The Ukrainian legal market is in its infancy compared with Western Europe and the United States, which boast centuries- and decades-old legal traditions.
The country’s leading lawyers, therefore, are not only those who have worked on huge projects with big clients. They are the groundbreakers who established and developed their practices from scratch after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw Ukraine shift toward a market economy.
The Kyiv Post asked 20 of the leading Ukrainian law firms to pick out who they consider to be the top lawyer in 10 fields. The following law firms presented their responses: DLA Piper, Pavlenko&Poberezhnyuk Law Group, CMS Cameron McKenna, Integrites, Asters, Avellum Partners, Astapov Lawyers, Salans, Magisters, Konnov&Sozanovsky, Vasyl Kisil & Partners, SayenkoKharenko, Lavrynovych&Partners, Beiten Burkhardt and Arzinger.
Most of the top lawyers were pioneers in obtaining additional education abroad in the mid-1990s, before returning to Ukraine, often to work for locally founded companies or to set up their own firms.
Antimonopoly Law
Ihor Svechkar, partner at Asters
Age: 31
Years in field: Eight
Education: Master’s at the Institute of International Relations of National University Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv; master’s in international law at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
Experience: Represented Schering-Plough and Merck in obtaining clearance for their $41.1 billion merger. Advised Telenor in VimpelCom-Kyivstar merger and antitrust proceedings into alleged abuse of dominance and concerted practices initiated by Farimex.
Top clients: GlaxoSmithKline, Coca-Cola, Nissan, Philip Morris, Walt Disney, Biersdorf, Heel, Telenor and Ansell.
Quote: “First of all, the key to success is to be attentive to details. Second is to take enjoyment from what you do and not treat work as a routine. It gives room for development.”
“I like this field because it is very pleasant to work with one of the most European and modern state authorities in Ukraine – the Antimonopoly Committee. I also have the opportunity to communicate with other lawyers in this field from other countries, so I can compare where we are and predict where we will be in several years.”
Tetyana Slipachuk, partner at Vasil Kisil & Partners
Age: 42
Years in field: 15
Education: Master’s in law at National University Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv; Ph.D. in Business Law and Arbitration at National University Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv.
Experience: Advised a Korean automobile manufacturer on terminating a distribution agreement with a Ukrainian distributor; counseled a leading Austrian infrastructure group in waste management; consulted on the Ukrainian legislation stipulating provisions against corruption.
Top clients: Would not disclose.
Quote: “There are two parts to success. First, professionalism. I work on myself a lot and I’m constantly learning new things. Second, there are certain life values that I keep in my work, such as ethics and honesty in problem-solving and decision-making in deals.”
M&A and Corporate Law
Volodymyr Sayenko, partner at SayenkoKharenko
Age: 35
Years in field: 15
Education: LL.M. in Transnational Business Practice from McGeorge School of Law; Doctor of Law in Securities Law from National University Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv.
Experience: Advised on the acquisition of five metallurgy plants in Ukraine by Evraz Group, the largest M&A deal in Ukraine’s metal sector, the sale of Volia Cable to Providence Equity Partners and the acquisition of Bank Forum by Commerzbank.
Top clients: Alpha Bank, Citibank, Commerzbank, Dyckerhoff, Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris, Piraeus Bank, Severstal, TNK-BP, TUI Travel and UBS.
Quote: “It’s all about hard work and experience on unique projects. I’ve been dealing with mergers and acquisitions for nearly 16 years, and it requires broad knowledge in various legal areas. To be successful it is necessary not only to be knowledgeable in corporate law but also in the specifics of the economic sector where the deals are performed.”
Energy Law
Olexandr Martinenko, partner at CMS Cameron McKenna
Age: 48
Years in field: 15
Education: Master’s from Law Faculty at National University Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv; master’s from Kyiv Institute of Industrial Property; LL.M at Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.; Ph.D in Law at Koretskiy’s Institute of State and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Experience: Worked on a number of upstream and downstream segments of oil and gas practice with respect to international companies’ growing interest in Ukraine for joint exploration and further extraction of natural resources.
Top clients: Would not disclose.
Quote: “To become recognized you need to be active on the market. Talk to customers, partners, colleagues from other law firms and get acquainted with the community. Water never flows under a settled stone. My experience with energy started in 1994 and my first big client was Shell.”
“If you don’t have interest in the field, you’ll never be able even to focus on it, never mind achieving success in it.”
International Finance
Michael Kharenko, partner at SayenkoKharenko
Age: 34
Years in field: 8
Education: LL.M. at Columbia University School of Law; LL.D. in Public Finance Law from National University Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv.
Experience: Eurobonds placements by the State of Ukraine, City of Kyiv, UkrEximBank, Ukrsotsbank, UkrSibbank, Alpha Bank, FUIB, Interpipe, DTEK, Metinvest, MHP, Azovstal, Stirol; all IPOs by Ukrainian companies in 2008; the largest debt restructurings in Ukraine in 2009 in energy, real estate and banking sectors.
