Category: Ukraine

DLA Piper has announced the appointment of former CMS dispute resolution Partner Olga Vorozhbyt as Partner and Head of the firm’s Ukraine Litigation & Regulatory practice. 

Vorozhbyt focuses on litigation, international arbitration, compliance, and global investigations. According to a DLA Piper statement, “she has over 15 years’ experience in complex domestic and cross-border litigation and international arbitration proceedings. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies across a broad range of sectors, from commercial banks, financial services, telecom and agriculture, through to construction, aircraft manufacturing, and shipping.” The also reports that she “has significant experience with complex commercial fraud and white collar crime investigations, including those driven by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA),” and says that “she has handled numerous cross-border investigations, developed emergency strategies, conducted global risks assessment, developed effective compliance programs, and advised on best practices for compliance with Ukrainian and international legislation.”

Before joining CMS in 2014 she was head of Dispute Resolution at Chadbourne & Parke until that firm closed its doors in Kyiv in September of that year. She had spent over four years at Chadbourne, after beginning her career with five years as an Associate with Baker & McKenzie.

On the appointment, Margarita Karpenko, Managing Partner of DLA Piper’s Kyiv office, said: “We look forward to welcoming Olga to our practice. Her knowledge and practical experience of the sector will complement our current dispute resolution and anti-corruption capabilities. Olga is a well-regarded lawyer with a strong reputation, she will be an asset to our clients in Ukraine and abroad.”

Eterna Law has provided pro-bono advice as a partner to the Run For Peace organization in its online “Go_UA_Glory” exhibition, organized at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

According to the firm, Eterna Law lawyers Ilarion Tomarov, Kateryna Gnativ, and Darya Romashchenko “helped to resolve a number of issues, including: the question of the intention to use objects of copyright with a non-profit purpose, namely to promote a healthy lifestyle, sports, Olympic sports conclusion, and drawing up of the license agreement, [and] minimization of possible legal risks.”

Avellum has advised ING Bank N.V. on Ukrainian matters related to USD 100 million secured pre-export revolving loan facility it and Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank provided to Myronivsky Hliboproduct Group. ING Bank N.V. was also advised by Norton Rose Fulbright on English law, Arendt & Medernach on Luxembourg law, Montanios & Montanios on Cyprus law, and Harneys on BVI law.

Avellum describes Myronivsky Hliboproduct Group as “one of the leading agro-industrial companies in Ukraine, focusing on the production of poultry and the cultivation of grain,” and reports that “the loan proceeds were used for the purchase of sunflower seeds in the Ukrainian market for processing into sunflower meal consumed by MHP for production of fodder and oil for further export.”

The Avellum team was led by Partner Glib Bondar, with support from Senior Associate Taras Dmukhovskyy, and Associates Taras Stadniichuk, Pavlo Shevchenko, and Orest Franchuk.

Aequo has represented Forbes Media on a number of issues related to its American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration proceeding against United Media Holding N.V. (UMH), Forbes’ former licensee in Ukraine, regarding the termination of its license agreement. 

The dispute was administered by the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) under the AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules. According to Aequo, in April 2016, the arbitral tribunal rendered a final award in Forbes’ favor, acknowledging the company’s right to terminate the license agreement with UMH. The award was based on UMH’s censorship and interference with independent journalistic principles. 

Aequo describes the proceeding as unique, “in that it ruled on issues related to UMH’s failure to preserve the integrity and editorial independence of Forbes Ukraine or protect the trademark.”

Finally, Aequo reports, “according to the Arbitral Award, Forbes acted reasonably when it terminated the UMH license agreement. The Arbitral Award also prohibits UMH and its affiliates from using Forbes’ trademarks in any manner, including in connection with publishing a magazine in Ukraine and maintaining the corresponding website. All UMH claims against Forbes were dismissed.”

Aequo also successfully represented Forbes in Ukrainian court in a dispute against UMH PH’s over use of the Forbes.ua domain name. UMH Publishing House (UMH PH), a subsidiary of UMH, had initiated the proceedings, claiming access to the forbes.ua domain name. According to Aequo, “UMH PH engaged a technical defendant to unlawfully arrange a remote venue for the litigation. However, Forbes had not been properly summoned until the first instance court decision was enforced.”

Aequo’s IP team filed an appeal on behalf of Forbes and represented the company before the Court of Appeals, where it succeeded in having the lower court’s decision cancelled and having UMH PH’s claims related to the forbes.ua domain name  dismissed, “since the first instance court’s decision clearly affected the trademark rights of Forbes and the matter had been considered in an improper venue.”

The core Aequo team representing Forbes in the AAA arbitration included Partners Anna Babych and Oleksandr Mamunya, Counsel Pavlo Byelousov, and Senior Associate Nataliya Dryuk.

Partner Oleksandr Mamunya and Senior Associates Nataliya Dryuk and Andrey Nikolayenko represented Forbes LLC in the Ukrainian Court of Appeals. 

