The Legal 500

Operating from Moscow and St Petersburg and encompassing all aspects of contentious and non-contentious tax work, Baker & McKenzie – CIS, Limited recently advised GO TEK on tax restructuring relating to a joint venture. Alexander Chmelev heads this sizeable team which includes four other tax partners. Maxim Kalinin successfully represented Jensen Group in a dispute with the Russian tax authorities in a regional court.

DLA Piper’s tax team supports corporate transactions and also acts on a standalone basis. It advised Adidas on transfer-pricing issues relating to an intra-group operation from Russia into Kazakhstan. The group, jointly headed by Ruslan Vasutin in St Petersburg and Igor Venedtikov in Moscow, also has significant litigation capability.

A tax litigation mainstay, FBK Legal is ‘able to handle any tax issue, no matter how sophisticated the problem’. The firm has recently won cases for Gazprom and McDonald’s against federal tax authorities. Highly regarded team head Galina Akchurina is ‘simply excellent’, and has a proven record of winning cases against the tax authorities; Aleksey Yakovlev is ‘one of the best tax lawyers in the market’; and Tatiana Matveicheva is ‘one of the best tax methodologists’.

Pepeliaev Group is ‘the best tax consultant in the Russian market’, according to clients, and is equally good for contentious and non-contentious advice. Among several tax specialists, Rustem Akhmetshin and Natalia Ivashchenko are ‘great professionals – clever and erudite’; Andrey Nikonov and his team ‘provide deep analysis of historical and recent taxation practise; and Sergey Sosnovskiy ‘clearly understands the needs of the client’. The firm is a member of global tax network Taxand.

CMS primarily advises international clients on the tax aspects of joint ventures and M&A, and recent work includes advising a multinational bank on complex cross-border tax elements of the acquisition of a Russian bank. Stanislav Tourbov heads the team, which also represents clients in onsite audits and in court.

Dentons has been highly active in the courts, with recent wins including a decision in favour of a major Russian client in an $8.5m dispute. New practice head Dzhangar Dzhalchinov and of counsel Boris Bruk are ‘competent, fast and accurate’. Former co-head and litigation specialist Alexei Panich joined Herbert Smith Freehills CIS LLP in September 2012.

Goltsblat BLP’s sizeable group acts for international and Russian clients on the full range of tax matters. Its separate customs team recently acted for Kimberly-Clark to successfully invalidate a VAT assessment by the authorities. Practice head Evgeny Timofeev is recommended.

Herbert Smith Freehills CIS LLP’s ‘excellent’ team is headed by the ‘very professional and business-oriented’ Oleg Konnov. Konnov is advising the project company, owned by Gazprom, Total and Statoil, on tax breaks relating to development of the Shtokman gas field. Other highlights included advising Heinz on the Russian tax implications of its internal restructuring. Litigator Alexei Panich, former co-head of tax at Salans, joined the firm in September 2012.

Yana Proskurina heads the team at PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices BV, which is part of the firm’s global dispute resolution network, and has an impressive record challenging tax authorities for clients such as Gazprom, Mazda and PepsiCo. Proskurina is supported by nine associates.

Highly regarded for its representation of clients in tax audits and disputes, Sameta also has significant expertise in tax structuring and advises across the full range of issues. Lyudmila Batalova heads this sizeable team, and managing partner Alexei Mordovichev is ‘an expert in tax efficiency’.

Ilya Rybalkin’s team at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP recently advised AF Telecom on the tax aspects of its complex acquisition of a 25.1% stake in MegaFon and related transactions.Other areas of expertise include real estate and transfer pricing.

Alrud Law Firm team, led by senior partner Maxim Alekseyev, advises multinational and domestic clients on issues including VAT recovery and customs liabilities in the transfer of oil.

Clifford Chance’s team head Alexander Anichkin is ‘a "master of all trades" in banking and finance, as well as tax’. Anichkin recently advised IFC Asset Management on the tax aspects of its launch of the Russian Capital Fund.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners’ practice includes transfer pricing, litigation and tax support in corporate transactions. The team recently advised Beringov on pre-merger tax structuring prior to the company’s sale to Russian retail group Eldorado. Practice head Igor Schikow’s ‘in-depth knowledge of Russian law is combined with very good knowledge of German law, international tax law and the Russian courts’.

Gide Loyrette Nouel’s team provides standalone tax advice, supports the corporate group and also has litigation capability. Moscow office manager David Lasfargue and senior tax lawyer Tatiana Kirgetova are the key contacts.

Korelskiy, Ischuk, Astafiev and Partners, Attorneys at Law’s team head Oleg Bazhenov is ‘analytical, switched on’, and ‘very experienced in complex tax matters’. Clients include Rockwool, Schindler and Otto Group, the latter of which Bazhenov successfully represented in two VAT disputes.

Victor Matchekhin heads Linklaters CIS’ team, which has strong experience in advising on the tax elements of big-ticket M&A, capital markets and financings. Clients include PepsiCo, which it advised on the $3.8bn acquisition of a Russian target, and Sberbank.

Noerr’s ‘excellent’ team is co-headed by Maxim Vladimorov and Nikolay Baranov. Clients include Continental and Volkswagen, the latter of which Baranov is advising on the tax elements of its sponsorship of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Vegas Lex Law Firm has an impressive record of challenging the tax authorities in court for its mainly Russian client base. Anatoly Petrykin heads the team.

White & Case LLC’s tax team supports the firm’s corporate practice on M&A deals. It provided tax structuring advice to TeliaSonera on its $1.45bn sale of an 8.2% stake to MegaFon. Team head Irina Dmitrieva is supported by four associates.