Category: Ukraine

KPD Consulting has successfully represented the community of the Vozdvyzhenka neighborhood in Kyiv in a dispute with the developer of the Podol Grad Vintage residential complex.

According to the firm, the community, together with a school near the construction site, self-organized into the entity of Vozdvyzhenka Street Committee. The claim was that “the historical and cultural purpose of the land was not taken into account during the transfer of the land plot for the construction of a residential complex,” and that “restrictions provided in this regard were ignored.” According to KPD, the court also took into account the affiliation of the land plot to the Ancient Kyiv State Historical and Architectural Reserve, so the land lease agreement for construction was made illegally. As a result of the ruling, “the decision of the Kyiv City Council on the issuance of a land plot was declared illegal and revoked.”

KPD’s team working on the case was led by Managing Partner Igor Kalitventsev and included Head of Dispute Resolution Evgeniy Litvinov, Senior Lawyer Maxim Cherednichenko, and Lawyer Victor Ivaniuk.

The Kyiv office of Baker McKenzie has advised the A.G.R. Group on its acquisition of the Alpha Farm and Eurasia-Agro enterprises in the Kherson region of Ukraine from AG Management Group LLC.

The A.G.R. Group is a private agricultural holding of 19 Ukrainian farming companies specializing in the cultivation of corn, soybean, wheat, and rye, with a minor livestock production. According to Baker McKenzie, “as part of its development strategy, this undertaking enables A.G.R. Group to extend its irrigating areas thus increasing the agricultural potential of the holding. The acquisition expands the total land area of A.G.R. Group to 32,000 hectares, including more than 2,000 hectares of irrigated lands.”

Baker McKenzie’s team was supervised by Partner Viacheslav Yakymchuk, led by Associate Alyona Furda, and included Associates Hanna Smyrnova, Mykyta Stebliuk, and Andrii Levchenko.

Everlegal has advised UDP Renewables on its investment agreement with Nebras Power, a global power development and investment company headquartered in Doha, Qatar. Redcliffe Partners advised Nebras Power on the deal.

The deal contemplates the acquisition by Nebras Power of a controlling stake in six UDPR companies operating solar power plants: Scythia-Solar-1, Scythia-Solar-2, Free-Energy Henichesk, Port-Solar, Terslav, and Sun Power Pervomaisk. According to Everlegal, “the next stage of the partnership will be the implementation of new wind energy projects, which will allow UDPR to increase its share in the production of green electricity in Ukraine.”

Everlegal’s team was led by Partner and Head of Energy Andriy Olenyuk and included Managing Partner Yevheniy Deyneko, Senior Associate Yuliia Kylchynska, and Associates Olha Horodniuk, and Lidiia Vatutina. According to the firm, its lawyers “provided comprehensive legal support to [UDPR] during development and construction of the projects, prepared and negotiated transactional documents (including the sale and purchase agreements and shareholder agreements), [and] drafted and ensured receipt of the corporate approvals required for the transaction. In addition, we advised [UDPR on] a number of employment, banking, and financial matters.” The firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice Team, consisting of Senior Associate Mykhailo Gurin and Associates Adriana Kryveshko and Khrystyna Yermenchuk advised UDPR on regulatory matters and helped it obtain anti-monopoly commission approval for the concentration.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Redcliffe Partners announced that the share purchase agreements has been signed in Doha on April 5, 2021, and that the acquisition is expected to close in the coming months subject to certain conditions precedent. The firm’s team working on the deal was led by Partners Svitlana Teush and Zoryana Sozanska-Matviychuk and included Senior Associate Evgeniy Vazhynskiy, Associates Stanislav Rodionov, Victoria Ivasechko, Hanna Marunych and Eduard Olentsevych, Junior Associate Yevhen Chorny, and Paralegals Sam Shyshka and Sevastian Viktoruk.

Asters has launched a German Desk, “focused on the all-around legal support of both corporate and individual German-speaking clients from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland doing business or otherwise encountering legal issues in Ukraine.”

