An in-depth look at Roman Ivanov of Vernon David covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.
Career:
- Vernon David; Partner; 2009-present
- Lextal Law Offices; Associate; 2008-2009
- Victor Burac Individual Law office; Associate; 2008-2008
- Ministry of Justice of Moldova’s Foreclosure and Enforcement Department; Consultant, Legal Department; 2006-2008
Education:
- Moldova Academy for Public Administration; LL.M; 2007
- Moldova State University; LL.B; 2005
Favorites:
- Out-of-office activity: Jogging and traveling
- Quote: “No limits, but the sky” – Cervantes
- Book: Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky
- Movie: Green Book
Top 5 Projects:
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Advising on Victoriabank’s acquisition of BCR Chisinau – the Moldovan subsidiary of BCR Romania, an Erste Group bank. The deal which was closed in January 2024 represents a premier for the Moldovan banking market. For the first time in Moldovan history, one local financial institution acquired another local bank.
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Advising on the Moldovatransgaz and Vestmoldtransgaz lease agreement. The deal was closed in September 2024. By entering into this lease agreement, the entire natural gas pipeline network of the country was handed over for the use and management to an independent network operator, thus implementing a historical unbundling for Eastern Europe.
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Advising on EUR 150 million+ in trade commodity financings for Trans Oil Moldova’s operations. During the period of 2014 to 2018, we acted for a series of international lenders and investment funds to finance the business operations of the largest agri-businesses of Moldova, the Trans-Oil group of companies.
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Advising on the acquisition of Farmaprim by Amring Holding. In 2017, we assisted one of the world’s largest pharma holdings, Amring, on the acquisition of Moldovan pharmaceutical producer Farmaprim. The deal, implemented in a series of steps and finally closed in 2022, represented the only acquisition of a Moldovan pharmaceutical company in the country’s history.
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Advising on the acquisition of Sun Communications by Orange Moldova, the local subsidiary of Orange France. In 2016, we assisted Orange Moldova on the acquisition of the largest cable TV operator in Moldova, Sun Communications. With this deal, in addition to being one of the largest mobile phone operators, Orange Moldova became an important player in the cable TV market.
CEELM: What would you say was the most challenging project you ever worked on and why?
Ivanov: The lease agreement between Moldovatransgaz, as lessor, and Vestmoldtransgaz, as lessee. The subject matter of this lease agreement was the entire natural gas pipeline of the Republic of Moldova, while its execution was imposed by the provisions of Moldovan and European legislation, mainly the Third Energy Package.
The most challenging part of this project is exactly the fact that both parties “were forced” by the provisions of Moldovan law to enter into this agreement, i.e., there was no independent decision from either of the parties to execute it. Given this, the negotiations were extremely difficult, while in relation to certain essential terms and conditions, it was almost impossible to identify a consensus or a mutual decision.
In addition, considering the ownership structure of the parties and the underlying (geo-)political background of the deal, the negotiations were highly affected by the emotions and personal attitudes of the parties regarding the subject matter of the agreement. Even if the active phase of negotiations lasted only two weeks, including a series of breaks and back-and-forth exchanges of comments and various drafts of the documents, the issues above transformed negotiations into one of the most difficult projects in my entire career.
CEELM: And what was your main takeaway from it?
Ivanov: The conclusion below was not necessarily generated by this specific project, it was rather re-confirmed by it: A transactional lawyer is not only a highly-motivated practitioner having good knowledge of the law, but also a psychologist who should be ready to provide their client with mental support and assistance during the negotiations.
CEELM: What is one thing clients likely don’t know about you?
Ivanov: I am extremely hard on myself when it comes to the results of my work and my mistakes. My clients are used to meeting and talking to positive, smiling individual and don’t know the real feelings and emotions boiling inside of me.
CEELM: Name one mentor who played a big role in your career and how they impacted you.
Ivanov: It’s a former Partner and head of the Moldovan office of Vernon David, Diana Neagu. Diana is one of the most clever, fast, and experienced lawyers and individuals I met in my life. She managed to enable the best parts of my character, taught me business law, and guided me to understand the needs and expectations of clients. Being my direct supervisor, she was the one who reviewed my work, assessing progress, and making suggestions for improvement.
CEELM: Name one mentee you are particularly proud of.
Ivanov: It’s my colleague Adelina Braga, Associate at the Moldovan office of Vernon David. She joined the team in 2017 and since then her progress rocketed. Currently, Adelina (although she continues to disagree) is one of the best commercial lawyers, able to handle multiple and diversified projects. She is extremely attentive to details and able to read and understand client’s needs and expectations. At the same time, while working closer with me for a longer period, she also took over my weak points, such as, for instance being a “formatting freak.”
CEELM: What is the one piece of advice you’d give yourself fresh out of law school?
Ivanov: Be ready to fall, be ready to make mistakes, and be ready to stand up and move forward. There are no catch-22 situations as long as you believe in yourself and are ready to make sacrifices.
This article was originally published in Issue 11.5 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.
