Belarus's Revera law firm has teamed up with Adamante Management to open the firm's Cyprus office.

On July 9, 2021, substantial amendments to Belarusian currency legislation entered into force. We will briefly review the key amendments.

Economic optimism in the face of adversity, the introduction of English law instruments, and some new potential for growth are the highlights in Belarus, according to Aleinikov & Partners Senior Partner Denis Aleinikov.

Sorainen has promoted nine new Partners in three different countries. Estonia's Kaido Kunnapas and Katlin Krisak, Lithuania's Simonas Skukauskas, Monika Malisauskaite-Vaupsiene, Evaldas Dudonis, Kazimieras Karpickis, and Indre Sceponiene, and Belarus' Ann Laevskaya and Kirill Laptev have all joined the Sorainen partnership at the beginning of 2022.

Substantial changes for advocates, the economic impact of sanctions, and Russian banks and investors becoming more active as a result are the three topics at the top of Belarusian lawyers’ agendas, according to SBH Law Offices Partner Alexander Bondar.

There are a lot of legislative updates coming out of Belarus according to Revera Managing Partner Dmitry Arkhipenko, who highlights those on tax liability, company law, labor law, data protection, currency control, and the legal profession itself.

Belarusian firm SBH Law Offices has opened a new office in Cyprus. The firm now offers its services in Belarus, Ukraine, and Cyprus.

With political issues and economic sanctions being an everyday norm, Belarus finds itself in a bit of a pickle, according to Borovtsov & Salei Partner Vassili Salei.

According to Konstantin Mikhel, Managing Partner at Vlasova Mikhel & Partners, sanctions-burdened Belarus is slowly preparing for the change of its constitution. In addition, Mikhel reports that two sets of "pertinent amendments" have been passed recently – one to Company Law and the other to Advocacy Law.

Last week, Illia Salei of Borovtsov & Salei announced that he "was forced to leave Belarus where [he stands] to be prosecuted under Article 361 of Belarusian Criminal Code for the alleged appeals to actions aimed at harming the national security." He added: "I consider the case to be politically motivated." CEE Legal Matters spoke to Salei to learn more about the matter.

According to Sergey Mashonsky, Senior Partner at Arzinger Law Offices in Belarus, his country is struggling to find economic balance amid the pandemic and the international sanctions. He reports that certain sectors, such as forestry, are doing well, while some others, such as the food packaging industry, have been negatively impacted in recent times.

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.

Belarus has never been in the news as often as in 2020, which might serve as evidence that the country is currently facing challenging times. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst and revealed problems in the still widely unreformed Belarusian economy, while the political crisis hit the country hard. With the economy slowing down, demand for commercial real estate has dropped, and investors have put most of their plans on hold and have been monitoring the situation carefully, awaiting further developments.

In 2018, Decree of the President of Belarus No. 8 “On Development of Digital Economy” entered into force, which, inter alia, legally recognized cryptocurrencies in Belarus. In this article we briefly summarize the main aspects of the Belarusian regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, along with significant risks and perspectives.

In 2015, the word Cobalt took on a new meaning in the legal markets of Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, when a new pan-Baltic law firm with that name opened its doors, immediately entrenched in the top tier of the region’s legal markets. That firm owes much of its success and reputation to the Managing Partner of its Lithuanian office and Chairman of the firm-wide Management Board, Irmantas Norkus.

Contributed by Arzinger

As part of comprehensive change in the Belarusian legal sphere, a new edition of the country’s “On Contradiction of Monopolistic Activity and Development of Competition” law (the “Competition Law”) entered into force on August 3, 2018. The Competition Law sets out new rules designed to ensure conditions for fair competition and to create new markets and enable their development apply to Belarusian and foreign companies doing business in Belarus.

Land relations can be a crucial issue for foreign investors considering whether or not to start a business in a particular country. Let us provide you with a summary of land legislation of Belarus and the opportunities it offers for business.