The new German Desk is led by the Head of Asters’ Brussels Office, Marta Barandiy, who speaks German and earned her PhD in Law from the Saarland University. According to the firm, its experience with clients from German-speaking countries includes advising Allianz AG, Austrian Airlines, Bayer, Beiersdorf AG, Deutsche Bank, Metro Cash & Carry Ukraine, Novartis, Raiffeisenbank Ukraine, and VTG AG, among others.

“Asters has a long track record of assisting clients from the German-speaking countries,” commented Asters Senior Partner Armen Khachaturyan. “By establishing a German Desk we emphasize our effort to further enhance client care based on our good knowledge and understanding of business and legal culture of the German-speaking jurisdictions and importance of their interaction with Ukraine. The newly established German Desk is composed of the dedicated team of Asters lawyers focused on the specific interests of the clients from this region.” 

The news of the launch of Asters’ German Desk follows closely upon the announcement several weeks ago that the firm had launched a Nordic Desk as well (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 1, 2021).

Ukrainian Dispute Resolution specialist Serhii Uvarov has become the 12th partner at Integrites.

At the same time, Integrites Senior Associate Krystyna Khripkova was promoted to Counsel.

Uvarov began his legal career with Vasil Kisil & Partners in 2008, and in 2011 moved to Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners. Four years later he moved to Avellum, from which he joined Integrites in 2018. He focuses on commercial and investment arbitration, arbitration-related litigation, and cross-border commercial litigation. According to Integrites, “Serhii has significant experience of representing interests of the state-owned companies as well as international investors into the renewable energy sector of Ukraine.” 

On his LinkedIn page, Uvarov commented that “I am grateful to partners for their trust. But most of all I am thankful to the great arbitration and cross-border litigation teams at Integrites. You are amazing! I am privileged to work with you!”

“Having joined us three years ago, Serhii and Krystyna quickly became part of the Integrites’ family, sharing its values and delivering client service of the highest quality,” commented Integrites Managing Partner Oleksiy Feliv. “Now with four Dispute Resolution partners – Serhii Uvarov, Olena Perepelynska, Dmytro Marchukov and Oleksandr Onishchenko – and talented Counsel Krystyna Khripkova, Integrites will be able to handle the most complex and large-scale disputes. Happy to welcome Serhii and Krystyna in their new roles and wish them more challenging projects to come.”

Avellum has acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to the EBRD in connection with an up-to EUR 50 million loan to Communal Enterprise “Kyivskiy Metropolitan” that was guaranteed by the Kyiv City Council. Aequo advised the borrowers on the deal.

According to Avellum, “proceeds from the EBRD loan will be used to finance the procurement of 50 new metro cars (as well as related services and equipment). These metro cars will carry passengers on one of the Kyiv underground rail network lines. Such an upgrade of the Kyiv metro rolling stock is expected to encourage more people to use modern and efficient public transport instead of their private cars, reducing traffic congestion in Kyiv.”

The loan to “Kyivskiy Metropolitan” is part of the Vital Infrastructure Support Programme launched by the EBRD in response to the economic fallout caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to back essential infrastructure.

Avellum’s team on the project was led by Senior Partner Glib Bondar and included Associates Oleg Krainskyi, Anastasiia Zhebel, and Mariana Veremchuk.

Aequo’s team included Counsel Bohdan Dmukhovskyy and Associae Anna Potapova.

Sayenko Kharenko has successfully represented Bacardi in a dispute with beverage manufacturer Niva over Niva’s use of packaging similar to Bacardi’s Martini Bianco for its own products.

According to Sayenko Kharenko, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine issued a UAH 800,000 fined to Niva in 2018 for its imitation of the Bacardi-owned Martini Bianco vermouth packaging. According to the firm, Niva’s appeal to the Commercial Court of Kyiv was upheld, and the first instance court ruled in favor of Niva. Bacardi, in turn, appealed to the Supreme Court, which overturned all previous decisions and ruled in favor of Bacardi and the AMCU.

