The capital markets in Ukraine have been a sleeping topic until recently. On June 19, 2020, the Ukrainian Parliament has restated the Law of Ukraine on Capital Markets and Organized Commodity Markets (Law). The restated Law became effective in July 2021, introducing a whole new framework for the issue of securities in Ukraine. It implements the most important EU capital markets regulations, including MiFID II, MiFIR, and CRD IV.

Oleksandr Markov, Head of Tax and Tax Litigation practice at Redcliffe Partners, has been promoted to Partner at the firm.

Comprehensive legislative overhaul, thriving business sectors, and new opportunities for foreign investors – these are the hot topics in Ukraine right now, according to Integrites Partner Illya Tkachuk.

Head of Avellum's Competition practice Mykyta Nota has been promoted to Partner, as of January 1, 2022.

Valentyn Zasukha has joined Hillmont Partners as Partner and Head of Corporate and M&A Practice.

Yan Voinikanis-Myrskyi has joined Eterna Law as Partner and will head criminal law and public procurement practices.

On 11 August 2021, the President of Ukraine signed Law of Ukraine “On Stimulating the Development of the Digital Economy in Ukraine” No. 1667-IX (“Law”). Most of its provisions became effective on 14 August 2021, introducing Diia City, a special legal regime for IT companies, and bringing changes beyond the IT industry.

On October 20, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Kinstellar had advised 4i Capital Partners on its sale of Ukrainian online payment platform Portmone to Kazakhstan’s financial technology firm Kaspi.kz subsidiary Kaspi Pay. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Konstantin Vasiuk, Investment Manager at 4i Capital Partners, to learn more about the deal.

Former EY Partner and Law Leader for Ukraine Albert Sych has joined Redcliffe Partners.

Contributed by Arzinger.

As a rule, transactions with securities, including shares in joint stock companies, require the engagement of an investment firm, in particular a securities broker. At the same time, the Law of Ukraine “On Capital Markets and Organised Commodity Markets”, which entered into force on 1 July 2021, provides for several exceptions to this rule. Indeed, an investment firm engagement is not required for the transactions made outside of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Government has pledged to bring economic opportunities for foreign investors by digitalising the country and liberalising business laws. A big part of this promise comes with a new law “On Stimulating Development of Digital Economy in Ukraine” (“Law”). Most provisions of the Law came into force on 14 August 2021, but the Law will be operative in 2022 once all regulations are in place.

AVELLUM for the second time researched how the coronavirus outbreak affected the plans of businesses to purchase or sell assets or companies in Ukraine in the next 6 to 12 months. We surveyed over 90 owners, top managers, and heads of legal departments of Ukrainian and international companies in 2021.

Over the past year, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has been closely scrutinizing business structures involving corporate investment funds during the review of merger control notifications. In particular, the regulator is interested in relations of control among asset management companies, corporate investment funds, and their shareholders. Depending on the regulator’s position, the list of parties to a concentration can be significantly wider than one may probably realize.

Over the past year, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine has been closely scrutinizing business structures involving corporate investment funds during the review of merger control notifications. In particular, the regulator is interested in relations of control among asset management companies, corporate investment funds, and their shareholders. Depending on the regulator’s position, the list of parties to a concentration can be significantly wider than one may probably realize.

Poland and Ukraine – a distinct pairing some would say. The two European countries are close to one another – both geographically and historically – yet, while they share a lot of similarities, they remain quite distinct. Given the sheer size of these countries and economies, their relationship, and a growing amount of investor interest – going both ways – we took a deeper dive to explore what makes their relations tick. And what better way is there to understand the countries’ entangled relationship than to talk to someone with Marcin Wierzbicki’s profile? Born and raised in Poland, the Konieczny Wierzbicki Managing Partner has had the opportunity to spend quite some time in Ukraine and, as such, has a unique perspective on both countries and their respective markets.

Several notable decisions of Ukraine's Anti-Monopoly Committee, a bottleneck caused by a spike in the number of public procurement appeals, and the country's tax amnesty program are at the top of lawyers' agendas, according to Redcliffe Partners Partner Yuriy Terentyev.

A new draft personal data protection law, draft Law of Ukraine No. 5628 (“Draft 5628”), was introduced to the Ukrainian parliament on 7 June 2021. Draft 5628 replaces certain earlier draft laws on this subject and is currently the only draft legislation in the area of personal data protection.