On November 2, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Hillmont Partners had successfully defended the interests of Delta Wilmar Ukraine in a dispute with the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine. CEEIHM spoke with Anna Lazurenko, Chief Legal Officer at Delta Wilmar, to learn more about the dispute.

Asters has advised Withine Investments LTD, a subsidiary of Ukrainian industrial and investment group Smart Holding, on the sale of JSC Unex Bank to Dragon Capital Investments Limited and Ivan Svitek.

Moris has successfully represented Green Team LLC, a vegetable storage facility, in a dispute that reached the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

A new Law “On State Support of Investment Projects with Significant Investments” was adopted. The Law provides for a state agency to be entrusted with the intensive supervision of particularly large investment projects in Ukraine. Earlier in 2020 President Zelenskiy somewhat mockingly referred to this agency as “investment nanny”. However, this is only a small part of the investment promotion.

For some years now, tensions in international trade relations have become more apparent. The pandemic has also created new challenges for companies in their international supply chains. More and more companies are working to make their supply chains more robust. One way of doing this is to bring production closer to their own market, also geographically. The “Made in Europe” label is also already a positive feature among consumers, even though consumers are now looking to regional or even local production, especially for food. And even if consumers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for regional or local production, there are “pain thresholds” here too. Not every product is suitable for regional production. Especially in the area of labour-intensive production and low automation, Ukraine is in the spotlight as a production location.

The PSA law, despite its comparatively rare usage, complies with the best industry practices and provides the parties with enough instruments to ensure, that the signed PSA will suit their needs. At the same time, the PSA industry receives less attention from the State and, therefore, is less successful in Ukraine, especially comparing to the recent concession reform, which drew an unprecedented amount of foreign investments into Ukrainian seaport infrastructure.

Over the course of our seven years, CEE Legal Matters has interviewed most of the British lawyers working on the ground in Central and Eastern Europe as part of our recurring “Expat on the Market” feature. We reached out to them recently and asked them to bring us up to speed on what they’re doing and/or share their thoughts on the ramifications of Brexit or the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Avellum has advised Ukreximbank, the state export-import bank of Ukraine, and Goldman Sachs International as dealer manager, on a USD 316 million cash tender offer. 

Aequo has successfully defended the intellectual property rights of Darnitsa Pharmaceutical company to the Citramon trademark in Ukraine.

Valeriya Savchuk has made partner at Vasil Kisil & Partners in Ukraine.

Sayenko Kharenko has advised the EBRD on a EUR 25 million financing to OTP Leasing to support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine.

Aequo has advised the EBRD on a USD 10 million loan to agribusiness operator Astarta.

Doubinsky & Osharova has successfully represented the interests of Jack Daniel’s in a cassation appeal made by Strongdrink LLC to the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

Denys Shkarovsky has made Partner at VB Partners in Kyiv.

Sayenko Kharenko and Latham & Watkins have advised joint lead managers Credit Agricole, J.P. Morgan, and Natixis on the USD 300 million 7-year 6.75 percent Eurobond issue by Kernel. The issuance was coupled with a tender offer to the holders of Kernel’s existing USD 500 million 5-year 8.75 percent Eurobond due in 2022. Avellum advised Kernel on Ukrainian aspects of the issuance, with Linklaters reportedly advising on matters of English and US law, Arendt & Medernach on Luxembourg law, and Borel & Barbey on Swiss law. 

Acting on behalf of Ukraine's Three Bears ice cream company, Doubinsky & Osharova has persuaded Ukraine's Northern Commercial Court of Appeal to uphold the decision of the Commercial Court of Kyiv that the designation “KASHTAN” had become commonly used and thus qualified as "generic."

Aequo has advised Onit on the acquisition of Axdraft, a Y Combinator-backed document automation company.

SDM Partners has successfully represented the interests of Wrigley Ukraine, part of the Mars Group, in a tax dispute valued at UAH 28 million.