The Legal 500

Few will dispute Baker & McKenzie – CIS, Limited’s continued dominance of Ukraine’s corporate market. Highly rated managing partner James Hitch heads the two-partner team, which includes Viacheslav Yakymchuk. Despite a relative dearth of activity in the market, the group has maintained momentum with advice to several major private equity houses, which are taking an increasing interest in Ukraine, including Horizon Capital, which it represented on its acquisition of an almost $40m stake in Datagroup, one of Ukraine’s top data network and telecommunications providers. Other clients include the Ukrainian food company, Technocom, which was advised on its takeover by Nestlé.

Asters gets excellent feedback from clients who say the firm operates at ‘the highest level, with brilliant business acumen and industry knowledge’, while demonstrating ‘deep and extensive knowledge of Ukrainian corporate law’. Among the partners, Oleksandr Padalka is ‘very experienced and flexible’, while Vadym Samoilenko is ‘highly professional’. The highly rated managing partner Oleksiy Didkovskiy is also very well regarded. Highlights included advising Telenor on the $23.8bn formation of VimpelCom, in which it is a major shareholder.

CMS Cameron McKenna LLC has one of the strongest corporate teams in the country, benefiting greatly from the ‘highly professional’ Adam Mycyk and Olexander Martynenko. The firm is also backed up by an excellent network of offices throughout central and eastern Europe. Highlights included representing Nestlé on its acquisition of the Ukrainian dried foods company, Technocom. Other clients include Kulczyk Oil Ventures and Swisscom.

Managing partner Andrew Mac heads the active ten-lawyer corporate team at Magisters. A major highlight in the past year was acting as Ukrainian counsel to Altimo on the consolidation of its telecom assets, which are jointly controlled with Telenor, to form the $23.8bn NYSE listed Vimpelcom. The firm also advised SSL on the acquisition of a major Ukrainian condom distributor.

Sayenko Kharenko is praised for its ‘excellent and pragmatic approach to the Ukrainian legal system as compared to international firms, which mainly describe risks without analysis and without solutions’. The ‘excellent’ Vladimir Sayenko heads the team, which acted on the $230m sale of Allseeds group of companies to Kernel, a major sunflower oil producer. The firm also represented Central European Media Enterprises on the $300m sale of its Ukrainian operations to Harley Trading.

B C Toms & Co retains a strong presence in the market and managing partner Bate Toms is one of the most experienced corporate lawyers practicing out of Ukraine. The firm has been especially active in the oil and gas sector.

Chadbourne & Parke LLP managing partner Jaroslawa Johnson has an excellent reputation for corporate finance advice. A highlight for the high-calibre practice was advising the global corn flour manufacturer, Gruma International Foods, on its acquisition of the food companies Altera and Altera-2.

The ‘young and fast moving team’ at DLA Piper Ukraine LLC is praised for ‘responding quickly with highly professional and appropriate advice. I would definitely say that we get best value for money’. Managing partner and group head Margarita Karpenko is singled out for her ‘excellent corporate expertise and commercial approach’. A recent highlight was advising Sibur Holding on its $500m+ tender during the privatization of the Odessa Port Plant. Arthur Kotenko is highly recommended.

Praised for offering the ‘exceptionally high level of service’ and the ‘highest ethical standards’, Salans’ corporate practice is extremely popular. The ‘excellent’ managing partner Oleg Batyuk and Volodymyr Monastryskyy are commended for their ‘high level of professionalism’, while Ihor Mehedynyuk is ‘very qualified’. Highlights included advising GasTek on the $45m sale of its Ukrainian subsidiary Kub Gas to Kulczyk Oil Ventures.

Denis Lysenko, who heads Vasil Kisil & Partners increasingly well-regarded corporate practice, enjoys an excellent reputation in the market. The firm has been involved in several major transactions and advised Vympel Communications and Alfa Group on the buyout of a 20% minority stake in a major Ukrainian telecoms operator. Other clients include POSCO, Energy Standard Group and Expert Capital.

Clients praise Andriy Kravets & Partners for being ‘excellent, responsive, on time and value for money’ while the service is ‘more hands on and more personal than other large firms’. Vladyslav Lyaskovskiy heads the team whose clients include Nokia Siemens Networks.

Avellum Partners impresses through some excellent feedback and high-profile work. One major client reports: ‘this is a dynamic young firm that has already built up a very strong team of partners and associates. It provides high quality commercial advice in a challenging environment’. Managing partner Mykola Stetsenko is very well regarded. A recent highlight was advising the telecoms company, Datagroup, on a $40m private equity investment from Horizon Capital.

Beiten Burkhardt ‘provides services on a high level’ and is praised for ‘keeping in close touch with the client’. Felix Rackwitz heads the three-partner team, which recently advised the German mining company, AKW Kaolin, on its reorganization in Ukraine.

Clifford Chance LLC’s highly-rated corporate team is headed by managing partner Jared Grubb, and is commended for providing ‘high level legal services’. The firm’s associate base receives high praise from clients, particularly senior associate Dmytro Fedoruk, who demonstrates a ‘high level of legal professionalism’. Clients include Suntory, Shell, MoneyGram, Abris Capital and Honda.

