Category: Ukraine

Vasil Kisil & Partners has reported that Senior Associate Pavlo Byelousov spoke at the Second Ukrainian Law School on Alternative Dispute Resolution.

The program was jointly organized by the Coordination Council of Young Lawyers of Ukraine under the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA), and the National Aviation University, with the support of the Engarde Law Firm and the Students League of the Ukrainian Bar Association.

According to VKP, “the event attracted young lawyers and law students of various national higher educational institutions interested in the topic of alternative dispute resolution and, in particular, mediation.” Byelousov was an invited speaker and gave a master class on “Advantages of mediation in comparison with other methods of conflict resolution”, and allowed the participants an opportunity to ask practical questions on specified topics.

During his speech, Byelousov analyzed Ukrainian realities of dispute resolution in the context of court/arbitration and pretrial procedure, and outlined the prospects for the use of mediation in Ukraine and the conditions necessary for the development of the institution. In the final discussion he concluded that “the main component of mediation success is and will remain the maturity of the company and its awareness of such an instrument to resolve the dispute, as well as the willingness of the parties involved to find a mutually acceptable solution and execute it.”

Gazprom has filed a lawsuit in Stockholm International Arbitration Court seeking to recover USD 4.5 billion in debt from Naftogaz of Ukraine.

According to Gazprom, Naftogaz failed to comply with obligations under a January 19, 2009 contract for natural gas purchase and sale between 2009 and 2019, and has “considerable outstanding debt for natural gas supplied under the Contract and non-payment of current supplies.”

Gazprom also announced that, as of June 16, 2014, the company will supply Naftogaz with natural gas only in prepaid volumes according to contractual terms, and Gazprom emphasized that Naftogaz remains “obliged to secure natural gas transit to third countries in full compliance with terms of the effective Contract … on volumes and conditions for natural gas transit through Ukraine from 2009 to 2019, dated January 19, 2009.” Gazprom also announced that it has “already taken and will be taking all possible efforts aimed at preventing potential disruptions of gas supply to European consumers,” and said that it has already notified the European Commission about the possibility that Naftogaz will “illegally withdraw gas” from that intended for other European markets.

Asters has advised the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in connection with USD 250 million financing to Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), a vertically-integrated group of companies and the leading poultry producer in Ukraine.

The loan will be used for refinancing of MHP’s Eurobonds and development. The financing package is IFC’s largest investment in Ukraine since 2008. It includes USD 100 million in debt from IFC’s own account and USD 75 million through the IFC Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program, a new syndications platform that offers institutional investors the ability to passively participate in IFC’s future senior loan portfolio. Additionally, up to USD 75 million is being raised from other lenders as syndicated loans.

Asters’ team advising on the project consisted of Partner Iryna Pokanay, Counsel Gabriel Aslanian, and Associate Inna Bondarenko.

Artem Atepalihin has joined AstapovLawyers as a Director of Strategic Development. According to AstapovLawyers, Atepalihin will be responsible for strategic planning, analyzing, and monitoring the legal market, as well as establishing and maintaining partnerships with clients and public authorities.

Prior to joining Astapov, Atepalihin held the position of Director of Partnership Programs and Investments at BitBank, as well as working as an advisor to the Deputy of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and taking part in the adoption of the “On E-commerce” Law of Ukraine. He graduated from the Academy of Labor and Social Relations Faculty of Law and the National Agrarian University Department of Land Management. In addition Atepalihin completed training programs at School of Political Excellence, Master of Political Management and the School of Political Technologies PolitPR. Atepalihin is a member of the Ukrainian Bar Association, and is a Deputy Chairman of the legal practice committee at the UBA and member of the UBA Legal Assembly.

Managing Partner Andrey Astapov said: “We are happy to welcome Artem to our team. The decision to have a dedicated person to the strategic development will help us spot opportunities on rapidly changing legal market. We are committed to the highest standards in the legal sphere, and Artem’s role will enable AstapovLawyers to better meet the needs and expectations of Ukrainian and international companies.” 

Leonid Antonenko, Counsel at Sayenko Kharenko, has been invited to join the anti-corruption legislation section of a working group of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

The working group combines various sections, all focusing on the development of legislative acts in furtherance of the Activity Program of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. 

Sayenko Kharenko reports that Antonenko is actively involved in projects related to the development of Ukrainian legislation. The firm claims that Antonenko “regularly contributes to forming up a rule-of-law state and legal culture in society, in particular under the auspices of such professional organizations as the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) and the European Business Association (EBA).”

Integrites has advised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, on the perfection of a security package for a USD multimillion existing financing to the Astarta Group.

