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Clifford Chance

UL. GASHEKA 6, 125047 MOSCOW
Tel:
Work +7 495 258 5050
Fax:
Fax +7 495 258 5051
Web:
www.cliffordchance.com
Washington DC, Warsaw, Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Sao Paulo , and 24 more

What we say about the firm's legal practice in Russia

Banking and finance

Within Banking and finance, Clifford Chance is a first tier firm,

Clifford Chance’s team is led by ‘star player’ Logan Wright. The broad practice spans asset, trade, project and acquisition finance, with the firm advising Deutsche Bank on a RUB7.5bn secured bridge-to-securitisation facility for a Russia factoring company. It also acted for ABN AMRO on a range of banking issues, including the syndicated pre-export financing of Rusal, worth up to $4bn, while other key clients include BNP Paribas. Victoria Bortkevicha and real estate finance expert Jared Grubb also come highly recommended.

Capital markets

Within Capital markets, Clifford Chance is a second tier firm,

Led by Arthur Iliev, Clifford Chance’s ‘efficient’ team was boosted by the relocation of securitisation partner Simeon Radcliff from the firm’s London office. Recent highlights include advising the underwriters on Globaltrans Investment’s IPO and London listing; Home Credit & Finance Bank on its $500m LPN issue; and CJSC ‘Second Mortgage Agent of AHML’ as originator on its RUR10.7bn domestic residential mortgage securitisation. Clients were impressed by what is ‘probably the best UK firm for issuer-side work in Russia’, while one enthused of Denis Uhlir: ‘I’d always want him leading my team’. Debt capital markets partner Tamer Amara and counsel Vladimir Zotov are also recommended, while William Knowles, who established the firm’s Moscow office in 1991, was hailed ‘a real gentleman: the market standard’.

Corporate and M&A Moscow

Within Corporate and M&A Moscow, Clifford Chance is a first tier firm,

Clifford Chance’s ‘formidable’ team’s promotion to the top tier follows a sustained period of growth. Led by the highly regarded Andrei Dontsov and Yuri Kachuro, ‘one of the best M&A lawyers in Russia’, the firm advised the selling shareholders in the $1.4bn sale of a 75% stake in JSC Lebedyansky to PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Group; Barclays Bank on its $745m acquisition of Expobank; and Interros on a series of share disposals and asset swaps with Onexim. The firm has a ‘truly impressive ability to assemble teams quickly in various jurisdictions, that actually work as one seamless team’, say clients, who hail managing partner Michael Cuthbert as ‘a big gun that’s good to have at your side during tough negotiations’ and counsel Konstantin Kurlanov as ‘an excellent lawyer with outstanding creativity – he’s always a great pleasure to work with’. Real estate head Marc Bartholomy and FIG specialist Alex Erasmus – ‘a skilled coordinator with excellent inter-personal skills’ who relocated to Moscow from the firm’s London office in 2007 – are also recommended.

Dispute resolution

Within Dispute resolution, Clifford Chance is a first tier firm,

A major highlight for ‘highly skilled’ senior partner Ivan Marisin’s team at Clifford Chance was its representation of the Bank of New York in its ongoing defence against a controversial $22.5bn claim filed by the Federal Customs Service. The ‘impressively high-quality’ practice also acted for Duferco in over 30 court cases relating to its joint venture investments in Russia, and Aurado Energy on an ICSID investment dispute with Kazakhstan. Partner Timur Aitkulov and newly promoted counsel Roman Khodykin (‘an excellent litigator who is extremely pleasant to work with as part of a team – any client would be lucky to have him’ ) are also recommended, as are ‘highly qualified and fast-working’ associates Timur Aitkulov, Vasily Kuznetsov and Julia Popelysheva.

Employment

Within Employment, Clifford Chance is a third tier firm,

A number of Clifford Chance’s leading corporate partners are also expert in employment issues.

Energy and natural resources

Within Energy and natural resources, Clifford Chance is a second tier firm,

Having recruited practice head David Griston from CMS in 2007, Clifford Chance’s team was further bolstered by the relocation of global oil and gas head Bleddyn Phillips to Moscow in May 2008. The ‘quickly growing’ practice spans upstream and downstream oil and gas, mining and electricity, with recent highlights including advice to Nizhnevartovskaya GRES on construction and financing of a third 800MW unit at the Nizhnevartvosk power plant; the lenders on the €7bn Nordstream project; and Gazprom on E.On’s acquisition of a 25% stake in Severneftegasprom. Counsel Nicholas Dingemans and Maria Oleinik – the latter having been promoted in 2008 – are also recommended.

