According to Arzinger Managing Partner Timur Bondaryev, competition investigations, investment disputes, and white-collar crime matters have been keeping his team particularly busy these last few months. CEE Legal Matters sat down with him to learn more about the driving forces behind these areas in Ukraine.
M&A in Ukraine
Like the rest of the world, the Ukrainian M&A market was dramatically hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Indeed, the number of M&A deals decreased in 2020, for the first time since 2014. However, the fourth quarter of 2020 saw a positive surge in the number of M&A deals, and although most of those deals started before the pandemic, the fact that they still happened sent a clear signal: investors are ready to buy in the new reality.
Hard At Work: Ukraine’s Busy Legal Market
The Ukrainian legal services market has been buzzing with work in the first half of 2021. CEE Legal Matters hosted a round table conversation in which Partners at Asters, Avellum, Integrites, Kinstellar, and Sayenko Kharenko discussed the driving forces behind the workload and their outlook for the months to come.
Guest Editorial: Making It Work in Ukraine
The pandemic has been devastating for Ukraine, with underfunded health services struggling to contain COVID-19 contagion. Scenes of hospitals overwhelmed with patients and lacking staff, equipment, and medication will haunt us even as cases drop and vaccinations rise. It has been a traumatic time for our team at the Kyiv Dentons office. We have been working hard to support and guide each other towards the glimmer of light at the end of this long and, at times scary, tunnel.
Round Table: Examining the 2020 DOTYs
While the Dealer’s Choice Conference in London could not be organized this year in a safe manner due to current events, on July 20, 2021, CEE Legal Matters sat down with several of the event’s sponsors to take a closer look at the Deals of the Year award winners this year.
Ukraine to Improve Its Mining Laws
On 1 June 2021, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted at its first reading the draft law improving Ukrainian mining laws (No. 4187). The draft law is aimed at, among other things, attracting and simplifying investments by improving the current laws.
Deal 5: Elementum Energy Head of Legal Victoria Pysmenna on Acquisition and Construction of First Phase of Dnistrovska Wind Park
On May 17, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Asters had advised Elementum Energy Ltd. on the acquisition of a majority stake in the Dnistrovska wind park in the Odessa region of Ukraine. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Victoria Pysmenna, Head of Legal at Elementum Energy to learn more about the deal.
Deal 5: PressComm CEO and Co-Founder Denys Kukharenko on Copyright Profits Dispute
On June 1, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Vasil Kisil and Partners has successfully represented commercial audio content provider PressCom and its clients in a lawsuit brought against them by the Ukrainian League of Copyright and Related Rights for lost profits allegedly arising from their use of PressCom sourced music in their restaurants. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Denys Kukharenko Co-Founder and CEO of PressCom to learn more about the matter.
Deal Expanded: EY Law and Ministry of Infrastructure on 2020 DOTY for Ukraine
EY Law’s Bogdan Malniev Interviews the Head of the PPP Unit of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Taras Boichuk, on the 2020 Deal of the Year in Ukraine.
Anzhelika Livitska Appointed as Head of Asters' Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development Practice
Asters has appointed Counsel Anzhelika Livitska to head the Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development practice.
Deal 5: Vozdvyzhenka Street Committee Project Manager Tatiana Maksymenko on Dispute with Podol Grad Vintage Developer
On April 16, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that KPD Consulting had successfully represented the community of the Vozdvyzhenka neighborhood in Kyiv in a dispute with the developer of the Podol Grad Vintage residential complex. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Tatiana Maksymenko, Project Manager of Development of the Communal Reform at Vozdvyzhenka Street Committee, to learn more about the dispute.
The Buzz in Ukraine: An Interview with Maksym Maksymenko of Avellum
According to Avellum Partner Maksym Maksymenko, the key developments in the country’s economy revolve around infrastructure projects, agricultural land regime liberalization, and large-scale privatization of certain state-owned companies. Maksymenko also reports several updates in legislation, primarily in the areas of zoning and city planning, and capital markets.
Ukraine: Lawful Options for Promoting Rx Pharmaceuticals in the Ukrainian Market
The fundamental goal of each company is to increase sales. For this purpose, players that operate in the Ukrainian pharma market utilize a wide range of promotional activities. However, Ukrainian laws on health protection allow very few of them when it comes to prescription (or “Rx”) pharmaceuticals.
The Buzz in Ukraine: An Interview with Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova of Kinstellar
Despite the recent escalation of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine and its negative impact on business in the country, Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova, Counsel at Kinstellar, says that telecommunications and IT have been on the rise, and significant legal changes were introduced on tech incentives, foreign direct investment, capital markets, and agricultural land.
Ukraine to Introduce New Tax Framework for Gaming
On 15 July 2021, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted at its first reading the draft law introducing the new tax framework for the gaming industry (No. 2713-д). This is one of the key steps towards the full-fledged relaunch of Ukraine’s gaming market following its ban in 2009.
Ukraine Introduces Tax Amnesty
On 21 July 2021, Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Tax Code of Ukraine and Other Laws of Ukraine on Stimulating De-Shadowing of Income and Improving Tax Culture of Citizens by Introducing One-Time (Special) Voluntary Disclosure by Individuals of Their Assets and Payment to Budget of One-Time Duty” No. 1539-IX, dated 15 June 2021 (“Tax Amnesty Law”), entered into force.
ICC International Court of Arbitration Appoints Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka as Vice-President
CMS' Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka has been appointed as Vice-President of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Aside from Surdek-Janicka, 33 lawyers from CEE were appointed as members and alternate members of the court.
Agricultural Land Market is Opening up in Ukraine
For several decades, it was prohibited in Ukraine to alienate, or change the designated use of, certain types of the privately owned agricultural land plots used for the farming and commercial agricultural production, which impaired the rights of private landowners and affected the efficiency, liquidity and transparency of the market.