The Legal 500

Khristofor Ivanyan and Vasily Torkanovskiy

Choosing Russian law as governing law for M&A transaction as a trend in M&A activity has recently been discussed widely in the context of the state’s proclaimed policy to this effect.  This trend could be set in motion in the context of the government’s de-offshorization policy in conjunction with plans to privatize state-owned assets.  The prospective privatization plan includes quite a long list of major companies which will be sold entirely or where the state intends to reduce its stake.The privatization methods will be set individually for each of the companies.

On 5 February 2013 Order No. 284 of the Russian Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications dated 6 December 2012 (the “Order”) entered into force. This has significantly changed the requirements for constructing PSTN.

The Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - SCC RF) adopted by the Informative Letter No. 156 dated the 26th of February, 2013 (hereinafter - the Informative Letter) on Review of the consideration by arbitrazh courts of the cases on the implementation of the public order clause as the ground for rejection of the recognition and enforcement of the foreign court decisions and arbitral awards.

During 2012 there were a number of changes in the sphere of HR from the employment law standpoint. Among the upheaval, some key trends became evident in HR-related regulation and law-enforcement practice. First thing that we would note is the rising attention to detail among employers. In previous years companies devoted much time to massive restructuring and downsizing projects, meaning that they had little time for current issues. Now businesses are spending more time on bringing their internal policies and HR paperwork into line with the laws and best practice. In this way, they avoid problems with their employees rather than closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

This year marks the start of a five-year period in which the eyes of the sporting world will be on Russia. In the summer of 2013, Kazan will host the Universiade, or World University Games, while the World Athletics Championship will take place in Moscow. In 2014, the Winter Olympics come to Sochi, and a year later some of Kazan’s new facilities will be put to use again when the city stages the World Aquatics Championships. Next up is the World Ice Hockey Championships, in St Petersburg and Moscow, in 2016, before soccer’s World Cup puts on its month-long show all across the European part of the country in 2018.

Facts of the case

FEDERAL LAW “ON THE CONTRACT SYSTEM IN THE SPHERE OF PURCHASES OF PRODUCTS, WORK OR SERVICES FOR STATE AND MUNICIPAL NEEDS”

Amending the deadline for notifications to be filed and audits to be conducted

Statutory Regulation

The word outsourcing has become a staple of Russian business language, but is still not encountered in Russian law. Generally, outsourcing contrasts with the leasing of personnel in that outsourcing involves certain business processes being contracted out to an external service provider. Outsourcing is typically used to transfer processes that are vital for the company’s activity but are of an auxiliary nature to its core activities: for example, IT, HR processes and payroll.