Karl Hepp de Sevelinges heads the eight-lawyer team at Gide Loyrette Nouel, which remained busy in 2010. A recent highlight was advising a major TV company on the acquisition of a stake in a leading Ukrainian media group. The firm represents an impressive range of industrial, financial services, logistics and foods companies.

Managing partner Mikhail Ilyashev and Roman Marchenko of Ilyashev & Partners are both recommended for corporate work. The aviation company Antonov Design Bureau is a major client, which it has been advising on its restructuring, as well as its $2bn merger with Aviant Kyiv State Aircraft Plant.

Peterka & Partners LLC offers a comprehensive corporate advice service and has established a very strong French clientbase. Highlights included advising Veolia Voda on restructuring its Ukrainian business. Alexander Poels and Monika Hoskova are the main contacts.

Headed by managing partner Alexander Popp, Schoenherr acts for an impressive range of clients, including Volkswagen, Raiffeisen Group, Time Warner and Generali, which it advised on the acquisition of a controlling interest in Garant Auto, Ukraine’s third largest insurance company.

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.’s Peter Teluk has a good track record for corporate advice. The overall team is considered ‘really good value for money’ and praised for its ‘flexible price policy’ and ‘customer-oriented behaviour’.

AS Consulting Law Firm, LLC’s ‘punctual, diligent and forward-thinking’ managing partner Andriy Tsvyetkov comes highly recommended, as does the ‘open-minded and proactive’ Hlieb Tsvyetkov. Clients include Bankhaus Main and UNIQA Ingatlanhasnosito.

Maksym Cherkasenko heads the three-partner team at Arzinger, which recently advised on the acquisition of the Volkswagen importation rights for Ukraine, through the purchase of a controlling stake in a Ukrainian car dealer.

Andriy Vyshnevsky at EnGarde Attorneys at Law is ‘one of the best in corporate and business law generally’. The firm recently represented a group of foreign investors in the €500m acquisition of a major Ukrainian retail chain. The firm has also been active in the agriculture sector.

At Grischenko & Partners, founding partner Dmitri Grischenko has established a strong reputation for corporate work and is regularly referred matters by major international firms.

Gvozdiy & Oberkovych Law Firm’s lawyers are considered ‘a great bunch of people and superb at choosing the right team to meet my company’s requirements, both in terms of personality and skill set’. Name partners Sergiy Oberkovych and Valentyn Gvozdiy are ‘outstanding lawyers and extremely commercial’. Clients include Marks & Spencer, PSG-International and Avis.

Managing partner Vyacheslav Korchev is recommended at Integrites International Law Firm, which recently advised DataLux on its takeover of the IT distributor F1 Centre. Major clients include Kimberly-Clark, Unilever and Energizer.

Helen Yaremchuk heads a strong team at Konnov & Sozanovsky, which also includes Yevgenia Derebal. The firm, whose clients include Star Media Group, Mitsubishi and Canon, recently advised the agricultural company Agro-Soyuz on the sale of a $40m stake to Horizon Capital.

Mansur Rafsendjani and Björn Paulsen are the main contacts at Noerr’s Kiev office. The firm has a strong presence in CEE and represents a range of international clients on their interests in Ukraine.

Law Firm Paritet’s six-lawyer team is headed by the versatile Borys Danevych. Major clients include US Pharmacia, Bayer Schering Pharma, and Dan-Farm Ukraine.

Wolf Theiss benefitted from the recruitment of the highly experienced Taras Dumych from B C Toms & Co in 2010. Dumych heads the three-partner team, whose clients include Icon Private Equity, SIV Holdings and Dakor Agro Holding.

Oleh Malskyy is the main corporate partner at Astapov Lawyers International Law Group, whose clients include Marshall Capital, Barclays Bank and Mitsui.

Maxim Oleksiyuk and senior partner Alexander Minin are recommended at KM Partners, which has been particularly active in the shipping and transport sector. The firm recently conducted due diligence on several stevedoring companies.

Legal Alliance Company has a sizeable team of experienced corporate lawyers, including senior partner Illya Kostin, Anatoliy Menshikov and Oleksiy Bezhevets. The firm acts for several pharmaceutical companies.

Clients at Lexwell & Partners’ active corporate practice include Toyota, Sumitomo, Bridgestone, Marubeni and Evraz Group.

Denis Okhrimchuk has a good reputation at Okhrimchuk Grushyn Khandurin Law Firm, which represents the major Ukrainian Insurance company Oranta, as well as Sandvik and IMG International Holding Company.

Larysa Poberezhnyuk and Oleksandra Pavlenko are both recommended at Pavlenko & Poberezhnyuk, Law Group, whose clients include Sibir Airlines, TAS and Promsbyazbank.

Salkom’s senior partner Evgen Kubko has a good track record in corporate matters, as do Yuriy Leonov and Victor Korolenko.