Category: Ukraine

Ilyashev & Partners has successfully defended the interests of Swisspan Limited in an antidumping investigation related to the imports of carbamide-formaldehyde products from the Russian Federation into Ukraine.

Swissppan Limited is a woodworking enterprise in Ukraine, which has been in the Ukrainian market for over 15 years. Ilyashev & Partners reports that, as a result of the proceedings, the firm “succeeded in eliminating carbamide-formaldehyde concentrate (CFC) in the definition of the product which was subject to investigation and application of anti-dumping duties in the amount of 39.94% regarding the import to Ukraine of carbamide-formaldehyde resin. According to the Ukrainian Classification of Commodities (UKTZED) under code 3909 10 00 00, this can be classified as originating from the Russian Federation for the period of five years.”

The relevant decision of the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade was published on July 4, 2018 in the Uriadovy Kurier newspaper.

According to Ilyashev & Partners, “the anti-dumping investigation was initiated on the basis of the complaint filed by Karpatsmoly LLC, which did not enjoy support of the national production sector and insisted on applying measures to all products which may fall under code 3909 10 00 00 of UKTZED.” The firm reports that “such application of anti-dumping measures to CFC would have led to negative consequences for related industries, such as wood processing and furniture industries. The withdrawal of the CFC from the influence of measures corresponds to the national interests of Ukraine and will facilitate the production and export activities of Ukrainian wood-working industry.”

The Ilyashev & Partners team was led by Head of International Trade Practice Olena Omelchenko.

“Corruption continues to be among the biggest issues in Ukraine,” says Lidiya Klymkiv, Partner at Axon Partners. “There is some kind of quiet consent with corruption, not only among ordinary people, but also in the legal market itself, as there are many stories involving unethical behavior of representatives of the legal profession in court.”

However, Klymkiv says, recent developments are encouraging. First, she says, local law firms have begun discussing the issue of corruption publicly, which “generated a huge resonance in the legal market.” She explained that, “not so long ago, these issues were kept silent, so I believe this whole situation will change in the near future.”

Klymkiv says the reform of the court system that was introduced earlier this year, which she says includes the judges replacement and a new assessment procedure for judges, is also encouraging. Although she believes that these reforms will not immediately eliminate all traces of corruption, she claims that, “the main point is that ethical issues have been raised inside the legal system and among the lawyers, the new legislation cannot have a real impact without a shift in the minds of legal practitioners.”

Klymkiv turns to the subject of Ukraine’s new “On Limited and Additional Liability Companies” law, which came into effect on June 17, 2018, addressing what she describes as the previous absence of freedom in decision-making for businesses. “They lacked instruments in Ukrainian law, and thus businesses would turn to the mechanisms provided in other jurisdictions, such as the system of common law in USA.” According to her, these tools are necessary to emerging markets, as “it is very important at the stage of incorporation to have some effective instruments to take part in the life of the company and to attract investors.” The new law makes a Corporate Agreement — analogous to a Shareholders Agreement — available to people who want to do business in Ukraine, as “having more freedom in the governing of the company is a much more modern approach and it follows the practice of most developed countries that have such institutions, which is a huge step for Ukraine corporate legislation,” she says.

In the meantime, the legal market is reshaping as well. Klymkiv notices an increasing interest among traditional law firm in innovative projects, including solutions for legal practitioners such as legal bots, online platforms for the court system, and property rights registration bots. Another important area is data protection, she says. With the enforcement of the GDPR many law firms now specialize in data protection, providing service that goes beyond Ukrainian borders. “Ukraine is strong in the outsourcing market, and companies that deal with data protection and have access to personal data registered abroad refer to Ukrainian lawyers to provide consulting on the GDPR.”

Asters has successfully defended JSC CB PrivatBank in the Cassation Commercial Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine in disputes against Agroterminal Logistic and PJSC Pivdenmedbiosintez Design and Search Institute.

The disputes concerned the demands of PrivatBank’s property guarantors to terminate mortgage contracts worth UAH 5.72 billion.

As a result of the disputes, Asters reports, “the Supreme Court confirmed the reasonableness of PrivatBank’s arguments and cancelled previous decisions of lower courts on termination of the mortgage contracts.”

The Asters team consisted of Partner Andriy Pozhidayev and Counsel Oleg Lazovsky.

Ukrainian law firms Avellum and A.G.A. Partners have merged and will operate going forward under the Avellum brand.

Avellum Managing Partner Mykola Stetsenko and A.G.A. Managing Partner Aminat Suleymanova will act as co-managing partners of the combined firm. 

According to an Avellum press release, “Avellum’s focus on high profile transactional and regulatory practices aligns with A.G.A.’s critical strengths in dispute resolution and international trade practices.” Stetsenko explained the rationale for the merger this way: “Both firms set a very high bar for the quality of their lawyers and services. The combined firm will continue to be committed to professional excellence, teamwork, and passion for challenge as core corporate values. As an indisputable market leader in transactional practices, including M&A, finance, and capital markets, Avellum is pleased to further increase the breadth and depth of our dispute resolution practice. We are the right match!” 

