The Legal 500

Magisters merged with Russian firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners in 2011 and thus strengthened the practice regionally. The team provides ‘good legal, financial, corporate and tax advice’, and ‘always looks after the interest of the client’. Clients include BNP Paribas, Eurasian Development Bank and some of the largest Belarusian state-owned energy companies. Dennis Turovets and Anna Rusetskaya are highly recommended.

Maksim Salahub leads Sorainen’s expanding Minsk office, which has added one associate and one specialist counsel to its ranks and is ‘a good player with experience in cross-border transactions, and great with foreign investors’. Aleksey Anischenko is ‘brilliant in commercial law and litigation’, including international arbitration. Clients include International Finance 
Corporation, which the team advised on a €22m loan, and Baltic Beverages, a member of Carlsberg Group.

‘Good and strong’ Stepanovski, Papakul and Partners now has the largest team in Belarus, with five partners and 18 associates. Clients include British American Tobacco and Xerox. Managing partner Valery Papakul has a leading corporate practice and Alexander Stepanovski is outstanding in disputes. The firm has entered an alliance with Salans.

Vlasova Mikhel & Partners Law Firm is ‘wonderful – one of the best’. Recent highlights include advising on a RUB7bn bond issue, and acting on the largest ever syndicated loan facility to a local borrower. The ‘experienced and highly qualified’ Konstantin Mikhel and head of mediation Liliya Vlasova lead the firm.

Law Group ‘Argument’’s team has ‘profound understanding of legal issues’ and expertise in complex international banking and finance matters. Clients include Chinese import/export company CMEC, Heineken, and McDonald’s. Recommended individuals include Dmitry Matveyev, who is ‘extremely responsive and has wonderful vision’; Denis Alenikov, who is ‘very creative, with perfect knowledge of public law’; and Dmitry Smirnov.

Borovtsov & Salei has ‘a long history of work on premium projects’, and recently advised AXA on purchasing a stake in a local insurer, and a foreign investor in a $100m shopping mall development. Managing partner Vassili Salei is renowned for his corporate and capital markets work, and Alexander Botian is the outstanding dispute resolution partner.

Businessconsult Law Firm provides ‘high-quality, prompt, practical, tailored and professional legal advice’. The firm advised Onexim on developing Russia’s first hybrid car and handled a $2m dispute for Belarusian-Japanese company Solar TII. Clients recommend Dmitry Bokhan for his ‘excellent business acumen and Igor Verkhovodko for ‘intelligent and clear advice’, as well as ‘highly skilled trial attorney’ Timour Sysouev.

Sergei Makarchuk’s ‘great expertise and very short response times’ set the tone at Austrian firm CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati, which is ‘very quick, with an open approach and flexibility in finding solutions’. The firm works closely with its Vienna office to advise clients such as Deutsche Bank and American Express.

Sergey Mashonsky leads Arzinger & Partners’ practice, which has been keeping busy with investment, M&A and real estate transactions for foreign clients. Clients include Israeli investment house Fishman Group and Polish construction firm UNIBEP.

A popular choice with German-speaking clients, Alexander Liessem’s team at bnt legal & tax is ‘very dedicated to its work and familiar with international business transactions’. It draws on an extensive integrated office network across the CEE to advise clients such as Fresenius Medical Care and Bionorica.

Vladimir Nemov’s team at Dicsa represented Italy’s Volpi Concerie in a non-payment claim, and advised the UK’s ARG Business on taxation and administrative law.

Andrei Chumakov’s ‘very responsive and knowledgeable’ team at Ernst & Young provides outstanding corporate and tax advice to clients such as Microsoft Software Bel LLC and British American Tobacco. Vasili Babariko is also recommended.

Glimstedt Law Firm ‘mixes Western legal practice and deep knowledge of the Belarusian legal environment’. Vitaly Kachelya and Darya Zhuk provide ‘comprehensive business-oriented advice’ to clients such as the EBRD and VMG Industry.

IPM Consult centr prava’s Elena Telesh and Anton Bogatko advise clients such as Naftan and Horizont-Midea on corporate matters and disputes.

Managing partners Dmitry Arkhipenko (‘a great problem solver – helpful and reliable’) and Paul Tsarev lead a practice at Revera Consulting Group that delivers ‘a high level of service from skilful and experienced specialists’. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Czech technology company MEGA, and Russian wireless network provider Scartel.