Vladimir Sayenko

Volodymyr Sayenko, partner at Sayenko Kharenko, is practicing law since 1994, admitted in Ukraine and in the State of New York (USA).

Volodymyr specializes in competition, M&A, corporate and securities law. He has extensive experience in supporting clients through the entire lifecycle of their business, from formation and day-to-day operational issues to major transactions and exit. Throughout his career Volodymyr has worked with clients across all major industry sectors but his principal focus is in the financial services, energy, oil & gas, real estate and media sectors.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Advising on Ukrainian law aspects of benchmark cross-border M&A transactions, such as the acquisition of Samsung printer business by HP, acquisition of vaccines business of Novartis by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) with further establishment of a joint venture between GSK and Novartis, acquisition of Unimilk CIS operations by Danone, acquisition of Cadbury by Kraft Foods, as well as numerous Ukrainian M&A deals, including the acquisition Karavan Hypermarket chain by Auchan Group, sale of minority stake in Ukrainian subsidiaries of Allianz SE.
• Handling M&A transactions involving over a dozen Ukrainian banks, including the acquisition of a controlling shareholding of PJSC “Region-Bank” by a foreign investor,  acquisition of Platinum Bank (Ukraine) by a group of Ukrainian and foreign investors, acquisition by First Ukrainian International Bank of Renaissance Credit Bank, acquisition by Platinum Bank of Home Credit Bank, sale by Platinum Bank of Vostok Bank, acquisition by Alpha Bank of Astra Bank, acquisition by Societe Generale of Ikar Bank, and acquisition by Piraeus Bank of International Commerce Bank.
• Advising bidders in the privatizations of Kryvorizhstal, KGOKOR, Odessa Port Plant and regional electricity distribution companies.

Antitrust/Competition

• Advising major corporations, such as Apple, Beam, BEKO, Coca-Cola, Dyckerhoff, Henkel, and Philip Morris, on Ukrainian competition law issues, including development trainings and compliance programs, conducting mock down raids, etc.
• Representing multinationals in various investigations and proceedings before the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, including Amadeus, Coca-Cola, Dyckerhoff, Sanofi, Visa and Western Union.
• Merger clearance for numerous mergers and acquisitions, including for AB InBev, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Citibank, Comcast, Dell, DowDuPont, Geely, Glencore, Goldman Sachs, Hamburg Süd, Hitachi, HP, Honda Motor, Imerys, Japan Tobacco, Komatsu, Maersk Line, Monsanto, Outokumpu Oyj, Porsche, Samsung Electronics, Sandvik, Société Générale, Syngenta, and Thyssenkrup

Prior to co-founding Sayenko Kharenko, for over 10 years Volodymyr worked for a leading western law firm operating in Ukraine. For a number of years he acted as an advisor to the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on the Freedom of Speech and Information.

• Public Council with the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine
• Ukrainian Bar Association, Vice-President, Board Member of the Committee on Competiton Law
• International Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• British-Ukrainian Law Association, Member of the Executive Committee
• Kyiv City Bar (admitted since 1998)
• New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), USA (admitted since 1998)

• LL.D. in Securities Law from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Law Department
• LL.M. in Transnational Business Practice from McGeorge School of Law (Muskie Fellow)
• LL.B., summa cum laude, from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Law Department (joint degree with Diploma in English translation from the Department of Foreign Languages)
• Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
• University of Michigan