Overview
Ukraine has undergone significant change in the past few years, and sectors such as real estate, banking and finance, and corporate have all seen significant reductions in activity. There have been some glimmers of light: the Euro 2012 football championships have provided some work on the construction and infrastructure side, while the agricultural sector has seen a lot of transactional activity. Several private equity funds are also returning to the market in the belief that prices have finally bottomed out, while in the banking sector, debt restructuring work has provided some relief to lawyers who have seen diminished returns on the capital markets side.
Ukraine’s political scene has also generated a lot of change within the dispute resolution market. The hard fought 2010 presidential election saw Viktor Yanukovych take power in February. Since then, the president has instigated controversial reforms to the judicial system, which has impacted on the role of the country’s Supreme Court, as well as the appointment of judges, which are now overseen by the government. There is a sense that this is denting judicial independence, although it has also gone some way to reducing corruption throughout the court system. From a commercial law perspective, most litigators are cautiously optimistic that the changes will have benefits, although positive results in disputes with the authorities could be harder to come by. Overall, most law firms are ramping up their disputes practices, even the international firms, which had traditionally steered clear of domestic litigation.
The commercial legal market as a whole is becoming increasingly fractured. Most of the larger firms have had to make layoffs in the past few years, and new domestic firms are appearing on the market. For the legal buyer, the choice can be overwhelming, though some new entities do come with excellent pedigree. The most notable are Avellum Partners, particularly on the corporate finance side, EnGarde Attorneys at Law for corporate and dispute resolution work, and Ulysses for tax matters.