“The Ukrainian Government is concerned with resolving the issues that arose following the outbreak of the pandemic,” says Armen Khachaturyan, Senior Partner at Asters in Kyiv. “This has led to many specific measures being adopted as a response to the new challenges that suddenly appeared, like postponing the deadlines for certain obligations and expanding interest loans to businesses, all of which are well-expected and, hopefully, efficient.”

Love them or hate them, conferences are a fundamental part of the successful commercial lawyer’s calendar. But time is precious. Those calendars are full. It’s vital for conference organizers to get them right, and critical for lawyers to choose wisely in determining which events to attend and which to skip.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, most CEE/SEE countries have introduced provisions to close certain premises, while only some have banned the termination of leases in order to protect tenants who have lost revenues.

Ukrainian state authorities continue to generate new decisions for stabilization of economy of the country in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).

On 28 April 2020, the President signed the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Ukrainian Laws on Agricultural Lands Turnover” (“Law”). The Law lifts a long-lasting moratorium on private agricultural land sale, but it also introduces and leaves intact certain restrictions and limitations for the argicultural land market.

KPD has advised Werner Wirth on establishing a joint venture in Ukraine with an unnamed Ukrainian partner and on making a cross-border intra-group loan to the joint venture.

Sayenko Kharenko has advised the EBRD on its provision of a four-year loan of up to EUR 15 million equivalent to OTP Leasing.

The Kyiv office of Baker McKenzie assisted with drafting new regulations of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine for the issuance of UAH-denominated bonds by international financial institutions in Ukraine.

A little more than two years following its establishment, the Ukrainian Supreme Court is undergoing significant reform of its role in delivering justice. As distinct from the massive judicial reform back in 2017, which was launched by a single comprehensive law, the new overhaul of the Supreme Court is happening gradually.

Sayenko Kharenko has advised the EBRD on its provision of an up-to-EUR 7.5 million synthetic loan in Ukrainian currency to Bank Lviv under the EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line. The synthetic structure of the loan provides access to long-term UAH funds to eligible SME borrowers of Bank Lviv.

Businesses that lease premises in malls and can not operate there because of the quarantine have a very logical question: do they have to pay for lease?

Sayenko Kharenko Partners Sergey Pogrebnoy and Michael Kharenko have joined forces with Ukrainian businessmen Vyacheslav Lysenko and Yuri Krivosheya to create the “Dyhai” Charity Fund dedicated to providing financial assistance to Ukrainian hospitals, doctors, and scientists combatting the Covid-19 crisis in Ukraine.

Investigations Into Price Hikes and Other Responses by the Ukrainian Competition Authority to the COVID-19 Crisis

The Ukrainian Competition Authority investigates price hikes for face masks, health protection products and long-life foodstuffs amidst COVID-19 outbreak. Airline tickets, telecoms and misleading claims about fake coronavirus treatments are also in focus.

CMS Kyiv has helped Expert Petroleum, an international company specialized in mature oil and gas field operations optimization, on negotiations with UkrGasVydobuvannya, Ukraine’s state-owned natural gas production company, on Ukraine's first full-scale Production Enhancement Contract.

2019 was a very successful year for Ukrainian renewables industry attracting around €3.7 billion of investments (as reported by the State Agency on Energy Efficiency). However, the COVID-19 pandemic may have an adverse effect on this industry as well.

Six CEE-based lawyers — Agnieszka Skorupinska, Jakub Podkowa, and Jakub Wieczorek in Warsaw, Natalia Kushniruk in Kyiv, Roxana Fratila in Bucharest, and Artashes Oganov in Moscow — are among the 41 worldwide that CMS has promoted to the firm's partnership as part of its 2020 round.

The quarantine which followed the spread of the COVID-19 in Ukraine has fundamentally changed conditions for doing business in Ukraine. Some companies suspend their work, others reduce staff and/or employees' salaries to keep operations going in crisis times. To comply with Ukrainian law, it is important to formalise labour relationships correctly. What are the options for business in Ukraine during quarantine?

Contributed by Avellum.