Category: Uncategorized

Lavrynovych & Partners has advised Vaderstad, a Ukrainian subsidiary of Europe’s largest agricultural machinery manufacturer, in litigation regarding the recognition and cancellation of UAH 1.05 million in tax fines imposed by the customs authorities of the Cherkasy province of Ukraine.

After what Lavrynovych & Partners describes as “a long litigation process,” the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine upheld the cassation appeal and upheld the court of first instance’s judgment that the claim had been fully satisfied.  

Vaderstad is a subsidiary of the Sweden-based company of the same name, which supplies soil tillage and seed drilling machinery. Vaderstad-Verken AB — is a family business founded by Rune and Siw Stark in 1962. According to Lavrynovych & Partners, “the family business has now grown into a large progressive company equipped with the latest technologies.”

The firm’s team was led by Associate Partner Andriy Moroz, who guided Associate Inna Rudnyk. 

Esin Attorney Partnership, the Turkish arm of Baker & McKenzie, has advised Global Liman I?letmeleri (Global Ports Holding) and the Guarantors, Ortadogu Antalya Liman Isletmeleri and Ege Liman Isletmeleri (both subsidiaries of Global Ports Holding) in relation to a USD 250 million Eurobond offering to foreign institutional buyers.

Global Ports Holding is the world’s largest cruise port operator, with a diversified portfolio of cruise and commercial ports in Turkey and the Mediterranean. 

Esin and Baker & McKenzie’s London office advised Global Ports Holding and the Guarantors in relation to USD 250 million 8.125 per cent unsecured senior notes due 2021 and offered: (a) for sale in the United States to qualified institutional buyers only as defined in, and in reliance upon, Rule 144A under the Securities Act and (b) for sale to non-US persons as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act outside the United States in reliance upon Regulation S. The deal was signed on November 7 and closed on November 14, 2014.

Now established as a leading port operator in Turkey, Global Ports Holding has built up a diversified portfolio of eight ports in five different countries with a combination of commercial port and cruise ports operations. The Group operates three ports in Turkey: one mixed-use commercial and cruise port on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast (Port Akdeniz in Antalya), and two cruise ports on Turkey’s Aegean coast (Ege Ports in Kusadasi and Bodrum Cruise Port in Bodrum). The Group has recently acquired interests in commercial port concessions in Montenegro and cruise port operations in Barcelona, Lisbon, Malaga, and Singapore, further enhancing its business model by providing an unmatched choice of destinations to cruise operators.  

London-based Partner Simon Porter and Istanbul-based Partner Muhsin Keskin advised Global Ports Holding and the Guarantors on the Eurobond offering, with support from Associates Erdem Sismangil (in Istanbul) and Alexander Dresch (in London).

“The domestic bond market has seen a lot of activity from corporates whereas the Banks have historically been the stars of the international bond market,” commented Partner Muhsin Keskin. “It is thrilling to see that Turkish corporates are increasingly tapping the international bond markets. We have been building an excellent track record advising issuers on their international bond offerings. The Global Ports Holding issue follows Yasar Holdings’ USD 250 million 8.875 per cent notes on which we also advised the issuer. We are currently working on other Eurobond offerings as well as international equity capital markets offerings.”

Freshfields has advised C.A.T. oil AG (Vienna) on safeguarding its strategic interests in the face of an unclear takeover bid.

According to a firm press release: “The background to this is an alleged change of CAT Holding (Cyprus) GmbH’s major shareholder as well as the public takeover bid for the leading provider of oil and gasfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan which was announced by Joma Industrial Source Corp. (Joma Industrial) on 31 October 2014. 

The management board had already asked Joma Industrial on 31 October 2014 to provide written proof of the alleged acquisition of the 50.25% share in CAT. Holding and the resultant control of the listed company. The management board also called on Joma Industrial to provide information on the intention, its plans in relation to strategy and the composition of the management board as well as on the financing of the planned public offer. To date, there has been no response to these requests by Joma Industrial or its representatives.

