On July 5, 2022, Avellum announced it was joining an international team of professionals from Allen & Overy, Morgan Lewis, and Norton Rose Fulbright to establish a legal education scholarship in the name of fallen Ukrainian hero, lawyer, and activist Roman Ratushnyi. CEE Legal Matters sat down with Avellum Partner Maksym Maksymenko to learn more about Roman and the team’s aims and hopes for the Roman Ratushnyi Scholarship.

With the war in Ukraine raging for more than six months, law firms across the region have reported increased workloads in corporate and M&A, tax, employment, immigration law, and inquiries on the sanctions regimes in relevant jurisdictions, noting that companies from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus are variously looking for a new home. Whether to avoid sanctions or escape the war, those companies consider a variety of factors in determining where to go.

With the war in Ukraine generating all sorts of issues for lawyers, Integrites Partner Illya Tkachuk also points to the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as well as the implications of legislative updates as being the key drivers of the firm’s Employment practice.

Ukraine remains at the forefront of crypto industry despite overall economic hardship caused by the unprovoked Russian military aggression. According to the recent 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index revealed by Chainalysis, Ukraine has the highest crypto adoption rate in Europe and ranks third globally.

Before February 24, 2022, Redcliffe Partners' busiest practice was corporate and M&A, however, the war changed it all, according to Founder and Partner Dmytro Fedoruk.

The number one priority for Ukrainian firms is to ensure the safety of their employees while dealing with dire economic conditions and making collective efforts to help those in need, according to Sayenko Kharenko Co-Founding Partner Vladimir Sayenko.

Asters, working with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, has successfully represented the interests of PrivatBank in two parallel arbitration proceedings before the London Court of International Arbitration regarding the enforcement of eurobonds issued in 2010 and 2013.

Under many tax treaties mirrored after the OECD Model Treaty, the 183-day period implicates a significant threshold: individuals temporarily present in the treaty-party country (the Host Country) may be taxed by that country on income for personal services performed there if the individual resides in the Host Country for over 183 days in a given tax year. This is called the 183-Day Rule.

Integrites has successfully represented Epiroc in a safeguard investigation in Ukraine regarding the company's imports of three-cone drill bits into the country.

Avellum has advised all parties involved in Roosh's acquisition of a minority stake in Neurons Lab.

On 2 September 2022, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) adopted a new slew of changes to the martial law restrictions introduced on 24 February 2022:

Everlegal has announced its cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council to implement an online legal support platform aimed at helping Ukrainians around the world.

The Parliament of Ukraine has adopted in its entirety draft law “On Joint Stock Companies” No. 2493, dated 25 November 2019 (“Draft Law”). The Draft Law is designated to align the regulation of joint stock companies (“JSC”) operation with EU corporate governance standards.

Avellum has advised the Managing Partners of the American University Kyiv on its launch in Ukraine.

On July 19, 2022, Law of Ukraine No. 2352-IX On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine, Governing Optimization of Labor Relations entered into full force and effect and amended the Code of Labor Laws of Ukraine (the Labor Code), the Laws of Ukraine On the Organization of Labor Relations under Martial Law, On Leaves, and others.

On July 19, 2022, Law of Ukraine No. 2352-IX On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine, Governing Optimization of Labor Relations entered into full force and effect and amended the Code of Labor Laws of Ukraine (the Labor Code), the Laws of Ukraine On the Organization of Labor Relations under Martial Law, On Leaves, and others.

Avellum, working with White & Case, has advised the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, National Power Company Ukrenergo, and the State Road Agency of Ukraine Ukravtodor on consent solicitations for extending external debts.

Historically, Ukraine has been known as a country with a good investment climate, particularly in the energy sector. The country’s high feed-in tariff rates, general digitalization, well-established and simplified regulatory procedures, and the availability of alternative suppliers for works and services, among other factors, have contributed to a large influx of investors in new green energy projects in Ukraine.