The Legal 500

Anton Konnov’s team at Allen & Overy Legal Services continues to advise Transproject on project documentation for the construction and operation of the Moscow-St Petersburg toll road. Senior associate Veronika Kondruseva recently returned to Moscow after studying in London and is developing PPP expertise following valuable secondments.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has a strong track record in significant PPP mandates. Fedor Teselkin and practice head Innokenty Ivanov recently advised a consortium of VTB Capital and Gazprombank as preferred bidders for the €2.9bn PPP project to construct and operate the Western High Speed Diameter (WHSD) toll road in St Petersburg.

Herbert Smith CIS LLP has made an impressive breakthrough in the PPP market following the recruitment of Olga Revzina and an associate from Gide Loyrette Nouel. The move has resulted in the team gaining a large share of PPP instructions, advising on both the public and private side in the majority of Russia’s most prominent projects. Work includes acting for the government of St Petersburg on the €4.5bn WHSD project, and for the winning consortium on the $1.8bn Orlovsky tunnel project.

Linklaters CIS’ Matthew Keats is experienced in energy and infrastructure project finance. He is advising VTB Capital in its capacity as shareholder in the WHSD project, as well as VEB and Sberbank as lenders on the Orlovsky tunnel project. Julia Voskoboinikova is also recommended.

Salans’ ‘superior’ team was reinforced by the recruitment of Ilya Skripnikov from Magisters; as a member of two PPP expert councils, Skripnikov is one of the developers of federal and regional PPP and project financing legislation. Global practice head Theodore Matheny is advising on the construction of a portion of the Tashkent-Shymkent toll road in Kazakhstan. Russian practice head Karina Chichkanova is ‘a real team leader’.

Clifford Chance is advising the winning consortium regarding the Yanino waste treatment facility, and acting for a potential bidder on the tender to operate Moscow’s Sheremetevo Airport under a PPP concession. Banking and finance partner Victoria Bortkevicha jointly heads the team with corporate experts Torsten Syrbe and Marc Bartholomy.

Gide Loyrette Nouel recently lost previous practice head Olga Revzina to Herbert Smith CIS LLP, but retains a strong profile in the field. Alexander Dolgov now leads the team, which recently won a mandate to represent the Veolia-Gazprombank-Stroytransgaz consortium in its bid for the St Petersburg Neva Water PPP project.

Albert Eganyan’s team at Vegas Lex is praised for its innovative approach and has developed a number of model contracts for some significant projects. Recent work includes assisting the Governor’s Fund of the Sverdlovsk Region Development regarding the construction of a high-speed railway between Moscow and Yekaterinburg.

CMS Russia advises the sponsors and concessionaire on the Moscow-St Petersburg toll road, and acts on several other significant projects in the transport, water supply and sewage sectors. Jean-François Marquaire leads the team. Stephen Cozens joined Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

Capital Legal Services has been acting on various important instructions in key sectors including advising the City of St Petersburg on a multifunctional cultural and business centre on Vasilyevsky Island, and is also acting on a project which marks the first step towards developing PPP in the field of education in St Petersburg. Vladislav Zabrodin heads the practice.

Olga Litvinova heads the team at DLA Piper, which is advising the government of St Petersburg on all aspects of the €200m Yanino waste treatment facility. Of counsel Rosemary Bointon has been advising the City of Moscow on proposed new PPP laws. The team is praised for its ‘local presence, outstanding legal expertise, deep knowledge and practical experience’.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners’ PPP capability was substantially enhanced when Kirill Ratnikov joined following the merger with Magisters. He will continue to lead the project finance and PPP practice across the CIS region. Clients are impressed by Ratnikov’s ability to ‘establish warm personal relationships combined with the right portion of determination’.

Denis Kachkin at Kachkin & Partners (St Petersburg) is regularly invited to advise on regional PPP legislation and institutional frameworks. Recent clients include the Leningrad Region Committee for the Administration of State Property, and The Kalmyk Republic Ministry of Economy and Trade.

White & Case LLC has been advising lenders on several high-profile project financings. Irina Nesvetova heads the team, which is acting for Nord Stream AG (Global) on the development and project financing of the Nord Stream Baltic Pipeline.