Category: Ukraine

Integrites reports that it has “gained a convincing victory” for the Ukrainian division of the DHL logistics company in proceedings in the Court of Appeal and then in the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine in a dispute with a client that for over a year “failed to fulfill contractual obligations in the total amount of UAH 10.6 million.”

According to Integrites, “the uniqueness of the dispute was the complexity of relationships between the plaintiff and the defendant, which included the cross-border nature of the services provided, the involvement of foreign elements in the relationship and the essential conflict between legal document standards in the sphere of international transport and conservative requirements of national legislation.”

The Integrites team included Partner Denys Kytsenko and Senior Lawyer Maxim Zamikhovskyi.

Axon Partners is reporting that the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO) has dismissed the complaint filed by Hromadske TV against its former CEO — and Axon Partners client — Roman Skrypin, granting him full and sole ownership of the “hromadske.tv” domain name.

According to Axon Partners, “startups have lately become very trendy in Ukraine, while it is not trendy at all to settle the issues with business partners amicably.” 

The firm’s team representing Roman Skrypin consisted of Dmytro Gadomsky and Lidiya Klymkiv.

Ilyashev & Partners has successfully defended the interests of the State Enterprise Antonov in a court dispute with JSC Aviacor-Aviation Plant in the Arbitration Court of the Samara Region in a dispute involving remuneration for use of a trademark during the manufacture and sale of aircraft.

“Pursuant to the court judgment of July 4, 2016, the claims of the State Enterprise Antonov for more than USD 2.9 million were satisfied and shall be recovered in favor of our client,” commented Ilyashev & Partners Senior Partner Roman Marchenko.

Vladimir Zakharov, head of the Moscow office of Ilyashev & Partners, who provided legal support on the case, reported that the struggle to prove Antonov’s case was long and complicated as a result of the court’s relative inexperience in dealing with such disputes. In addition, he explained, “the court session was closed as the subject matter of the proceedings was directly related to the commercial secrets of the parties to the case.”

The Kyiv office of Eterna Law has announced that Yaroslav Berezhnoy has joined its office as Head of Litigation in Ukraine. According to Eterna Law, the move reflects “the growing demands of our Ukrainian and foreign clients.”  

According to Eterna Law, “Mr. Berezhnoy has more than 10 years of experience in the banking industry, [where he] specializes in working with problem assets. [The] last few years he held senior positions in the legal departments of leading banks, such as Ukrsotsbank, Sberbank of Russia, VTB Bank, and Index bank.” He graduated from the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Eterna Law Partner Oleh Beketov said: “In terms of growing demand for litigation support services, especially in the aspect of working with distressed assets, strengthening of the Kyiv team is particularly timely. I am confident that Yaroslav’s rich experience in leading Ukrainian banks and his deep expertise in the industry will enhance our existing offer in the market.”

Integrites has announced that it successfully defended the interests of Atlas Copco, a large manufacturer of equipment for the mining and construction industries present in more than 180 countries around the world, in a dispute with the State Fiscal Service in Ukraine.

Integrites represented Atlas Copco in what it calls “unfounded criminal proceedings against [our] clients’ officers.” No further details were provided.

The firm’s team was led by Kyiv Managing Partner Olexiy Feliv, assisted by Partner Denys Statnikov.

Sayenko Kharenko has represented the interests of the Altcom financial industrial group in court and enforcement proceedings relating to a UAH 52 million debt recovery.

According to Sayenko Kharenko, “apart from representing [Altcom] before the courts of all instances as well as before the relevant state authorities, Sayenko Kharenko’s team has collaborated with enforcement service on the proceedings relating to enforcement of judgements.”

The firm describes Altcom as an interrelated chain of enterprises, covering a spectrum of work from extraction, production, and conversion of raw and different materials to accomplished stages of prospecting, designing, and building energetic, industrial and civil objects and building roads with different level of complexity. Altcom is present in 12 regions of Ukraine and employs nearly 4,500 people. 

Sayenko Kharenko’s team for the current project is led by Partner Sergey Pogrebnoy, working alongside Counsel Sergiy Smirnov and Associates Oleksiy Koltok and Vladyslav Zhabskiy. 

