The Legal 500

In February 2010 the Sentencing Guidelines Council (the SGC) issued definitive guidelines to courts on imposing appropriate sentences for corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences causing death. The SGC states that fines imposed on companies found guilty of corporate manslaughter should not fall below £500,000, while fines in respect of health and safety offences that are a significant cause of death should be at least £100,000. Crucially, the SGC declined to provide for a fixed link between the imposed fine and the turnover or profitability of the offending company.


On 16 May 2012 the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships (1952), known as Brussels Convention, and implementing amendments to the procedural legislation entered into force in Ukraine.

Article 15 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that applications for recognition and enforcement of awards issued in international commercial arbitration are considered by the courts of general jurisdiction following the procedure set out in the code.

On 13 April 2012 the new Regulation on Consolidation and Subdivision of Shares in Joint Stock Companies (the "New Regulation") adopted on 6 March 2012 by the Ukrainian National Commission on Securities and Stock Market (the "Commission") became effective and replaced the old Regulation on Registration of Shares in the Course of Change of Nominal Value and Quantity of Shares without Change of the Share Capital Amount approved by the Commission on 14 September 2000.

On 13 March 2012 the Ukrainian National Commission on Securities and Stock Market (the "Commission") adopted the Regulation (the "Regulation") on granting a permit (the "Permit") for equity acquisition in a professional securities market participant, such as a security broker, asset management company, custodian, depositary, etc., resulting in direct or indirect holding or control over 10, 25, 50 or 75 percent of equity (the "Significant Shareholding"). The Regulation will be effective upon its approval by the Ministry of Justice.

On 23 February 2012 the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine “On the Specifics of Establishment of Public Joint Stock Company of Public Railway Transport” (the “Public Railroad Transport Company Law”), which became effective as of 22 March 2012, and the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Railroad Transport” (the “Railroad Amendment Law”), which will become effective from the date of state registration of the Company according to the Public Railroad Transport Company Law.

From May 2011 and until January 2012, as a result of unification effort against inconsistent practice of the lower courts,the Supreme Court of Ukraine (the “Supreme Court”) re-examined inconsistent rulings of Ukrainian cassation courts on disputes arising out of, inter alia, mortgage and suretyship agreements and made a number of important decisions providing guidance on application of the relevant legislation in similar cases.

Recently Ukrainian State Tax Service (STSU) published a number of tax circulars containing STSU's interpretations of the tax law. The above circulars cover a variety of issues. Some of the key points are as follows:

On 6 February 2012 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine amended its Resolutions No. 1297 and No. 1298, dated 30 November 2011 (the "PSA Resolutions"), which determine tender terms for conclusion of production sharing agreements ("PSA") on exploration and production of hydrocarbons, in particular non-conventional gas, in Oles'ka and Yuzivs'ka subsoil blocks.

Oleksandr Aleksyeyenko, partner - oleksandr.aleksyeyenko@integrites.com

On 13 January 2012 the Law of Ukraine "On Amending the Tax Code of Ukraine Regarding Review of Certain Tax and Duties Rates"(the "Amendments") became effective. The Amendments change the procedure for calculation of adjustment index used for royalties' calculation.