In addition, the management board has received confirmation from the supposed seller Dr. Walter Hoft that the alleged sale of his shares in CAT. Holding was not planned. Finally, Joma Industrial has also called into question the participation of Anna Brinkmann, Chief Operating Officer of C.A.T. oil AG and CAT. Holding shareholder.”

Freshfields has been advising C.A.T. oil since its Frankfurt IPO and on all important M&A and capital market transactions, most recently in relation to an equity placement by the major shareholder CAT Holding in January 2014. The Freshfields team consists of Vienna-based Partner Thomas Zottl, Counsel Stephan Pachinger, and Principal Associate Ludwig Hartenau, and Hamburg-based Partner Christoph Seibt and Associate Jorg-Peter Kraack.

Irina Nazarova, the Managing Partner of Engarde Attorneys at Law, has become a member of the Council for Judicial Reform within the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.

The Council was established by Decree of the President of Ukraine No.826/2014, on October 27, 2014. According to an Engarde press release, the Council is staffed by a number of leading lawyers, who have “devoted their professional careers to the development of justice in Ukraine.” The firm reports that the Council is the tasked with the following matters:

1) preparing and submitting proposals to the President of Ukraine regarding reforms to the judicial system and legal procedure, and developing implementation plans for that strategy;

2) contributing to the establishment of an effective mechanism of cooperation among state authorities, civil society, and international organizations on the issues of preparation and implementation of the proposed strategy for reforming the judicial system and legal procedure;

3) preparing proposals regarding the development of legislation in the sphere of judicial system and legal procedure, as well as the considering and evaluating proposals and initiatives by state authorities, civil society, and international organizations on the matters mentioned above;

4) monitoring the implementation and analyzing the effectiveness of Ukraine’s strategy for reforming the judicial system and legal procedure;

5) informing the public and the international community on the development and implementation of the proposed strategy for reforming the judicial system and legal procedure.

The Council for Judicial Reform will work as a consultative-and-advising body reporting to the President of Ukraine.

East Legal Team EEIG (European Economic Interest Grouping), an alliance of independent law firms from the Central and Eastern Europe, has moved its seat from Budapest to Bucharest.

As Tamas Balazs, Partner of Balazs & Kovatsis Legal Partnership — a Hungarian law firm — was the alliance’s elected President for the first few years, the seat of ELT was in Budapest from 2008-2014. But as the current President is based in Bucharest — Cosmin Mocanu, Partner of the Romanian law firm Stratula Mocanu & Asociatii, was elected ELT President in November, 2011 — the move to Romania was perhaps inevitable.

The alliance was founded in March 2008 and it is subject to the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/85 of 25 July 1985 on the European Economic Interest Grouping. The main purpose of East Legal Team is, according to the organization’s press release, to “provide a wealth of legal advantages arising from the ability to provide unified services at regional level.”

The alliance has six member law firms: PP&Z Law Firm (Bulgaria), Antonakis Soteriou & Associates (Cyprus), Balazs & Kovatsis Legal Partnership (Hungary), Mikulski & Partners (Poland), Stratula Mocanu & Asociatii (Romania), Petek Law Office (Slovenia). Also, ELT has one associate member, Petsch Frosch Klein Arturo Rechtsanwalte, with offices in Austria and Italy. East Legal Team is planning to enlarge its membership starting in 2015.

Gessel has provided comprehensive legal support for the purchase by Reinwest Niestandaryzowany Sekurytyzacyjny Fundusz Inwestycyjny Zamkniety of bank receivables held by Pekao and Raiffeisen Bank Polska vis a vis companies of the Fugo group, along with security.

The actual purchase of the receivables was preceded by a transaction with TDJ, an investment firm active in various sectors of the economy for more than 30 years and majority shareholder in Famur, geared at providing Reinwest with the funds for the receivables purchase and at structuring the relationship of the parties regarding, among other issues, a transfer by Reinwest onto TDJ of the receivables purchased from the bank consortium and sale by Reinwest of a majority stake in Fugo. The transaction also included the take-over by the Reinwest fund of shares in Fugo which had been the object of a pledge, followed by transfer of these shares onto TDJ, with the result that TDJ took over complete control over the Fugo equity group.