Top clients: Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, UBS and VTB.
Quote: “Success comes to firms that can produce a result, find individual solutions, solve complicated tasks and, most importantly, think outside the box. On a personal level, the key to success is striving to understand a client’s business from the inside, and desire to find a solution. It is also very important for clients to see your personal involvement in the projects and, as simple as it sounds, ability to deliver on time.”
Land and Real Estate
Serhiy Piontkovsky, partner at Baker & McKenzie
Age: 43
Years in field: 11
Education: Master’s in international law from the Moscow Institute of International Relations; LL.M. at Harvard Law School.
Experience: Advised Quinn Group on the $59 million acquisition of the Shopping Mall “Univermag Ukraina” and the $95 million acquisition of Leonardo Business Center.
Top clients: NEST, Raven Group, Asnova Holding, Gooioord B.V., U.S. Government, ITT Investment Group operated by InterContinental Hotels Group
Quote: “It is all about teamwork. First and foremost, a law firm is about the people who work there and communicate with clients. Its success totally depends on the lawyers that work for it.”
Litigation
Oleh Makarov, managing partner at Vasil Kisil & Partners
Age: 44
Years in field: 20
Education: Master’s in international law from the Institute of International Relations at Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University.
Experience: Represented a Ukrainian pharmaceutical enterprise against the Ministry of Health in a dispute over a $50 million tender; acted for a shareholder in a dispute over the shares in a leading Ukrainian real estate and development company with assets worth more than $1 billion; represented a multinational media company in a dispute regarding a controlling stake in one of the major national TV broadcasters in Ukraine.
Top clients: Would not disclose.
Quote: “I’ve been in litigation for 20 years. We were the first private law firm and we were the first to work as so-called business lawyers. Then the market started to change. Commercial courts emerged. I enjoy representing somebody’s interests in courts, protecting them.”
“There is perhaps no single secret for success, just individual and team work, love for your work, deep understanding of your clients, focusing on results and preparing precisely and thoroughly for court hearings.”
Tax
Oleksandr Minin, KM Partners
Age: 43
Years in field: 20
Education: Master’s in economics at Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University; master’s in international law at International Relations Institute of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University.
Experience: Advised on the sale of AvtoZAZbank to Bank of Cyprus; worked with Kraft Foods Ukraine in developing a structural model for so called “new markets”, including territorial extension to the other countries and integration of Cadbury business.
Top clients: AES (Kyiv and Rivne regional energy distribution companies), Bunge, CHS,Kraft Foods, Monsanto, Motorola, Philip Morris, Raiffeisen Group companies, SC Johnson and Tetra Pak.
Quote: “We work not for business but for people. We strive to help and that leads to success. The state and business are not equal in the field of tax legislation: The state sets the rules and taxpayers follow them. Therefore it is very important to ensure protection of the taxpayer’s interests.”
Banking and Finance
Serhiy Chorny, partner at Baker & McKenzie
Age: 45
Years in field: 15
Education: Master’s in International Law and Ph.D. in Law at National University Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv; LL.M at the University of Essex, U.K.; Diploma in international and comparative law of human rights at Institut International des Droits de l’Homme, Strasbourg, France.
Experience: Advised a London-based international bank in connection with the restructuring of $500 million Eurobonds issued by state oil and gas company Naftogaz. Advised the controlling shareholders of Pravex Bank on its sale for $750 million to Intesa Sanpaolo.
Top clients: Bank Finance & Credit, First Ukrainian International Bank, Standard Bank, Metinvest, the City of Kyiv, Ferrexpo, UkrSibbank, PrivatBank, Interpipe Limited, TAS-Kommerzbank, MHP, Azovstal Iron & Steel Works, EBRD, UniCredit Group, ING Bank and Standard Bank.
Quote: “I started to specialize in banking and finance when the first syndicated loans were issued on the market. I was given the task of developing this practice within our firm. Later we were the first to help banks issue Eurobonds, then corporate.”
Intellectual Property
Mykhailo Dubinsky, partner at Dubinsky Osharova
Age: 48
Years in field: 17
Education: Master’s from National Technical University in Kyiv; master’s in patent from National Technical University in Kharkiv; master’s in intellectual property law at WIPO Worldwide academy; doctor of philosophy in law at Interregional Academy of Staff Management.
Experience: Would not disclose
Top clients: Coca-Cola Company, McDonalds and Phillip Morris International Management.
Quote: “The secret of success is to treat your clients as yourself, be professional and do everything possible for them. [The intellectual property] field is new for Ukraine. We were the first in many cases, creating precedents on which further legislation was made. There is nowhere in Ukraine you can gain experience in this field and we constantly develop it and use the examples of other countries.”
“This is the only field I work in. All my time is dedicated to it.”
