The Legal 500

Baker & McKenzie – CIS, Limited adds value through its ‘prompt responses to queries, good business acumen and industry knowledge, appropriateness of advice, compliance with the best practices in business ethics, unity of team and competitive prices’. The firm is currently acting for CJSC Optogan in the purchase of 100% of the shares of Elcoteq. Head of the corporate and M&A practice Maxim Kalinin is, ‘without a doubt, its best lawyer’. He is ‘very knowledgeable, and can think quickly and advise when we are in the middle of negotiations’. Another star performer, Igor Gorchakov, is ‘very client orientated’.

DLA Piper ‘always delivers accurate information and valuable advice with amazing speed’. In addition, ‘it knows the business environment of St Petersburg and the North-West region very well’. Recently, the firm acted for the shareholders of Nevskie Syry Group in planning and implementing a complex restructuring of the group aimed at establishing a transparent and effective holding structure. Other clients include Cadbury, Gazprom, Marriott, Maersk, and TNK-BP. The head of corporate in St Petersburg Denis Sosedkin is ‘exceptionally good’. St Petersburg managing partner Olga Litvinova is also recommended.

Chadbourne & Parke LLP has a strong reputation for corporate work in St Petersburg as well as Moscow. The firm provides ‘non-typical solutions if problems come up’, and recently advised Torex Creative Finance on post-completion matters related to the sale of one of the leading Russian ice-cream producers. Office managing partner Konstantin Osipov has ‘knowledge of both English and Russian law which is very useful’.

At Mannheimer Swartling, ‘the overall level of service is very high with a rigorous mode of response in a very service-minded way’. The firm takes a ‘holistic view of things’. Clients include Quadriga Capital Russia, Avanta Group, Raisio and Avaya. Andrei Gusev ‘is always available and has got a unique way of grasping the essence of customer challenges fast and he then adapts his advice accordingly’. In 2010, both Åsa Hansdotter and Evgenia Teterevkova were made up.

Salans’ lawyers ‘are really very dedicated professionals’. Glenn Kolleeny and his team advised Ciments Francais on the proposed sale of its assets in Turkey for €600m in cash and shares to Sibirskiy Cement. The deal did not close and Salans continues to represent Ciments Francais with matters relating to Sibirsky Cement. Artem Zhavoronkov is highly regarded.

Natalia Wilke’s corporate team at Beiten Burkhardt recently advised on the concession agreement for the reconstruction and operation of the St Petersburg airport. The firm also assisted AVA-Peter OOO on merging two companies in St Petersburg.

At Capital Legal Services, Vladislav Zabrodin is the managing partner, heading up both the firm’s St Petersburg and Moscow offices. He has extensive experience in advising on corporate law and M&A. The firm assists clients with investments and business projects in Russia and the CIS.

Castrén & Snellman St Petersburg recently advised Atria Oyj in an acquisition where the company acquired a 26 % stake in OOO Dan-Invest. The total value of the project is €40m. Practice head Heidi Paalanen-Koev and Sergei Lee (who was elected a local partner in February 2010) are highly respected practitioners in the market.

Duvernoix Legal in association with SNR Denton is ‘a customer-focused law firm with good business and industry-specific knowledge’. Following the departure of Dmitry Ivanov, Mikhail Pustovalov heads the corporate practice group while Vadim Maksimov is M&A head. Igor Guschev is also recommended.

Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners has been advising Johnson Controls International, providing ongoing complex corporate support of its business in Russia including the preparation of constituent documents, corporate approvals and appointments and registrations. Elena Sokolova leads the team.

Hannes Snellman LLC takes ‘a pragmatic approach’. Clients attest that, ‘these people know our companies and practices and they are easily available’. The corporate group recently advised Aurinkomatkat – Suntours on the acquisition of the majority of shares in Calypso-World of Travels, Calypso-Gala and Calypso-Media. In St Petersburg, office managing partner Victoria Goldman and real estate specialist Yury Pugach are recommended.

At Pepeliaev Group, Sergey Spasennov is head of the St Petersburg office, while Andrey Pekhovsky leads the corporate practice. The firm recently advised the Investment Fund of Kazakhstan on the implementation of its investment project – a large manufacturing facility in Leningrad Oblast.

Evgeny Gouk leads the St Petersburg team at PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices BV. The firm recently provided legal advice to Mazda on corporate governance issues. Other clients include Heineken, Octapharma, Russian Standard and LG Electronics Rus. Daria Matveeva is also recommended.