The GESSEL team responsible for this transaction was led by Managing Associate Malgorzata Badowska and Trainee Advocate Karol Sokol.

Image source: Mirco Vacca / Shutterstock.com

Ilyashev & Partners has reported that the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeals of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Industrial Policy and upheld the September 4, 2014 ruling of the Kyiv District Administrative Court recognizing Dmytro Kiva as the sole legitimate head of the Ukrainian-owned Antonov aircraft company. Ilyashev & Partners represented Kiva.

The dispute involves the effectiveness of the May and July orders by the Ukrainian Ministry of Industrial Policy that Kiva be dismissed from the office of the President of Antonov and that Serhii Merenkov be installed as the acting President, as they came after the March 23, 2014, decision by the Ukrainian Government to combine the Ministry with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. Kiva claimed that the Ministry had been “liquidated”, and thus had no power to order him removed and replaced, while Merenkov claimed that the Ministry’s combination with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade did not in any way affect the legitimacy of its orders. According to a statement released by Ilyashev & Partners, on August 1 and again on September 3 of this year, the team of Antonov did not allow Merenkov (along with individuals the firm describes as “thugs for hire”) onto its premises. 

Ilyashev & Partners reports that “according to the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine, after the court of appeal approves its decision, the ruling becomes final and its further appeal is not allowed. Accordingly, at present the matter with the head of SE Antonov has been resolved completely.” 

Asters is supporting the team representing Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University, Institute of International Relations, in the “new season” of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, which the firm describes as “the most prestigious and the largest international contest for law students.”

Asters’ Associate Anna Tkachova is one of the team’s coaches. Last year the team Tkachova led won the Ukrainian National Round of the competition, and Tkachova herself was ranked second in the overall National Round Best Oralist selection. At the international rounds, the team also received the Alona E. Evans Award, as the team’s combined arguments (for the Applicant and the Respondent) were ranked among the top ten from from all teams around the world.

Asters Managing Partner Oleksiy Didkovskiy explained that projects like the moot court competition reflect the firm’s sense of social responsibility: “One of the main aspects of social responsibility for Asters partners is the education and training of young lawyers, as well as sharing their experience within the firm. Our goal is to provide maximum support to present and potential colleagues in their aspiration for self-development and establishment as experts and followers of the law. Even in this time of political and social turmoil that our country has faced, we are investing a lot of efforts and resources to support many projects including participation of our students in international competitions.”

Aleinikov & Partners has advised MAPS.ME on its full takeover by Mail.Ru Group. MAPS.ME is a Belarusian maker of map apps and other navigation services based on OpenStreetMap data and with the ability to work offline.

According to a statement released by the firm, “the purchase lets Mail.Ru better compete with Google Inc. and Russia’s Yandex, which have had their own map services for years.”

“Adding the MAPS.ME team to work together on our global expansion was a strategic move,” said Dmitry Grishin, Co-Founder and CEO of Mail.Ru Group. “Mail.Ru Group is a natural fit for MAPS.ME. They completely share our vision of open data and its role in the development of innovative technology,” said Yury Melnichek, Co-Founder and CEO of MAPS.ME. 

The Aleinikov & Partners team was led by Partner Dmitry Matveyev. 

Serbia’s BDK law firm has launched a Life Sciences and Healthcare practice group, which the firm claims will “synergize” its “existing capacity in regulatory work, corporate, finance, competition, data protection, IP, product liability and litigation.”

BDK also claims the newly-dedicated group will build on its “existing credentials with multinational pharmaceutical companies, pharma wholesalers, clinics and hospitals.”

The life sciences prong of the practice will be led by Bogdan Ivanisevic, with Partner Vladimir Dasic in charge of the healthcare section.  

Tijana Kojovic, BDK’s Managing Partner, said that: “By setting up a dedicated Life Sciences and Healthcare practice, we continue with the trend of creating industry-focused, multidisciplinary teams within our firm, for the benefit of our clients who require ever more specialized advice.”