Redcliffe Partners has advised Landesbank Berlin on the restructuring of EUR 244 million financing provided to Wind Power, a Ukrainian operating asset of the DTEK Renewables Group. The financing was backed by a guarantee of EKF, the Danish export credit agency. 

According to Redcliffe Partners, “the successful restructuring of the loan will bring positive outcomes for the development and operation of green energy in Ukraine and, in particular, for wind and solar power generation.”

Redcliffe’s team included Managing Partner Olexiy Soshenko, Senior Associate Andriy Grebonkin, and Junior Associates Olesia Mykhailenko and Anatoliy Doludenko.

Doubinsky & Osharova (D&O)is reporting that, on September 21, 2016, the Kyiv Economic Court of Appeal rejected PJSC Sberbank’s argument that D&O’s client PJSC Oschadbank’s certificate for the use of the “Sberbank” sign for goods and services should be terminated. The appeal followed the earlier decision of the Economic Court of Kyiv and the State Intellectual Property Service of Ukraine, both of which had also found for Oschadbank.

According to Doubinsky & Osharova, on May 27, 2016, PJSC Sberbank filed its claim for the early termination of Oschadbank’s certificate for use of the “Sberbank” mark on goods and services “for all services of 36 class of the International Classification of Goods and Services.” The firm reports that, working together with Oschadbank’s legal department, its lawyers “gathered appropriate evidence confirming the use of the trademark in advertising, business documents, the Internet, as well as during the facilitation offers.” As a result, D&O reports, “the Court of Appeals agreed with reasoned and cogent arguments of the [firm’s] lawyers about the plaintiff’s groundless statements.”

Eterna Law has announced the establishment of a Lobbying & GR Practice, to be headed by new Partner Philip Griffin. Eterna Law describes the Lobbying & GR Practice as the first “which adheres to and complies with all American legal practices and standards” in Ukraine.

According to a statement released by Eterna, “this appointment resulted out of the needs of businesses in Ukraine for professional classical lobbying services, the success of which depends on the actions and decisions taken by elected officials and government and public authorities. One of the priority client segments the practice is to cover includes companies that attach strategic importance to growing their business in the West or that already operate or plan to start a business in the United States.” The firm describes Griffin as having “knowledge and experience and … government contacts in the United States and Ukraine [which] are a valuable asset for the GR Practice.”

“It was a conscious decision to appoint a United States citizen with substantial experience in government relations within and outside the CIS region,” said Partner Oleh Malskyy, the firm’s of the Head of Corporate and M&A Practice. “The United States is the birthplace of classical lobbying techniques, and we want to implement its best practices in the Ukrainian market to achieve compliance with international ethical and professional standards.”

According to the firm, “having a US citizen join Eterna Law as a Partner is a logical step in the successful and coherent global development of our firm.”

Asters has advised VTB Bank Ukraine on the settlement of the loan debt of Incom.

According to Asters, “as a result of the settlement, the shares of Datagroup pledged in connection with a loan granted to Incom were purchased by Horizon Capital, a private equity fund manager. Horizon Capital has increased its stake in Datagroup, a leading independent telecom operator in Ukraine, to over 70%, assuming operational control of the company.”

The Asters team consisted of Partner Iryna Pokanay, Counsel Gabriel Aslanian, and Associate Inna Bondarenko.

Magnusson’s Kyiv Office has advised the Oxygen Group on obtaining financing from unnamed private investment funds. 

Oxygen Group owns Ukraine’s largest multi-brand electric car salon, Oxi Taxi (an electric car taxi service), and Ukraine’s national network of high speed charging stations for electric cars (the ChaDEMO high speed charging stations).

Magnusson’s work consisted of “reviewing transaction instruments as well as advising on the further utilization of the received funds, in particular the purchase of electric-powered taxis and high speed charging stations for electric cars.” The firm’s team was led by Ukraine Managing Partner Oleksandr Liulkov.

Arzinger has announced that, “responding to the emerging needs of the market,” it has created a bankruptcy practice within the firm’s existing dispute resolution practice.

The practice will be led by Partner Markiyan Malskyy and Headed by Senior Associate Anton Molchanov, who has ten years of experience in commercial dispute resolution in Ukrainian and foreign courts. 

According to Arzinger, “the main services of the practice are consulting in the field of bankruptcy and crisis management, a full range of services related to the accompaniment of bankruptcy cases, the return of misappropriated assets and complex support of the debtor’s assets alienation procedures (tenders, competitions, auctions, direct sales, debt/debt forgiveness).”

Finally, the firm reports, “along with the practice of criminal law and white-collar crime the bankruptcy practice has a particular emphasis on risk management and representation of clients in the matters of responsibility for bringing to the bankruptcy and fraudulent bankruptcy. One of the exclusive services is a support of selective sale of debtors’ assets in client’s favor — potential buyers who are not involved in bankruptcy cases.”