Overview
Baker & McKenzie – CIS, Limited’s market-leading ten-lawyer office primarily focuses on the oil and gas industry, but is also active in areas such as finance. Recent highlights include representing Garadagh Cement on a €120m loan from the EBRD, which was the bank’s largest non-oil sector loan in Azerbaijan to date. The firm also represented Kolonsun on the financing and development of a 200-hectare multi-use development. Daniel Matthews heads the team, which includes Aykhan Asadov and Gunduz Karimov.
Praised for its ‘professional attitude’, MGB Law Offices Limited ‘always provides very prompt and efficient assistance with any issued directed to it’. The firm recently advised an international insurance company on its acquisition of a local insurer, which was the first such entry into the domestic market. The firm’s managing director Ismail Askerov has a very good reputation.
Omni Law Firm is considered by clients to be ‘the best in the local market when it comes to tailoring the realities of the local legal system with the needs of the client and the transaction. It is very client-focused and is excellent at prioritizing matters’. The three-partner firm includes Roman Alloyarov, who is ‘excellent when it comes to contract law’, Jeyhun Bayramov, who is a ‘premier expert on tax matters’, and Ismail Zargarli, who ‘stands out’ for his ‘insight’ in complex projects and real estate matters. Highlights included advising Marriott on two hotel and resort developments.
The ‘excellent’ team at Salans is highly rated by clients, who report that ‘response times are very good and the service is always professional with a good knowledge of local procedures and laws’. The ‘commercially focused, realistic and pragmatic’ managing partner James Hogan, who divides his time between Paris and Baku, ‘has useful experience and understanding of the regulatory climate in Azerbaijan’. The versatile 11-lawyer practice advises across a range of sectors and recently represented the French engineering company CNIM on the design, build and operation of a €346m waste-to-energy plant.
BHM Baku Law Centre has a joint venture with the Austrian law firm Lansky, Ganzger & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH. Anar Baghirov heads the firm; clients include Siemens, McCann Erickson and Azercell Telecom.
BM International is praised for its ‘dynamic, highly professional owners’, the ‘invaluable experience’ of its key personnel, and its ‘low turnover of staff’. It is ‘responsive and on top of the legal issues’, and ‘easy to work with as lawyers respect deadlines’. Clients praise the ‘very capable’ Farhad Mirzayev, while senior partner Jamal Baghirov is also highly recommended. Clients include BNP Paribas, ABN AMRO, Nestlé, Lukoil and Exxon Mobil.
Interjurservice Ltd offers a full service practice, and is particularly strong in corporate finance, dispute resolution and IP. Managing partner Ibrahim Zeynalov heads the five lawyer office.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Legal is a relative newcomer to the market, but is already making a name for itself. Farhad Hajizade ‘has excellent knowledge of Azeri legislation, extensive experience with corporate clients, and is perfect in English, Russian and Azeri’. Recent highlights include advising Korean National Oil Company on its acquisition of an interest in a Caspian Sea oil field.