The Pending Challenge

Maksym Lavrynovych, managing partner of Lavrynovych & Partners considers: “Recent rumors that Naftogas Ukraine is on the edge of bankruptcy do not add stability to the Ukrainian energy sector. Some people believe that one of the reasons for the vulnerability of the Ukrainian energy system lies in imperfect legislation. It can be definitely stated that at the present time legal re gulation of the fuel-and-energy complex is not systematic and characterized by a lack of basic legislation that would set out the fundamentals and approaches to the regulation of relations in the electricity sector, nuclear industrial sector and coal and oil-andgas branches. Moreover, there is also a need to bring Ukrainian laws into line with the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty and Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as the requirements of EU energy legislation.”

During 2007 the lawyers of the ARCA law firm provided legal consulting and litigation services to state enterprise Energorynok, OJSC Energy Company Zakarpattyaenergo, OJSC Krymenergo, OISC Kyivenergoremont, LLC Kyivenergobud, LLC Energospecremont. Oleksiy Bezhevets, managing partner, and Tatyana Litnarovich, senior lawyer, were the key energy practitioners in the above-mentioned projects.

In 2007 Grischenko & Partners represented CBM Oil in concluding the agreement on joint activity between CBM Oil and the Chernomornaftogas on geological research and production of carbohydrates in the Halitsyn chalk deposit (USD 150 million). Igor Kovbasinsky and Sergei Voitovich are involved in the firm’s energy projects.

In 2007 Volkov & Partners successfully represented the Kuwait Energy Company in a transaction involving the acquisition of Ukrainian assets of Cardinal Resources Plc. Oleksiy Volkov had overall charge of the transaction from the side of Kuwait Energy Company, while Roman Drozhanskyy was the leading attorney for the purchase of shares, general consulting and security issues, and Maksym Nazarenko was the leading attorney for antimonopoly filing issues.

Energy and natural resources practice of B.C. Toms & Co received excellent references. The selected deals in 2007 indicates reach experience and covers: advising the second largest private company in Europe on its oil and gas exploration and production projects in Ukraine; a major European company on its coalbed methane project in Eastern Europe, etc. Bate Toms, Taras Dumych and Oleksandr Khomiak are the leading practitioneers.

In 2007 the Kiev office of Ernst & Young continued to advise key oil and gas players on tax and legal matters. The legal team of Albert Sych, Iryna Kalyta, Igor Chufarov and Yulia Logunova assisted a number of oil and gas investors to structure their investments in Ukraine. On a special note, Ernst & Young specialists are providing advice on a number of coastal shelf projects.

DLA Piper Ukraine acted as legal counsel to Gazprom, a Russian gas monopoly, in a deal to structure settlement of indebtedness of Ukrgasenergo to RosUkrEnergo AG (USD 729 million), including consultancy regarding regulatory, customs and tax issues, means of securitisation of obligations and the drafting of all the relevant agreements. Oleksandr Kurdydyk, Natalia Fuklyeva, Oleksandr Strukov, Natalia Dyadchenko and Pavlo Kazymirov make up the energy projects team of the Kiev office.

Sayenko Kharenko’s team has market-leading expertise and regularly advises clients on legal matters related to oil and gas exploration, development, and production, M&A, financial restructuring, leasing of equipment, new plant developments and financing, and regulatory issues in the energy sector. In 2007, the firm advised a major European oil and gas company on an acquisition bid for Regal Petroleum, and was approached by leading international banks regarding financing to Naftogas Ukrainy and other major energy companies. Vladimir Sayenko and Michael Kharenko were mentioned by colleagues due to their involvement in energy law issues.

Lavrynovych & Partners provides a full range of legal services in the energy sector. Its experts have provided legal support in the course of establishment of the state concern Ukratomprom (USD 4.2 billion) on the foundation of NNEGC Energoatom. Both partners Maksym Lavrynovych and Iryna Marushko are strong specialists in energy law issues.

Over the last few years Gramatskiy & Partners has been conducting legal support in the participation of a number of foreign companies (PEWO GmbH and other) and their subcontractors in the tenders of JSC Kyivenergo for credits from the World Bank. A reputation as being key specialists of Gramatskiy & Partners in the energy field was earned by Ivan Romashchenko and Alexey Grishko.

Konnov & Sozanovsky’s lawyers advise on the following related issues in the energy and power industry: legal framework of the energy business; purchase of assets, M&A, reorganization and restructuring of companies; permits for the production of natural deposits; agreements servicing mining operations and the sale of sub-soil; privatization of companies; pre-acquisition due diligence for foreign investors; tax optimization; tenders; environmental regulations; dispute resolution.

Andriy Kravets & Partners recently provided legal assistance to a British oil and gas company with respect to the acquisition of Ukrainian oil and gas companies for further private placement and IPO. The clients of Andriy Kravets & Partners include Cadogan Petroleum. The firm’s experts provide advice on the majority of transactions in the energy sector; namely Andriy Kravets, Vladyslav Lyaskovskiy and Ulyana Khromyak.

One of the most notable deals in the Ukrainian energy sphere in 2007 was the USD 20 billion agreement on distribution of production between Vanco International Ltd and the state of Ukraine, where the Kiev office of Chadbourne & Parke, namely Yaroslawa Johnson and Dmytro Fedoruk, represented the in terests of Vanco.

Gvozdiy & Oberkovych attorneys at law finalized the project of construction of a co-generation power plant in Ivano-Frankovsk Region, where its lawyers Sergiy Oberkovych and Valentyn Gvozdiy assisted contractor PSG International.

The Silecky Firm affiliated with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, and especially Dmytro Sakharuk, were frequently mentioned during the poll. It is notable that the firm represented a major American investment fund in the framework of the above-mentioned project of construction of a co-generation power plant in Ivano-Frankovsk Region.

Magister & Partners has provided advice to Naftogaz Ukrainy, Ukraine’s largest oil & gas state-owned monopoly since 2001 and is involved in the reform of Ukraine’s oil and gas laws, drafting inter-government gas agreements and inter-government gas negotiations. The team is headed by Olga Khoroshylova.

The lawyers of Vronskiy, Vronskaya & Partners law firm provided legal services in almost all areas of practice for well-known Ukrainian and Russian oil companies and Ukrainian oil refineries. Anna Vronskaya, Julia Navrotskaya-Buzyun and Alexey Vronskiy were engaged in the mentioned projects.

CMS Cameron McKenna’s new office in Kiev combines the extensive experience of Olexander Martinenko and Christina Maciw, each of whom has been working in the Ukrainian oil and gas sector for over a decade, with CMS Cameron McKenna’s impressive track record in energy, utilities and infrastructure in the wider CEE region and globally.

Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners advised Marathon Oil Company and Rohol-Aufsuchungs AG (RAG) on various oil and gas issues in Ukraine. Rysbek Toktomushev and Roman Kostenko come highly recommended for their solid expertise and experience. The Salkom law firm acted for Zorya Mashproekt State Enterprise (Nikolayev) in negotiations with the Korean company Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd regarding an agreement on the design, development and construction of gas turbine engines. Yuriy Leonov is regarded as the main expert in this field.