the Plaintiff reimburse its RUB 13 million in attorneys’  fees and related costs.

Andrey Goltsblat, the Managing Partner of Goltsblat BLP described the award thus: “This collaborative effort between the team of lawyers of Goltsblat BLP is especially significant considering that the amount reimbursed is one of the three largest cost recovery awards in the jurisprudence of the Russian Federation.” And Ivan Veselov, Head of Dispute Resolution at the firm, said: “Such decisions regarding the collection of substantial litigation costs are important for Russian legal space. They help reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, thereby reducing the burden on the courts and protecting companies from many unsubstantiated claims, because the risk of financial loss for these plaintiffs becomes a significant factor. Ultimately, this will improve the quality of justice by allowing judges to devote more time to really complex legal issues. “

Goltsblat BLP, the Russian practice of Berwin Leighton Paisner, has supported Krasny Gold Fields on a joint venture in the Irkutsk region with one of the key gold producers in Russia, the GV Gold open joint stock company.

Under the terms of the agreement, GV Gold may earn up to a 51% interest in the joint venture — named the “Krasny Project” — by financing an in?fill exploration program. Signing of the agreement means that the parties have agreed to the final details of the deal structure and the exploration program.

Krasny Gold Fields is a subsidiary of Kopy Goldfields, listed at NASDAQ OMX First North in Stockholm, which is a gold exploration and production company operating in one of the most gold rich areas in the world; Lena Goldfields, Bodaibo, Russia. The company holds 100% of 11 bedrock exploration and production licenses on 1,963 square kilometers. The target for Kopy Goldfields is to create value by identifying and acquiring high potential gold projects, prospect and explore them until the stage when it can be either sold out for cash or developed in cooperation with another partner under JV agreement.

Goltsblat BLP’s team was led by Partner Anton Sitnikov, assisted by Partner Matvey Kaploukhiy. The team also included Partners Ian Ivory and Kyle Davis and Senior Associate Nikolay Kholshev.

FBK has advised COBA International Holding Company in its acquisition of the Russian SEC Profiles manufacturer of plastic construction materials.

COBA International is one of the largest European companies in the production, delivery and sale of polymer materials and thermoplastics. Following the transaction, Samara-based SEC Profiles will receive investment in equipment and tools, IT-infrastructure, and business processes. COBA also plans to provide additional production technology. The new company will be named COBA SPK Profiles. 

According to the firm’s Head of Commercial Practice Andrew Shkadov, FBK’s advise revolved around registration and transaction structuring.

Baker & McKenzie has advised UBS Limited and Commerzbank as the joint lead managers on the establishment of a EUR 600 million medium term notes program and an offering of EUR 350 million 5.5 percent Eurobonds due in 2017 to finance a senior loan to ABH Financial Limited.

The Eurobonds were issued by Alfa Holding Issuance to ABH Financial, a holding company of the Alfa Bank open joint stock company.

Baker & McKenzie’s team was led by Moscow Partner Roy Pearce, working alongside Moscow Partner Dmitry Dembich and London Partner Chris Hogan, with support from Associate Olga Ehrman in Moscow.

Mannheimer Swartling has advised AF on its divestment of its Russian subsidiary Lonas Technologia to AlmazInvest, a Russian private equity firm.

The transaction was conducted as a controlled auction.  

The AF Group is a European technical consulting company offering qualified services and solutions for industrial processes, infrastructure projects, and the development of products and IT systems for clients. The AF Group has approximately 6,000 employees and had a 2013 turnover of approximately SEK 8.3 billion. AF is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.

Evli Bank in Moscow acted as financial advisor to AF in the transaction. The Mannheimer Swartling team was led by Parter Fredrik Svensson and included Senior Associate Evgeniy Tarasov and Associates Alexey Rotar and Svetlana Eliseeva.

Gorodissky & Partners has announced that Ekaterinburg-based Partner Sergey Egorov was awarded an Honorary Diploma at the Russian Ministry of Industry and Science of the Sverdlovsk region for “long service and considerable donation to the development of the Sverdlovsk region industry.”

Egorogov is a Patent and Trademark attorney at the firm, and has a degree in mechanical engineering. He began his career at the Urals Compressor Factory. In 1988 he joined the Ekaterinburg City Administration and then the Government of Sverdlovsk oblast. Since June 2001 he has been the Director of Gorodissky & Partners’ Ekaterinburg office.

Akin Gump has announced that it is advising LUKOIL in relation to the company’s acquisition of a 37.5 percent interest in the Etinde Permit, offshore Cameroon, from Bowleven Plc., the Africa-focused oil and gas exploration group traded on AIM.

The Etinde contract area is located in the Gulf of Guinea near the border with Equatorial Guinea and includes three license blocks for the extraction of oil and gas with a total area of 2,300 square kilometers.

Alongside LUKOIL, the British company NewAge (African Global Energy) Limited, already the holder of a 25 percent stake, acquires an additional 12.5 percent interest in the Etinde Permit from Bowleven. Camop, a wholly owned subsidiary of NewAge, will become operator of the Etinde Permit following completion.

The conditional agreement is subject to regulatory approval by the Cameroon government and Bowleven shareholders.

The Akin Gump team advising LUKOIL is led by Moscow energy Partner Natalia Baratiants and London corporate and energy Partner Marc Hammerson and is drawn from the firm’s London and Moscow offices. 

White & Case has advised the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the follow-on offering by the Central Bank of Russia of shares in the charter capital of Moscow Exchange, Russia’s largest securities exchange group.  

Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan, Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners in the offering, and Citigroup and Gazprombank are joint bookrunners.

White & Case reports that the domestic offering is the first by a Russian issuer in 2014 and represents a transaction value of approximately USD 469 million.

The White & Case team on the offering was led by Moscow Partners Darina Lozovsky and Dmitry Lapshin and included London Partners Doron Loewinger and Allan Taylor. The team was also supported by Moscow Associates Renat Akhmetzyanov, Amulang Povaeva, Anna Soroka, and Yulia Petelina.