Ukraine

Based in Kyiv, Chadbourne’s Ukraine practice serves clients who are often pioneers in their fields, representing such sectors as communications, new technologies, media, energy, natural resources, financial services, heavy and light industry, real estate development and construction, consumer goods and food processing, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Our lawyers’ experience in such industries and all aspects of Ukrainian law, combined with broad exposure to international transactions, consistently adds value for our clients.

In addition to our premier practices in mergers and acquisitions and banking and finance, we regularly work with our clients on other aspects of business in Ukraine, including structuring and establishing operations, developing appropriate investment structures, obtaining regulatory approvals and licenses, drafting and negotiating commercial agreements, counseling on employment matters, providing tax advice and liaising with government officials.

We do government relations work and legislative drafting for certain clients, and often act as those clients’ primary contacts with Ukrainian government officials in the Presidential administration, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Parliament, the National Bank of Ukraine, the State Property Fund and other government ministries and agencies.

We serve our clients with top locally qualified attorneys, all of whom are fluent in English, Ukrainian and Russian. Most have an advanced law degree from a North American or Western European university. On cross-border transactions, locally qualified attorneys are paired with western lawyers, an approach that enables Chadbourne to provide clients with the highest quality of legal services. Thoroughness, clarity, practicality, responsiveness, promptness – these are the principles that guide us in delivering our services.

Our Ukraine practice focuses on key areas such as:

Banking and Finance

Our Kyiv attorneys advise banks and financial institutions, including multinational lending organizations, on a full range of financial transactions. We represent borrowers and lenders on secured lending, project and infrastructure finance, trade and export finance, construction finance and lease financing.

Mergers and Acquisitions/Privatizations

We have advised many clients ranging from strategic investors to private equity funds acquiring and selling stakes in or assets of recently privatized and privately owned Ukrainian companies. In privatizations, we have advised buyers of various state-owned enterprises ranging from tobacco factories to confectioneries. We have also assisted advisors to the Ukrainian government on sell-side privatization mandates, including the first wave of successful energy distribution company (oblenergo) privatizations.

Joint Ventures

Our attorneys have extensive experience in structuring and negotiating joint ventures with private and state-owned enterprises in a variety of industries throughout Ukraine. We place particular emphasis on developing sound corporate governance structures to ensure effective management and control mechanisms.

Real Estate

We provide a full range of services to clients involved in Ukraine’s developing real estate market. Our attorneys have advised clients on office, hotel and warehouse developments and financings, and have acted on behalf of clients in acquiring real property for office and industrial use. We regularly represent landlords and tenants in drafting and negotiating property leases, and counsel clients on obtaining and documenting land-use rights.

Securities and Capital Markets

Our local and international capital markets experience includes representing issuers, broker-dealers, investment banks, institutional investors, fund managers and investment advisors on all aspects of securities work in Ukraine, including trading and custody of Ukrainian equities and debt instruments. In a precedent-setting transaction for Ukraine, we advised the lead manager for two Eurobond issues by Ukraine to restructure approximately $2.7 billion of debt into longer-term debt.

Representative Experience