The Legal 500

Clients are quick to praise Baker & McKenzie – CIS, Limited for its ‘very high level of service’ and for being ‘always available’, while offering ‘solid and timely advice’. Within the three-partner team, the ‘excellent’ Lina Nemchenko is ‘very knowledgeable and a skilled negotiator’, while group head Serhiy Piontkovsky and Mykhailo Tymoshenko have ‘very good’ reputations. The firm has been active in tourism infrastructure and recently advised KDD Group, a major real estate investment and development group, on a hotel management agreement with Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts.

Vasil Kisil & Partners has an excellent reputation for real estate and construction work, both on the non-contentious and contentious side, where it is backed up by one of the country’s top disputes teams. Oleg Alyoshin heads the team, which is advising Seven Hills on the Park Avenue project in Kiev, which comprises five multi-storey mixed-use buildings. The firm also represented the DIY store operator, Leroy Merlin, on its expansion projects in Ukraine. The firm has also been very active in the agribusiness sector.

Roman Kostenko heads a strong five-lawyer team at Asters, which is particularly experienced in real estate acquisition and finance. Highlights included advising the EBRD on a series of due diligence checks for its commercial real estate finance projects. Other clients include CD Capital and RUSAL.

CMS Cameron McKenna LLC’s impressive team has a strong presence in the market and has been particularly active in the agribusiness and energy sectors. Recent highlights include advising Kulczyk Oil Ventures on its numerous real estate and development issues, including the construction of wells. The highly rated Daniel Bilak heads the team.

DLA Piper Ukraine LLC’s ‘well-trained, commercial lawyers provide advice that is targeted to the needs of the client and difficulties of the region’. The ‘very impressive’ practice head Natalia Kochergina ‘combines commercial awareness and prompt, client-centred advice’. The main area of activity for the firm is in acquisitions, where it recently advised Dragon-Ukrainian Properties & Development on its $30m acquisition of five retail developments.

Ilyashev & Partners is recommended both for its contentious and non-contentious real estate advice. Maksym Kopeychykov heads the practice, which also includes the highly rated Mikhail Ilyashev. Highlights included advising private investors in over $100m worth of land purchases in the Kiev region. The firm has also been very active on the disputes front representing Siemens, Etrex and Antonov Design Bureau.

Managing partner Andrew Mac heads the team at Magisters, which has been active in the energy and mining sectors. The firm also advised Boris Fuchsman and Alexander Rodnyansky on their acquisition of a 50% stake in the construction of a Hilton Hotel and several luxury apartments.

Salans’ well-regarded practice has been active on the development front and advised Argo Real Estate opportunity Fund on the construction of the Riviera Shopping City, Ukraine’s largest shopping mall, in Odessa. Other clients include Bonduelle Group, CHS and Accor. Myron Rabij heads the team.

Sergey Ignatovsky heads a quality team at Sayenko Kharenko, which remains active on the transactional front. A major highlight was advising the private equity fund, Abris Capital Partners, on the acquisition of a major retail chain in Western Ukraine.

Arzinger’s quality three-partner team is headed by senior partner Timur Bondaryev. Highlights included advising Unicredit Bank on the restructuring of a €30m loan to a commercial property developer. Other clients include the Austrian Foreign Trade Promotion Organisation and Austria’s AVE Group.

B C Toms & Co has been involved in several major development projects and recently represented IMTC-MEI on its successful tender for a major Euro 2012-related infrastructure project in Lviv. Managing partner Bate Toms is extremely experienced, especially in agribusiness related transactions.

Julian Reis heads the well-regarded team at Beiten Burkhardt, which has been involved in several major construction projects. Highlights included advising ArenaCom on the architecture and engineering contract for the construction of a stadium for Euro 2012.

Sergiy Onishchenko is the main contact for real estate work at Chadbourne & Parke LLP. The firm has a very good track record on the financing side and recently advised EBRD on the $37m financing of a new container terminal development in Odessa.

Clifford Chance LLC suffered following the departure of group head Tomasz Stasiak to Salans’ Warsaw office. The practice still has a decent market presence, helped in part by the arrival of counsel Sergei Sulimsky from the firm’s Moscow office. Recently, the firm advised London & Regional Properties on its acquisition of Podil Business Centre in Kiev.

Gide Loyrette Nouel has been involved on several major developments and acquisitions in the industrial sector, as well as representing contractors on numerous significant transport infrastructure projects. Karl Hepp de Sevelinges heads the impressive team.

Alexander Poels and Monika Hoskova are the main real estate lawyers at Peterka & Partners LLC. Highlights included advising ADB Airfield Solutions on the contract for the reconstruction of an airport runway. Other clients include Peugeot Citroen, Veolia Voda and Catinvest.

Schoenherr has been very active on the retail side of the real estate market, but also represents lenders such as Erste Bank on numerous major financings. Managing partner Alexander Popp heads the team, which is representing an Austrian/Ukrainian consortium on the €300m development of two hotels and an office building in Kiev.

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.’s Peter Teluk is recommended for his real estate expertise, advising both investors and developers.

Vladyslav Lyaskovskiy heads Andriy Kravets & Partners' real estate practice, which mainly works on the financing side.

Tatyana Kuzmenko is recommended at Astapov Lawyers International Law Group.

Kostiantyn Likarchuk heads the ‘exceptionally high-quality’ team at Avellum Partners.

Gvozdiy & Oberkovych Law Firm’s team recently represented Donegal on the development of a €300m bio-electricity facility in Ukraine. Sergiy Oberkovych and Valentyn Gvozdiy are both recommended.

Irina Pustovitenko and associate partner Dmytro Tytarenko are the main real estate contacts at Legal Alliance Company.

Larysa Poberezhnyuk at Pavlenko & Poberezhnyuk, Law Group has acted on several major commercial real estate transactions in the past year.

Levgen Gusiev heads the team at Wolf Theiss, which recently recruited Taras Dumych from B C Toms & Co. The firm has been involved in several retail and agriculture projects.