Danilov & Partners has advised Qurrex on a token sale which was successfully completed on June 30, 2018.

DLA Piper has advised TMH Africa on the acquisition of a 45,000 square meter DCD Rolling Stock manufacturing facility in Boksburg, South Africa, from the DCD Group.

Orrick has advised the Russian Copper Company on its USD 200 million acquisition of the Malmyzh copper-gold porphyry field in the Russian Far East designated as of “federal importance" from Khabarovsk Minerals LLC. Norton Rose Fulbright reportedly advised the sellers on the deal, which was signed on June 9, 2018, and completed on September 28, 2018.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Russia) is representing Russian hydroelectricity company RusHydro in an international arbitration brought against the Kyrgyz Republic over the termination of the intergovernmental agreement dated September 20, 2012 for construction and operation of the Upper-Naryn hydroelectric power plants.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has advised the Globus chain of hypermarkets on the acquisition of property and real estate assets of Logorprom Medvedkovo in the north-east part of Moscow to build a new hypermarket.

CMS Russia has advised S8 Capital on the acquisition of a 100% shares in Price.ru, an on-line shopping service, from Rambler Group, a Russian media holding company.

Baker McKenzie has advised Invitro on the October 17, 2018 sale of its Ukrainian laboratory operations to Medicover.

KIAP's IP team, working pro bono, has helped the SUNFLOWER charity register its logo as a trademark in Russia's Rospatent office, giving the  foundation exclusive ownership of the trademark under Russian law.

Foreign sanctions are forcing international companies to carefully evaluate their contractual relationships with Russian counterparties. In this respect Russian competition law provides obstacles that may be difficult to over-come.

DLA Piper has advised RealtimeBoard on its USD 25 million series A financing round led by venture capital firm Accel. Cooley advised Accel on the deal.

BGP Litigation has advised PIK Group on the acquisition of an unfinished shopping center on a square near Paveletsky Railway in Moscow from BTA Bank. The total area of the unfinished center is 73,000 square meters.

The news that many of the legal markets in CEE impose stricter rules on law firm advertising and marketing than many of their Western counterparts comes as no surprise. Still, to explore this concept just a bit, for this issue, we asked law firm marketing and BD experts around CEE: “What, in your opinion, is the biggest difference between law firm marketing in your market and law firm marketing in London or New York?

Maxim Nikitin is the Chief Legal Officer of Atol Group in Russia. He started his career in law in 1998 at Debevoise & Plimpton. In 2001 he moved in-house before returning to private practice in 2011. In 2013 he moved back in-house as Chief Legal Officer with Virgin Connect, before moving to Atol in March of this year.

CMS Russia and DLA Piper have advised Dublin-based life sciences investor Ovoca Bio Plc on its acquisition of Russian drug development company Ivix.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has advised the SOGAZ group on its October 31, 2018 agreement to acquire 100% of VTB Insurance IC from the VTB Group.

White & Case has advised SIBUR, a leading Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company, on the tender offer related to the USD 500 million, 4.125% Guaranteed Notes due 2023 issued by SIBUR Securities DAC and unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by PJSC SIBUR Holding.

German lawyer Thomas Mundry has been living and working in Russia since 1994. He advises both Western and Russian clients on investment, financing, and other projects in the Russian Federation. His sphere of activity covers a wide range of industries, including automotive manufacturing and supply industry, oil and gas, chemicals, engineering, retail, food and consumer goods, the fashion industry, and IT.

The Deal: In September 2017, CEE Legal Matters reported that the Moscow offices of Clifford Chance and CMS had advised on USD 850 million pre-export financing provided by 11 international banks for Uralkali, one of the world’s largest potash producers. On July 27, 2018, CEE Legal Matters reported that the two firms had advised on another Uralkali financing, this time involving a USD 825 million facility provided by 14 Russian and international banks.We reached out to both firms for more information about this most recent deal.