CEE Legal Matters In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets 
According to the CEE Legal Matters CEE By The Numbers report, between 2019 and 2021, Ukraine saw a large decrease in the number of ranked law firms and lawyers at ranked firms. While in 2019 the number of Ukrainian law firms ranked by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 was 95, in 2021 the same number decreased to 69. Similarly, the number of ranked-firm lawyers decreased from 1,579 in 2019 to 1,338 in 2021. The decreasing trend is particularly visible in comparison to other CEE countries.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners, working with Kromann Reumert, has advised A4 Agri and S.A. Christensen & Co on the sale of shares of SAC’s Russian subsidiary to American dairy manufacturer BouMatic.
On July 9, 2021, substantial amendments to Belarusian currency legislation entered into force. We will briefly review the key amendments.
Andrey Bastrakov and Alexander Mandzhiev have been promoted to Partner at Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners.
Allen & Overy has advised Veon and VimpelCom on their RUB 70.65 billion sale of mobile network towers in Russia to Service-Telecom. Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners supported Service-Telecom in obtaining FAS clearance for the transaction, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer reportedly advised Service-Telecom on the deal.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has provided legal support to Germany's HTS Tentiq on contractual and currency control issues in Russia.
Radovanovic Stojanovic & Partners and Cerha Hempel have advised AIK Banka, Gorenjska Banka, and Agri Europe Cyprus on their acquisition of Sberbank Europe’s shares in six CEE banks. Noerr advised the buyers on Hungarian law, while Maric & Co, Zuric and Partners, Tos & Partners, and Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners reportedly advised the buyers on Bosnian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Russian matters, respectively.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has successfully represented LabQuestTechnology in a joint-venture-related corporate dispute.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has successfully represented global pharmaceutical corporation Novartis before the FAS in an unfair competition dispute with a Nativa distributor.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, working with Uzbekistan-based co-counsel Kosta Legal, has advised Sberbank on its sale of 84.2% of the shares in JSC Akhangarancement. Legate and, reportedly, EPAM advised the unidentified buyer.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has advised the US-based tool manufacturer Milltronics Manufacturing Company on its entrance into a distribution agreement with an undisclosed Russian counterparty.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has successfully represented insurance company Rosgosstrakh in a case in which Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service considered an agreement between the company and another undisclosed insurance company as anti-competitive.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has advised US-based chemical corporation 3M on Russian legal aspects of personal data processing and website cookies.
Pavel Sadovsky, Head of the IP/TMT practice in the Moscow office of Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has been promoted to Partner.
EPAM has announced it is launching a new Natural Resources practice, to be headed by returning Partner Mikhail Kazantsev, the former Rosgeologia Deputy Director General and Head of Legal (as reported by CEE In-House Matters on June 25, 2021).
Former Deputy Director of the Department of International Law of Russia’s Ministry of Justice Olga Tsvetkova has returned to Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners as Co-Head of the firm’s International Arbitration group.
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has advised PPG Industries on Russian legal aspects of its tender offer for the shares of Finnish paint manufacturer Tikkurila.
Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners is representing a coalition of Avito, IVI, CIAN, Profi.ru, Tutu.ru, Drom.ru, 2GIS, and Zoon in a abuse-of-dominant-position case against Yandex initiated by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia.
Founded in 1993, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners is the leading full-service law firm in the CIS with offices in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and associated offices in the UK, the USA and Cyprus.
We handle some of the largest and most complex and demanding transactions. We advise our clients in many areas of law, including: dispute resolution in Russia and abroad, International Arbitration and Litigation, M&A and Corporate, antitrust issues, criminal law, intellectual property, restructurings and insolvencies, international trade and customs, tax, real estate and construction, banking and finance, energy and natural resources, environmental and technical regulation, marine and transport law, pharmaceuticals and healthcare and others.
We combine high academic qualifications, internationally acknowledged moral and ethical values, senior partners' professional experience and practical abilities with the vigour and knowledge of younger attorneys, providing clients with reliable, first-class service according to both Russian and western standards through a flexible structure.
All News about, and Legal Analysis by, Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners can be found here.
Firm's website: www.epam.ru