Sayenko Kharenko and Clifford Chance have advised Deutsche Bank on a EUR 349.3 million facility extended to Ukraine under a World Bank guarantee. Avellum and White & Case advised the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance on the deal.

Avellum has advised PrJSC Jacobs Douwe Egberts Ukraina on a minority squeeze-out procedure.

Ukraine has taken several important steps in recent months towards improving the country’s domestic dispute resolution mechanisms. One of those steps was the complete overhaul of the judicial system and the adoption of completely new procedural rules governing domestic litigation.

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.

Vadim Medvedev has been promoted to Partner at Avellum in Ukraine.

Sayenko Kharenko and Avellum have advised on the sale by the Naspers Group of a controlling interest in online marketplace operator EVO Group to Rozetka.

Avellum acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to Slobozhanska Budivelna Keramika in connection with the restructuring and refinancing of SBK’s debt, valued at approximately EUR 20 million. Wolf Theiss advised the EBRD, one of the lenders, on the matter.

Avellum acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to the EBRD in connection with a senior secured loan of up to EUR 1.3 million to the Kyiv Medical University.

Sayenko Kharenko has acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan Securities on Ukraine's USD 2 billion Eurobond issue. Avellum advised the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on the issue.

"Elections will definitely effect society," says Avellum Co-Managing Partner Aminat Suleymanova, referring to the upcoming Ukraine Presidential elections scheduled for March 31, 2019, and Parliamentary elections scheduled for October 27, 2019.

Currency regulations in Ukraine have always been among the most significant impediments to foreign investments and access of Ukrainian businesses to foreign markets. In 2014, substantial external imbalances, capital flight risks, and panic in the foreign exchange market prompted the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to adopt tight capital controls, a number of which remain in effect. Notwithstanding the alleged soundness of such temporary measures, both foreign investors and Ukrainian businesses have long called for clearer and more predictable currency regulations, as well as safeguards to protect their interests. In July 2018, Ukraine finally adopted the long-awaited “On Currency and Currency Transactions” law (the “Currency Law”) which is intended to replace the archaic currency control legislation. The effectiveness of the new legal framework, however, can only be assessed once the NBU lays out detailed rules in its regulations.

In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: Who was your mentor, and what was the most important lesson you learned from him or her?

Avellum has advised FMO (the Dutch development bank) and Diligent Capital Partners on their joint acquisition of a 16% equity stake in Allseeds SA and on the successful application for Competition Authority approval.  Hugh Owen, acting through Go2Law, advised FMO/DCP on matters of English law. Allen & Overy advised Allseeds on the deal.

Avellum has successfully represented a UK citizen in Ukraine's Supreme Court in a dispute regarding the return of a wrongfully retained child.

Asters has advised VR Capital Group on its acquisition of 50% of shares in PVK Energy Investments from ICU, an independent asset management, private equity, and investment advisory firm specializing in the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe. ICU was represented by Avellum.

Avellum has advised a private equity vehicle managed by ResponsAbility Investments AG on Ukrainian law matters related to its acquisition of a shareholding in Bank Lviv. On English law, ResponsAbility was counseled by Norton Rose Fulbright.

Representatives of more than sixty law firms from across Central and Eastern Europe and from as far away as the United States, United Kingdom, and China came together in Prague on June 6, 2018, for the first ever Dealer’s Choice international law firm conference and CEE Deal of the Year Awards Banquet.

Avellum has acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to the EBRD in connection with a senior secured loan of up to EUR 10 million, made with the option to increase the loan up to EUR 25 million, to Private Joint-Stock Company Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill.