“It’s not that laws don’t exist – it’s the faith in the law, courts, and lawyers that is missing,” says Zoryana Sozanska-Matviychuk, Partner at Redcliffe Partners in Kiev. “What I hope we see from the new government is not any particular legislation; it is much better implementation. This will hopefully lead to more trust in the country’s legal system as a whole.”

Borovyk & Partners has advised Switzerland's Geberit Group, a European manufacturer of sanitary parts and related systems, on a squeeze-out of minority shareholders of Ukraine's PJSC Slavuta Plant Budfarfor.

Vadim Medvedev, Partner and Head of Tax at Avellum, has been appointed to lead the firm’s dispute resolution practice as well.

 Shhaukat Valitov, former in-house counsel at Mirax, has joined Eterna Law as partner in charge of the Uzbekistan markets.

Former Arzinger Partner and Head of Tax and Labor Law Pavel Khodadovsky has been appointed Deputy Minister of Finance by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Vasil Kisil & Partners has successfully represented Miniso Ukraine in a VAT dispute worth over UAH nine million.

Sayenko Kharenko has advised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on its loan of up to EUR 116 million to Kronospan UA, a manufacturer of wood-based panels.

“Our financial sector is the area that is developing the most rapidly,” says Aequo Partner Yulia Kyrpa of the situation in Ukraine, although she admits there are still challenges ahead.

As the country entered the 21st century, Ukraine’s Soviet-era judicial system was widely condemned as corrupt, incompetent, and inefficient. Committed to rectifying the situation, in 2015 the Ukrainian government introduced plans to reform the entire system. That transformation, which was the focus of an August 2017 CEE Legal Matters Round Table, continues today. We reached out to several of the Ukrainian dispute resolution specialists we spoke to several years ago for an update.

Ukraine’s international obligations regarding reform of the country’s electricity market are determined by the Treaty establishing the Energy Community and the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community, and their member states.

Ukraine continues to bring its legislation in line with EU legislation, fulfilling its obligations under the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine. One of the ways to improve the laws of Ukraine is to establish a relationship between the consumers, producers, and sellers of goods – especially of non-industrial use goods.

Halfway through 2019 Ukraine has already seen major changes in its energy sector’s legal framework, including the effect of the recent decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine involving the legal status and decision-making authority of the Ukrainian energy market regulator (the “Regulator”). The shockwaves are likely to go far beyond 2019.

Cross-border commercial disputes often raise a number of issues concerning the treatment of foreign litigants in domestic proceedings. A complete overhaul of Ukraine’s procedural rules back in 2017 included a number of specific rules for foreign litigants that they must consider, especially when they have no local presence or assets in Ukraine.

In February 2019 CEE Legal Matters reported that Integrites and K&L Gates had advised Norwegian utility-scale wind power developer NBT and Paris-based renewable energy independent power producer Total Eren on their entrance into a framework agreement with a syndicate of foreign lenders, including the EBRD and the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, for the construction of the Syvash wind farm – one of the largest in Europe. Redcliffe Partners and Clifford Chance advised the lenders and J.P. Morgan Securities Plc as debt coordinator.

In “The Corner Office” we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: What was the most difficult or unpleasant experience you had terminating someone’s employment?”

More and more companies in the TMT sector are looking at Ukraine as a potential market, in the process putting aside the negative image formed during the first decades after the country declared its independence in 1991.

Sayenko Kharenko's antitrust team has helped obtain merger clearance by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine for the Wabtech Corporation's global acquisition of GE’s Transportation business.

Oleh Beketov, Head of International Litigation at Eterna Law in Ukraine, has been appointed Senior Partner at the firm.