Sayenko Kharenko’s team included Partner Yaroslav Ognevyuk and Lawyer Tatiana Yushchenko.

Former Ukrainian Member of Parliament Ostap Semerak has joined Vasil Kisil & Partners as Partner to develop the firm’s public advocacy practice.

According to the firm, Semerak was a member of the Ukrainian Parliament of the 6th convocation (Budget Committee) and of the 8th convocation (European Integration Committee). From 2014 to 2016 he was the Co-Chair of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee. From 2014, he served as the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and from 2016 to 2019, he was the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

“We welcome Ostap Semerak as our new Partner at Vasil Kisil & Partners,” said Managing Partner Andriy Stelmashchuk, adding that his “experience in the public sector and lawmaking will strengthen our public advocacy practice. The range of services for our clients in this area will include advising on overcoming barriers for investment in Ukraine, drafting and advocating regulations, civilized lobbying in Ukraine and abroad.”

Semerak added: “I am glad to join Vasil Kisil & Partners – a renowned law firm with high ethical and professional principles that I also share. By pooling our efforts and expertise, we will provide Ukrainian and foreign clients with the support and solutions necessary to resolve their business problems both at the national and international levels through fair and legitimate practices.” 

The Esquires law firm has persuaded Ukraine’s Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal to revoke an order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dismissing former Deputy Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Denys Shendryk from that position.

According to the firm, Esquires Partners Oleksandr Shkelebey and Opanas Karlin and Counselor Andrii Kravchuk proved “that the norm of the law applied by the Government does not correspond to the Constitution of Ukraine, the international treaty, and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, which have the highest legal force.”

The court ordered that Shendryk be reinstated in his former position.

Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm has successfully represented the Druzhkovkа Hardware Plant in its demand that the Donetsk Customs Office of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine reimburse it for duties wrongfully collected that reached Ukraine’s Supreme Court.

According to Ilyashev & Partners, “customs authorities had wrongfully interpreted a decision of the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade on the application of n anti-dumping duty based solely on the UTKZED code and the country of origin, without taking the goods’ description into account.” Specifically, the firm reported, “according to a decision of the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade, the anti-dumping duty applied to imports of reinforcement steel and rolled steel that fall within the appropriate goods’ description. However, the Donetsk Customs Office of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine insisted on payment of anti-dumping duty similarly for bar iron, which belongs neither to reinforcement nor to rolled steel by its description, but is classified under the same UTKZED codes as these.”

According to Ilyashev & Partners, “following numerous addresses seeking clarifications to the State Fiscal Service by Druzhkovka Hardware Plant PrJSC, Ukraine’s leading metalware manufacturer, the fiscal authorities acknowledged that they had been acting wrongfully. However, the customs office rejected reimbursing the amounts of anti-dumping duty, charged and paid by the enterprise over the course of 2018-2019 pertinent to the supplies of raw materials, i.e., bar iron for manufacturing metalware products.” The firm challenged the customs authority’s actions in court.

On March 18, 2021, Ilyashev & Partners reports, the Supreme Court awarded a final and binding judgement for the benefit of Druzhkovkа Hardware Plant. According to the firm, “the court judgement has now been enforced and the funds have been reimbursed to the plant in their entirety.”

“This is one of the first cases [in which] an enterprise proved as a matter of court litigation procedures that an anti-dumping duty was payable based on the goods’ description rather than on the UTKZED code,” explained Ilyashev & Partners Partner Olena Omelchenko. “The court came to the conclusion that the customs office’s resolution to insist on paying anti-dumping duty had been adopted in excess of powers and in breach of the procedure, set out in currently applicable laws.”

The Ilyashev & Partners team was supervised by Partner Olena Omelchenko and Head of the firm’s Kharkiv Office, Andriy Lytvyn.