The Astarta Group is an agri-industrial holding company, which consists of five regional subunits in the Poltava, Vynnytsia, and Khmelnytsky regions of Ukraine, and is a leading sugar and agricultural producer in the country.

According to Integrites, “closing of the transaction was marked with perfection of various and numerous documents within the security package contemplated by the loan agreement as well as performance of all disbursement conditions by the borrower and its group companies.”

The Integrites team was led by Oleksandr Aleksyeyenko and included Associates Yevgen Blok and Dmitriy Nyshpal.

Ilyashev & Partners successfully represented Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar in administrative proceedings against the National Communications Commission (NCC) with regards to the introduction of the nationwide mobile number portability (MNP).

According to the firm, there have been several attempts to introduce MNP in the market in recent years and, in 2013, the NCC approved a regulation governing the operation of MNP and setting the time frame for its implementation. The regulation, contained a requirement for a centralized number database. The database was to be operated by Ukrainian Names and Addresses Centre, a company described by the firm as “hardly known to anyone”, while major mobile operators and their subsidiaries were precluded from participating in the tender offer. A complaint was filed against the NCC because of this. 

As a result, the regulation on the implementation of MNP was ruled partly invalid by the court of first appellate jurisdiction. While Kyivstar did not contest the MNP service itself, the court invalidated a number of provisions in Commission’s regulation as conflicting with existing communications regulations. Following the decision, the NCC will have to update the invalidated regulation and, after obtaining mobile operators’ approval, seek a new registration with the Ministry of Justice.

The law firm further commented that recent new appointments within the NCC officers “leave hope that this time the NCC will act in compliance with the law and respect the legal interests of all mobile operators.”

The Ukrainian office of Konnov & Sozanovsky has appointed Alexey Pokotylo to Partner in the firm’s litigation practice. 

Pokotylo has been with the firm since September 2010. He also advises on commercial and contract law, intellectual property, and labor law. 

Alexey Ivanov, Managing Partner of the firm, commented: “One of the greatest values for Konnov & Sozanovsky is its employees. We do our best for their development. Alexey is an experienced lawyer and a professional, we are sure that in the future he will also actively develop the entrusted practice”.

Integrites has successfully defended the top management and shareholders of GlobalMoney against charges of tax evasion.

GlobalMoney is the operator, developer, and general agent of a leading European payment system. The company has been operating since 2011, and Integrites claims it is “considered a pioneer in e-money paying on Ukrainian market.” Its management and shareholders were charged under article 212 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code for tax evasion “in especially large amounts” and assignment, and under article 191 of the Code for waste of property.

According to Integrites, the firm’s lawyers “managed to close the criminal proceedings by proving absence of corpus delicti.” The acquittal resulted in unblocking the company’s business activity and, the firm claimed, “proving the legitimacy of its typical transactions.” 

Integrites Senior Partner Vyacheslav Korchev obtained the positive result for GlobalMoney, with the support of Counsel Denys Kytsenko and Senior Associate Aleksei Kominarets.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners in Ukraine has obtained regulatory approval for H2 Equity Partners’ acquisition of a major European producer of fresh frozen vegetables, fruits and potato products.

H2 Equity Partners — a leading Western European investment firm — obtained merger clearance from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine for its acquisition of Oerlemans Foods from global food company Vion. The takeover price was not made public. H2 Equity Partners stated that it is looking forward to further reinforcing Oerlemans’ position on the basis of its Dutch and Polish operations.   

H2 Equity Partners, founded in 1991, is a leading Western European hands-on investment firm, with head offices in Amsterdam and London. The company has approximately EUR 500 million under management and invests in medium-sized companies in Benelux, Germany, and the UK.   

Oerlemans Foods is a specialized manufacturer and supplier of frozen fresh vegetables, fruit, and potato products. The company has a turnover of approximately EUR 135 million and employs 740 staff. With a range of over 1,000 products and the brands Oerlemans, Keizer, Bio+ and Bauer, Oerlemans Foods focuses on the international foodservice, retail and industrial markets. The head office is located in Venlo, in the Netherlands, and the company has production plants in both the Netherlands and Poland.  

VION is a Dutch food company which operates internationally. In 2013 Vion realized a turnover of EUR 7 billion. Vion is not listed and has one single agricultural shareholder: the Dutch Southern Agriculture and Horticulture Organization, which has approximately 16,500 members.   

EPAP’s Competition team was led by Partner Oksana Ilchenko and included Counsel Oleg Boichuk, Associate Oksana Franko, and Junior Associates Nadiya Dmytrenko and Rostyslav Zelenyuk.