2018 has been an enjoyable year for those wanting the Ukrainian legislator to improve the country’s corporate legal framework. Since limited liability companies (LLCs) and joint stock companies (JSCs) are the most frequent forms of business in Ukraine, improvement in this direction appears to be especially important. On June 17, 2018, the Law on Limited and Additional Liability Companies (the “LLC Law”) came into force, completely replacing the outdated regulation of LLCs. Moving to JSCs, the legislator adopted a law that amended several legal acts regulating these companies and the stock market in general (the “JSC Law”). Below we will outline these major changes in the Corporate Governance in Ukraine.

The main trend of 2017-2018 in Ukraine is the booming development of the renewable energy sector. The Ukrainian Government is also taking steps to increase domestic oil & gas production.

If one is an example, two is a coincidence, and three is a trend, the three major law firm mergers in Ukraine this past summer demand closer scrutiny.

On July 9, 2018, the CEE Legal Matters website reported the merger of the Avellum and A.G.A. Partners law firms in Ukraine. A month later, the website reported on a second merger, this time between Asters and EPAP, the Ukrainian office of Russia’s Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners. And in September the website reported on yet another merger, between Integrites and Pravochyn. To explore these significant changes in the market, on October 26, 2018, CEE Legal Matters sat down with a collection of prominent Ukrainian lawyers — including several from firms directly involved in the summer’s mergers — at the Kyiv office of DLA Piper.

While happiness is increasingly considered the proper measure of social progress, Ukraine occupies only 138th position among 156 nations included in the multi-index World Happiness Report 2018. The country has fought for its happiness since becoming independent in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. As part of this patient and hopeful nation, I continue to believe that happiness is coming soon, exactly as I did in that already-distant 1991, when there was almost no private business and almost no legal market in Ukraine.

On August 17, a gathering of Dispute Resolution experts from many of the leading domestic and international law firms in Ukraine gathered in Baker McKenzie’s Kyiv offices for a Round Table conversation. 

In 2016-2017 Ukrainian authorities introduced many important legislative changes in the energy sector in line with the country’s commitment to implementing the Third Energy Package as a member of the Energy Community and as a party to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. 

The main event of 2017 in Ukrainian dispute resolution (and maybe for all legal practices) is certainly the formation of a new Supreme Court.