A.G.A. Managing Partner Aminat Suleymanova agreed: “This is the consolidation of two extraordinary law firms with shared vision of what the future could be like together, similar cultures, and highly complementary practice strengths. With this merger, we are not just getting bigger, we are getting stronger.” 

Avellum was founded in 2009 as a Corporate Finance legal boutique and A.G.A. Partners was founded in 2005 as dispute resolution house. The new firm will consist of six partners and a total of 42 legal professionals. According to the Avellum press release, “the combined firm has a portfolio of over 2,000 completed projects in over 30 jurisdictions and enjoys recognitions of its 14 practice areas by the most credible international legal directories.”

Avellum recently won the CEE Legal Matters 2017 CEE Deal of the Year Award for its work on Ukraine’s 2017 Eurobond Issue. (As reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 7, 2018)

Sergiy Smirnov has been promoted to Partner at Sayenko Kharenko.

Smirnov has headed Sayenko Kharenko’s White Collar Criminal Defense practice as a counsel since 2016. His practice covers domestic corporate, fraud, and business crime, internal investigations, and litigation matters.

According to Sayenko Kharenko, Smirnov “boasts experience representing clients from various industries, including agriculture, banking, real estate and construction, insurance, and other areas at all stages of criminal and litigation proceedings.” 

“Our strategic ambition is to build a market leading white collar criminal defense practice meeting the highest international standards,” said Partner Vladimir Sayenko..

Dentons has advised Danish company Better Energy A/S and the Northern Environmental Financial Corporation in connection with the construction of a 19 MW solar park in Western Ukraine.

The total investment for the project was EUR 6.6 million.

According to Dentons, ”the new solar power plant will be constructed in the southern part of Zhytomir oblast, and the aim is to start producing green electricity for the Ukrainian grid already during 2018.”

The solar plant is expected to produce 6,660 MWh of green electricity per year, providing more than 1,000 homes with green electricity. This will reduce CO2 emissions originating in electricity production in Ukraine by approximately 5,500 tonnes annually.

Dentons team was led by Partner Adam Mycyk, who was assisted by Counsel Maksym Sysoiev and Associates Nikolay Zhovner, Anzhelika Livitska, and Viktor Marchan.

Asters has advised Industrial Media Network PrJSC, a provider of telecommunication services in Ukraine, in connection with an intra-group loan restructuring via a debt-to-equity swap.

According to Asters, ”the debt restructuring was the first to be carried out in Ukraine with the use of this instrument in accordance with the new corporate and currency control regulations.” The conversion resulted in the transfer of USD 3 million loan obligations owed to a foreign parent company into additional shares of IPnet.

Asters’ team included Partner Vadym Samoilenko and Senior Associate Maryana Sayenko. 

Integrites has successfully represented Ukrainian insurance company Euroins Ukraine in a dispute before Ukraine’s Commercial Court of Appeals and, ultimately, the country’s Supreme Court, involving the company’s former minority shareholder and senior manager, who was challenging corporate resolutions adopted by Euroins Ukraine’s shareholders.

Integrites reports that, ultimately, the claims against the insurance company were denied in full.

Integrites’ team included Associate Oksana Riabinina and Paralegal Anastasiia Solenova, who worked under the supervision of Dmytro Marchukov, Head of the firm’s Cross-Border Litigation Practice. 

Everlegal has advised UDP Renewables on the sale of solar power plants under development in the Kyiv region to Acciona Energy. Dentons advised the buyers on the acquisition.

Everlegal reports that, following the expected July 2018 closing of the transaction, Acciona Energy — a Spanish sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy company — will invest EUR 54.7 million in the development and construction of the solar power plants, which are expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2019. The transaction remains subject to clearance by the Ukrainian competition authority.

UDP Renewables is an investment and development company in the Ukrainian renewable energy market. According to Everlegal, the company intends to commission 100 MW of installed capacity in 2018.

The Everlegal team was led by Partner Andriy Olenyuk, assisted by Associate Alina Zhuk and Junior Associate Mykyta Stebliuk. Managing Partner Yevheniy Deyneko provided expertise and assistance as well.

Dentons did not reply to an inquiry about the deal.

Vasil Kisil & Partners has advised LNZ Group on the purchase of 100% of Shpola-Agro Industry LLC. EY Law advised Shpola-Agro Industry on the transaction.

On June 23, 2018, VKP reported that LNZ Group had closed the acquisition of “100% participatory interest in Shpola-Agro Industry that controls, together with its affiliated companies, the land bank of about 8.5 thousand hectares and agricultural assets, including real estate and machinery.”

LNZ Group is a diversified agro-industrial company uniting 33 farm businesses in the Cherkasy and Sumy regions of Ukraine. “Due to this transaction, LNZ Group has increased its land bank up to 70 thousand hectares of land in Ukraine, enabling this group to come closer to the top 20 biggest domestic agricultural producers,” VKP reported in its press release.

The VKP team was led by Partner Volodymyr Igonin and included Partner Anna Sisetska and Associates Taisiia Asadchykh and Mykola Boichuk.

VKP did not reply to an inquiry about the deal.