Aequo has advised Viasat World Limited, a leading international TV company, on its acquisition of Viasat Ukraine LLC, a major provider of digital satellite television services in Ukraine, from the Modern Times Group. Vasil Kisil & Partners advised the Modern Times Group on the transaction, which closed in June 2016.

According to Aequo, its lawyers “carried out legal due diligence of Viasat Ukraine LLC, advised on Ukrainian competition issues (namely obtaining the merger clearance for acquisition of Viasat Ukraine LLC), represented Viasat World Limited at completion, and advised on other Ukrainian law matters. 

The Aequo team was led by Partner Anna Babych and included Counsel Sergey Denisenko, Senior Associate Oksana Krasnokutskaya, and Associates Igor Kalaida, Michael Lukashenko, and Oleksandr Tereshchenko. 

The Vasil Kisil & Partners team was led by Counsel Volodymyr Igonin and included Partner Oleg Makarov and Associate Taisiia Asadchykh.

Sayenko Kharenko has represented Yenakiieve Iron and Steel Works and related companies — a member of the Metinvest Group — in an anti-dumping investigation related to imports into the Eurasian Economic Union of bars originating in Ukraine.

According to the firm, Sayenko Kharenko’s legal support included “drafting commentaries on different issues (e.g. application on anti-dumping investigation initiation; answers of the domestic producer to the questionnaire; the preliminary and definitive determinations, etc.); preparing answers to the questionnaires and additional questionnaires; calculating preliminary and definitive dumping margin based on the peculiarities of trading schemes employed as well as commenting on the calculations provided by the Department of Internal Market Protection of the Eurasian Economic Commission; participating in consultations with the Department of Internal Market Protection of the Eurasian Economic Union; participating in hearings and drafting post-hearings submission; drafting and negotiating price undertakings, etc.”

Sayenko Kharenko describes Yenakiieve Iron and Steel Works — part of the Metinvest Group’s Metallurgical Division — as “one of the leading Ukrainian fully integrated steelmaking companies” and as “one of the leading world square billet producers.” It produces a range of metal products, including concast billet, angles, channels, beams, shapes for the shipbuilding and engineering industry, and rebars for the  construction sector. 

Sayenko Kharenko’s team was led by Partner Tatyana Slipachuk and included Counsel Anzhela Makhinova and Associates Olexandra Brovko and Ivan Baranenko.

Lavrynovych & Partners has announced the initiation of a cooperation agreement with the Ukrainian insurance company SPARE to provide legal protection and legal assistance to SPARE’s clients in case of what Lavrynovych & Partners calls “an insurance event.”

According to Lavrynovych & Partners, SPARE’s “innovative insurance products … cover various risks that may require legal support — both for businesses and individuals. In particular, insurance costs for legal assistance of the leading lawyers and law firms such as Lavrynovych & Partners Law Firm, in the event of claims from the regulatory authorities.” The firm reports that both it and SPARE “are convinced that their joint activity will help Ukrainian business achieve a new level of development and promote the optimal and transparent process of business rights and interests protection in disputes with state control authorities.”

Peterka & Partners has advised Tikkurila Oyj, a Northern European paint company, on the June 20, 2016 sale of its Ukrainian and Belarusian subsidiaries to OU FarbaHouse, a company established by Tikkurila’s local management.

The new company will continue the distribution of Tikkurila’s products in both countries. The total consideration for the sold shares is approximately EUR 6.8 million, consisting of cash consideration and an interest-bearing seven-year vendor loan arrangement.

According to Peterka & Partners, the firm provided Tikkurila, “with the full range of legal services within the following project, including advising on M&A, Corporate, Competition, Labour law and analysis of all necessary contracts and agreements.” The Peterka & Partners legal support, it reported, “covered preparation of a memorandum on various legal aspects of the transaction in Ukraine, drafting documents related to the transaction itself (share transfer agreements, corporate approvals and implementation instruments, articles of association etc.), amending the general SPA to meet local law requirements, advising the client on various aspects related to the change of business model in Ukraine and change of shareholders of the Ukrainian entity (including also competition and labour law implications), drafting contracts related to assignment of receivables and to securing the purchaser’s obligations under the vendor loan agreement; accomplishment of all local formalities and all necessary registration actions.”

Peterka & Partners reported that it was unable to disclose the firm that advised FarbaHouse on the transaction.