Hogan Lovells has advised coordinating mandated lead manager ING Bank N.V. and mandated lead arrangers Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, NATIXIS, SGBTCI, AO Raiffeisenbank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch International Designated Activity Company, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, Bank ICBC (JSC), UniCredit S.p.A., and Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Ireland Plc on a EUR 600 million revolving loan facility agreement with Russia-based steel producer NLMK.

White & Case has advised VTB Bank and a consortium of investors on the RUB 132 billion sale of a 55% stake in Tele2 Russia to Russia's Rostelecom, and on the acquisition of an approximately 29% stake in Rostelecom.

From 1 January 2021, foreign nationals will be able* to enter Russia with electronic visas at border control posts to be specified by the Russian government in a separate document.

Baker McKenzie has advised audio streaming service Spotify on its launch in 13 new markets — Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Ukraine — giving it a presence in 92 markets worldwide.

Amendments* to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation regarding severance pay will come into force on 13 August 2020.

Former Egorov, Puginski, Afanasiev & Partners Partner Tatyana Nozhkina has joined ZKS Attorneys.  

White & Case has advised the Moscow Exchange, Russia's largest securities exchange group, on its acquisition of a 17% stake in BierbaumPro AG and the right to acquire the rest from unidentified sellers.

On 20 July 2020, laws governing the activities of financial marketplaces came into force, namely, Federal Law* No. 211-FZ “On Concluding Financial Transactions Using a Financial Platform” dated 20 July 2020 and Federal Law* No. 212-FZ “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Concerning the Conclusion of Financial Transactions Using a Financial Platform” dated 20 July 2020 (the “Laws”).

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has helped the PSA Group obtain Russian antitrust clearance for its merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Ivanyan & Partners has represented the interests of the Russian Union of Railway Transport Operators and oil products transporter Transoil in antitrust proceedings against railway wheel manufacturer Vyksa Steel Works. 

The existing ban on the state procurement of foreign industrial goods has been generalised under a Russian Government Decree* which came into force on 1 May 2020.

Debevoise & Plimpton has advised the NLMK Group on a EUR 600 million revolving credit facility from a group of international banks, with an accordion option allowing the borrower to increase the funding limit up to EUR 1 billion. Hogan Lovells reportedly advised the banks on the deal.

Dentons has announced the appointment of three partners to European practice and sector leadership roles, with Anita Horvath to co-lead the Europe Energy group, Christopher Rose to lead the Global Private Services sector group within Europe, and Thomas Schubert to lead the Europe Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies group.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has advised the VIS Group on the refinancing of a public-private partnership project involving the construction of 12 social infrastructure facilities in Yakutsk through the placing of secured social bonds worth over RUB 5.6 billion. The refinancing was arranged by BKS, Otkritie Bank, DOM.RF Bank, and Sovcombank.

Dentons' Moscow-based Partner Timothy Stubbs was a member of the firm's multi-jurisdictional team advising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on the negotiation and execution of a 2002 ISDA Master Agreement for a swap transaction with the Central Bank of Azerbaijan worth a total of USD 200 million.

There are currently multiple initiatives regarding the increase in rates for taxes retained at source under double taxation treaties (“DTTs”) between the Russian Federation and some foreign jurisdictions. The Ministry of Finance confirmed that it favours such increases. At the same time, the Russian State Duma reportedly favours maintaining reduced tax rates in DTTs for intragroup payments in order to mitigate any eventual adverse tax consequences by these new tax measures for foreign investors.

CMS Moscow has successfully represented the interests of GE Healthcare in several court proceedings against the Russian healthcare regulatory authority Roszdravnadzor.

On 14 May 2020, the Russian Supreme Court issued a decision* in favour of a Russian taxpayer (the “Decision”), which contains detailed guidelines on how to assess the good-faith conduct of Russian taxpayers claiming VAT offset.