Category: Ukraine

Vasil Kisil & Partners has successfully represented the UNIQA Insurance Company in a dispute over payment of an insurance indemnity in connection with a low crop yield caused by drought.

Following litigation that lasted over three and a half years, the court dismissed the insured’s claims for recovery of the insurance indemnity on the grounds that it had failed to fulfill a number of agro-technical requirements for growing barley, which had caused reduction in crop productivity and resulted in the lower crop yield than expected. The Superior Commercial Court of Ukraine upheld the resolution of the court of appeals.

“Agricultural insurance disputes are difficult to handle because it is difficult to prove the causes of crop loss (or low crop yield) as this may be the result of both adverse weather conditions and failure to follow an agricultural crop growing process,” said Oleg Kachmar, Counsel at Vasil Kisil & Partners. “It is also not so easy to establish the time when the insured event occurred. This is mainly because, based on the agricultural insurance practices, the time of occurrence of an insured event does not coincide with the time when the insured event is discovered. Losses incurred by an agricultural producer as a result of the crop loss or low crop yield can usually be identified only when harvesting the crop. However, an insured event occurs at the moment when losses are incurred rather than identified.”

The Vasil Kisil & Partners team included Managing Partner Andriy Stelmashcuk, Counsel Oleg Kachmar, and Associate Yuriy Kolos.

Sayenko Kharenko acted as legal counsel to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on its provision of a USD 20 million loan to the subsidiaries of the Industrial Milk Company, a Ukrainian agricultural holding listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and involved in corn, sunflower, wheat, soybean, potato, and dairy farming.

According to Sayenko Kharenko, “the deal is expected to provide much needed pre- and post-harvest financing essential for the successful operations of the company’s export oriented business. In particular, the funds raised will be used to finance working capital needs of IMC Group associated with the farming operations in Ukraine.”

EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine, and as of August 1, 2016, it had a total cumulative commitment of almost EUR 12 billion in 367 projects pursued since the start of its operations in Ukraine. 

The Sayenko Kharenko team was led by Partner Nazar Chernyavsky and included Senior Associate Iryna Bakina, Associate Taras Shyb, and Junior Associate Alla Kushnirenko.

Spenser & Kauffmann has announced that Petr Malecek has joined its team as Counsel, Head of Central European Desk.

According to Spenser & Kauffmann, “Petr Malecek has 25 years of experience in international law and finance as both an investment banker and a lawyer with firsthand experience in various financial centers including Tokyo, London and across Europe having advised governments, corporate entities and financial institutions.”

Until 2012 Malacek was a Partner at CMS Cameron McKenna and led the firm’s banking practice in several CEE jurisdictions. His areas of expertise include advising on privatizations, financings, acquisitions, disputes, and asset recovery. 

Spenser & Kauffmann reports that Malacek graduated from the University of Waterloo in Canada, the College of Law, London, and Nottingham Trent University Law School in the United Kingdom. He is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales and successfully completed the Registered Representative Exam, Securities and Future’s Authority, City of London. 

“We believe that by joining our firm as Counsel, Head of Central European Desk, Petr Malecek will broaden the horizons of our team and allow us to provide our clients with additional resources and expertise, wherever they are and whatever deal we are structuring for them,” said Valentyn Zagariya, Spenser & Kauffmann Managing Partner. “Petr’s outstanding expertise in banking and finance, cross-border M&A, and English law will be used to strengthen the practices of the firm and enable us to provide our clients with exceptional support and tailor-made solutions within their M&A transactions, debt restructuring and any other deals structured under English law.”

Integrites has announced the appointment of Ivanna Dorichenko as head of the firm’s London office and leader of the firm’s newly-established and London-based International Trade & Commodities practice.

Integrites describes Dorichenko as “an internationally-recognized trade expert with over 14 years of experience in advising commercial parties on various aspects of international sale and carriage of goods and representing them in international arbitration, commercial negotiation and cross-border disputes, particularly those involving GAFTA and FOSFA contracts.” It claims that “Ivanna’s non-contentious work extends to drafting international commercial contracts and supporting commodity trades in all practical aspects of international business, including execution of contracts in different jurisdictions, conflict of laws, commercial risks, and protection of international investments.”

Prior to joining Integrites, Dorichenko worked for four years in the London offices of Clyde & Co and another two with Hammonds, which later rebranded as Squire Patton Boggs. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and became the first Ukrainian barrister called to the bar by the Inner Temple.

In a statement released by Integrites, firm Senior Partner Ruslan Bernatsky commented on the appointment of the firm’s new Partner: “Ivanna is a great asset for the team and we are very pleased to have her on board.” Senior Partner Vyacheslav Korchev said: “Given her skills, experience, and well-established reputation on the London legal market she will undoubtedly add the exquisite London touch to our international operations, which will place us in a unique position on Ukrainian and regional legal markets.”

In that same statement, Ivanna Dorichenko said: “I am delighted to join Integrites as I have been watching them for years and quite certain that the firm has great potential and a very strong drive for development and perfection. That reflects my own values and professional aspirations and I look forward to joining forces with the team that unites some of the top practitioners in the region. I am happy to bring in my expertise and international experience and I am positive that together we will provide the offering in trade, agriculture and international dispute resolution that will be hard to beat.” 

Asters is assisting Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the lead counsel to JSC Oschadbank, on issues of Ukrainian law and factual developments related to the restoration of JSC Oschadbank’s Crimea-related rights and interests through an international investment protection mechanism.

On August 26, 2016 JSC Oschadbank filed a claim for recovery of over USD 1 billion in compensation for its losses in Crimea. 

According to Asters, “the Public Joint-Stock Company ‘State Savings Bank of Ukraine’ is … the only Ukrainian bank that has a state guarantee envisaged by the law in respect of full protection of the monetary funds of citizens entrusted to the bank.”

The Asters team working on the project includes firm Managing Partner Oleksiy Didkovskiy, Partner Svitlana Chepurna, and Associates Anna Tkachova, Maryna Golovko, and Anastasiia Bereziuk.

Sayenko Kharenko has advised the EBRD on the development of a draft law introducing the concepts of bondholder meeting and “collective representative” (trustee) in the Ukrainian Securities Market Law (officially known as the Law of Ukraine “On Securities and the Stock Market” No. 3480-IV). The draft law was introduced to the Parliament on September 5, 2016, under registration No. 5068.

According to Sayenko Kharenko, “the key goals of the draft law are to encourage the greater use of the local debt capital markets in Ukraine, enhance access to information and control by bondholders, and address the risk of holdouts.” The firm reports that the concept of the law was developed by Hogan Lovells, “and was subsequently developed into a draft law by a dedicated team of lawyers of Sayenko Kharenko.”

Sayenko Kharenko’s team included Counsel Anton Korobeynikov, Senior Associate Olexander Olshansky, Associate Dmytro Vasylyna, and was led by Partner Nazar Chernyavsky.

Aequo has announced that it advised Dragon Capital Investments Limited, a member of Dragon Capital group of companies, on its acquisition of the Pyramid Shopping Mall in Kyiv from a group of American and British investors. The investors were advised by Baker & McKenzie.

The transaction involved the sale by the American and British investors of 100% of their shares in 1849-Apollo Overseas I Limited (Cyprus), which owned Atlantic-Pacific Ventures LLC (Kyiv) — which in turn owned the shopping mall. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Aequo describes Pyramid as “one of the most successfully-operated shopping malls in Kyiv,” and reports that “built in Kyiv’s Darnytsia district in 2004, Pyramid has 16,000 square meters of total space and a leasable area of 12,600 square meters.”

The Aequo project team was supervised by Partner and Head of Real Estate Yulia Kyrpa, who said that “our Real Estate team was glad to provide legal advice in the acquisition process which demonstrates investor confidence in the future growth potential of the commercial real estate market in Kyiv.” Kyrpa’s team included Senior Associate Bohdan Dmukhovskyy and Of Counsel Maryna Fedorenko.

The Baker & McKenzie team was led by Kyiv Real Estate Partner Lina Nemchenko, with key input from Associates Elmaz Abkhairova in Kyiv and Robert Gray in London.

Avellum advised Custos Invest & Finance Inc. on its sale of shares in independent Ukrainian telecom operator Datagroup to Horizon Capital, providing Horizon Capital with over 70% of the shares in Datagroup and operational control of the company. Baker & McKenzie advised Horizon Capital on the deal.

Horizon Capital is the leading private equity firm in Ukraine, managing over USD 600 million in three funds. Datagroup is a national telecom operator holding leading positions in key segments: data transmission, international traffic transit, and satellite communication.  

The Avellum team was led by Managing Partner Mykola Stetsenko and Counsel Yuriy Nechayev, with significant support from Senior Associate Oleksandr Polonyk and Associate Dmytro Symbiryov.

The Baker & McKenzie Kyiv team advising Horizon Capital was led by Partner Viacheslav Yakymchuk with key input from Banking & Finance Partner Ihor Olekhov, Competition Partner Oksana Simonova, Corporate and M&A Senior Associate Andrii Moskalyk, and Associates Alyona Furda, Natalia Kovalyova, and Anna Dolynna.

Integrites has advised Delphi Automotive on the enlargement of its production capabilities in Ukraine.

Headquartered in Gillingham, U.K., Delphi is a leading global supplier of technologies for the automotive and commercial vehicle markets, and it operates technical centers, manufacturing sites, and customer support services in 44 countries.

The Integrites team providing Delphi with “complex legal advice, including [on] corporate, commercial, labor, [and] customs and tax matters, as well as advice on privatization legislation,” consisted of Partner Oleh Zahnitko and Associates Olena Savchuk and Aishe Memetova, 

CMS Cameron McKenna in Kyiv has announced that it advised PJSC Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) on the restructuring of a multimillion dollar financing of PJSC Toronto-Kyiv, which owns and operates a mixed-use real estate property called the Toronto-Kyiv Complex, located in downtown Kyiv. Alfa-Bank Ukraine acquired the original loan from Bank of Cyprus in the course of its exit from the Ukrainian market.

The Toronto-Kyiv business center, located at 79 Antonovich Street in Kyiv, covers 83,890 square meters, and was completed in 2013. It consists of four blocks, two of which are oriented on the inner area of the complex from the street, and it contains parking spaces for 499 cars on five underground floors of the building.

Daniel Bilak, Managing Partner of CMS Cameron McKenna, Kyiv said:  “We are very pleased that our financial institutions practice was able to provide long term support to the banks involved in such transactions in a volatile market.”

CMS did not reply to our inquiry about counsel for PJSC Toronto-Kyiv.