Ukraine’s transport and infrastructure system plays a key role in the country’s economy, particularly with its role in export and trade in the agricultural, industrial, and other sectors. Ukraine is conveniently located on different transport routes. However, it does not fully capitalize on its geographical benefits and does not fulfill its potential as a transit country, as it is not yet well-integrated in international transport networks, lacks modern infrastructure, and has limited market opportunities in certain segments (for example, railway services).

For nearly 20 years, private land owners, agricultural producers, and investors have been waiting for Ukraine’s government to cancel the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land in the country.

On December 15, 2020 CEELM gathered legal experts from across the region for its annual Year-in-Review Round Table conversation. In a wide-ranging discussion, participants shared opinions and perspectives on their markets, on strong (and less-strong) practices across the region, and the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on both, as well as on how technology is changing the legal industry, and what the industry will look like in 2021.

Good corporate governance contributes significantly to increasing company value and strengthening the confidence of investors. It has been promoted in Ukraine, as across the world, in the past few decades, and in March 2020, the Core Code of Corporate Governance, which was based on the work of over 50 Ukrainian and international experts, was adopted by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine (NSSMC).

January is a perfect time to look back and plan for the future. To reconsider our accomplishments and learn our lessons. To think what could have been done better, more efficiently, or just in a different way. To set our expectations, make commitments, and dream big.

On April 28, 2020, Ukraine’s “On Prevention and Counteraction the Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Financing Terrorism and Financing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction” Law (the “AML Law”), which replicates the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force and implements provisions of 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive ((EU) 2015/849), came into force.

Since the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, the peninsula in the Black Sea has been a minefield of conflicting international claims and interests, putting lawyers trying to work there, boxed in by the threat of sanctions from the West and counterveiling pressure from Moscow, in an untenable position.

On July 28, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Olena Kuchynska had been appointed the new Managing Partner of the Kinstellar’s Kyiv office. After a few months of settling in, we spoke with Olena to learn more about the team she’s been appointed to lead and her plans for the future. 

In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time: “What one ongoing pro bono initiative or project or charity/volunteering project that your firm is involved with has the most meaning for you personally, and why?”

Over the course of our seven years, CEE Legal Matters has interviewed most of the British lawyers working on the ground in Central and Eastern Europe as part of our recurring “Expat on the Market” feature. We reached out to them recently and asked them to bring us up to speed on what they’re doing and/or share their thoughts on the ramifications of Brexit or the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

On January 16, 2020, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law launching anti-BEPS tax reform in Ukraine, among other legislative changes (the “2020 Tax Law”). The business community expressed opposition to most of its provisions.

In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: ”What is your single most favorite client matter in your career?”

In recent years, international and local investors have been extremely active in the Ukrainian renewables sector – particularly in solar and wind projects – resulting in a significant amount of project finance and M&A activity in this sector.

The restrictions that have been implemented by most governments to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic have affected various sectors of the economy and changed the way most businesses operate.

In 2009, deep in the throes of the global financial crisis, Mykola Stetsenko, a partner at Baker & McKenzie in Kyiv, stepped away from that secure position to start his own law firm. His ambitious move paid off, and now, eleven years later, the firm he launched – Avellum – is among the most successful and highly regarded in Ukraine.

2019 was an outstanding year for Ukrainian gas sector, as the country managed to complete the most critical parts of the unbundling of the gas transmission system in a timely manner. The year was also remarkable because, in twelve months, we saw three different unbundling models proposed by the Government, forcing the participants of the unbundling process and the key stakeholders to quickly adapt to the new rules and scenarios. For most of the year the country planned to implement an ownership unbundling model. However, in September 2019, before the third round of trilateral Ukraine-Russia-EU talks on gas transit, the unbundling plan took a U-turn, when the newly appointed Ukrainian Government, in its Resolution 840 (the “New Unbundling Resolution”), decided to switch to the independent system operator (ISO) model.

Under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement of June 27, 2014, Ukraine undertook to harmonize its legislation with EU law by 2023, including the regulatory framework for IP. Subsequently, in February 2020, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted a long-awaited set of draft IP protection laws (the “Draft Laws”), which are likely to have a significant impact on companies doing business in Ukraine, as well as on the measures which may be taken by businesses in connection with IP commercialization.

Since 2008 joint stock companies in Ukraine have functioned under a special corporate governance law (the “JSC Law”), which has improved through the course of its existence. Year after year, with the help of the SEC and the business community, Ukrainian legislators have introduced profound amendments to the law to bring corporate governance in JSCs in Ukraine closer to European standards, to attract foreign investments, and to insure adequate protection of rights of various stakeholders (minority shareholders, creditors, etc.) As a result, Ukraine has moved up in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking, and in 2020 the country ranks 64th in the ease of doing business and 45th in the minority shareholders protection component.