Real estate

Within Real estate, Clifford Chance is a first tier firm,

Led by Marc Bartholomy, Clifford Chance’s practice has been increasingly focusing on construction following the sharp decline in the real estate acquisition market. The firm advised Eurohypo on the €380m financing of the ‘Metropolis’ Class A mixed use development and continued to act for Gazprom Neft on the construction of the ‘Gazprom City’ Okhta-Centre project in St Petersburg. Other clients for the team, which include real estate finance specialist Jared Grubb and highly regarded counsel Torsten Syrbe, include Morgan Stanley.

Tax

Within Tax, Clifford Chance is a third tier firm,

The key tax name at Clifford Chance is counsel Alexander Anichkin, who clients hail as ‘very responsive, technically excellent and has good commercial understanding’.

What we say worldwide

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Algeria

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Ghana

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India

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Offices in Rome and Milan

Japan

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Lebanon

London

Offices in London and London

Luxembourg

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Morocco

Netherlands

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Oman

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Philippines

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Romania

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Russia

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Singapore

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South Korea

Taiwan

Thailand

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Tunisia

US

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Search News and Articles

Legal Developments by:
Clifford Chance

Legal Developments in Russia

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

  • Tax Reforms Towards the Creation of an International Financial Center in Russia

    In December 2009 the Russian Parliament adopted important changes further promoting the Russian holding companies regime. Starting from January 1, 2011 Russian holding companies will no longer be required to meet the present 500 million ruble threshold for investments made into companies qualifying as “strategic investments” to receive tax benefits.
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • Rules for Tender Selection of Joint Implementation Projects under Kyoto Protocol

    On October 28, 2009, the Russian Government adopted two enactments concerning joint implementation projects under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the "Kyoto Protocol") in the Russian Federation, namely:
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • Federal Law "On the Principles of State Regulation of Trading Activity in the Russian Federation"

    On 1 February 2010, the Federal Law "On the Principles of State Regulation of Trading Activity in the Russian Federation" (the "Law") comes into force, which will substantially change the rules applicable to trade activities.
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • New Rules for Issuing Domestic Secured Bonds In Russia

    Starting January 2010, amendments to Federal Law No. 39-FZ “On the Securities Market” dated 22 April 1996 entered into force, affecting the issue of domestic bonds by Russian issuers. The new rules will apply to all domestic bond issues to be placed in the market after 31 December 2009.
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • 2010 quota for foreign workers distributed. List of quota-exempt professions for 2010 approved.

    In accordance with the order distributing the 2010 quota of work permits, a fixed number of work permits can be issued in each Russian region to work in different professions. Thus, for example, for Moscow the general quota for all professions is established at 250,000 work permits (which is considerably less than in 2009), and for St. Petersburg – 210,066 work permits.
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • Formation of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

    Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will adopt new unified customs tariff and non-tariff regulations from January 1, 2010, and the Customs Union (the “CU”) of the three countries of the Eurasian Economic Community (the “EurAsEC”) will become a reality. The CU Customs Code (the “Customs Code”) is expected to take effect from July 1, 2010 to regulate the resulting integral customs zone.
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • New developments in Russian legislation on saving energy and increasing energy efficiency

    Federal Law No. 261-FZ “On Saving Energy and Increasing Energy Efficiency, and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” came into force on November 27, 2009 (the “Law”), with certain provisions of the Law taking effect later. Changes to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for example, became effective on December 27, 2009, and those to the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (the “Administrative Code”) take effect on June 22, 2010.
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • Changes re Criminal Liability and Prosecution of Tax Crimes

    On December 29, 2009 the RF President signed a law introducing important changes to criminal liability for tax evasion. It is established that a person violating the tax legislation may be relieved of criminal liability if the respective outstanding taxes and penalties connected to a crime are paid to the budget.
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • Revised Draft of the Law on Circulation of Medicines Prepared

    An amended version of the draft Federal Law "On Circulation of Medicines"  was placed on the website of the Russian Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development on December 3, 2009. The initial Draft Law was published on the same website on July 8, 2009, attracting much attention and criticism. Many suggestions were made to improve the initial Draft Law so as to ensure the effective functioning of the Russian pharmaceutical market. 
    - Baker & McKenzie

  • Development of anti-insider trading and market manipulation legislation in Russia

    Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 241-FZ of 30 October 2009, "On Making Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 151 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation" ("Law No. 241") was published on November 3, 2009.
    - Baker & McKenzie
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