EDITORIAL: CONSTRUCTION & REAL ESTATE IN THE CIS
Who’s Who Legal
Jan 15 2010
The property market in the CIS has seen a drop-off in transactional
work over the past year, and the lawyers we consulted are finding
their restructuring and advisory skills are increasingly in demand. We
feature 31 lawyers from seven jurisdictions in this chapter, which
combines lawyers with construction and real estate backgrounds.
Salans is represented by three lawyers in this section, including Tim
Stubbs who is the firm’s head of banking and finance in Russia. Stubbs
has advised clients in property development and reconstruction
projects and the negotiation of construction loans and was described
as "top-flight" by respondents. Ophelia Abdullayeva and Vagif Ahmadov
are both listed from the Baku office.
Baker & McKenzie – CIS Limited is similarly well represented.
Konstantine Kouzine is a former real estate equity partner with
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ CIS law offices and focuses his practice on
private equity, real estate funds and property leasing throughout
Russia. The "excellent" Maxim Kalinin is managing partner of the
firm’s St Petersburg office and is recognised for his work in real
estate, power and transport infrastructure projects. Natik Mamedov
in Azerbaijan specialises in real estate sales and finance as well
as hotels, resorts and tourism.
Clifford Chance LLP and DLA Piper LLP are also among the major
international law firms with a formidable regional presence in this
area. Clifford Chance CIS Limited fields Marc Bartholomy from its
Moscow office while Jared Grubb stands out in Kiev. Sergey Koltchin
heads the real estate and construction practice in the Moscow office
of DLA Piper and is recognised for his work with land ownership rights
and construction and infrastructure issues as well as FDI projects
in Moscow and the Urals. Natalia Kochergina is based in Kiev and has
recently advised AREA (Apollo Real Estate Advisors) and 1849 PLC.
Equally prominent are Goltsblat BLP and Turcan & Turcan, both of whom
are headquartered in the region. The "well-known" Elena Barinova
of Goltsblat has extensive experience of domestic and cross-border
property finance transactions as well as the privatisation of
state-owned real estate property, including brownfield and greenfield
sites. Vitaly Mozharowski also at the firm’s Moscow office joins
Barinova on our list and is "highly regarded" for his investment,
project finance and due diligence work in real estate and construction
transactions. Moldova-based firm Turcan & Turcan fields managing
partner and "leading light" Alexander Turcan in this chapter alongside
Octavian Cazac.
Eric Michailov heads the corporate and M&A practice at the
Moscow office of White & Case LLC and is given "top marks" for his
representative work on behalf of investment funds and international
companies pursuing real estate M&A projects in Russia. At Linklaters
CIS, Xavier Hunter is also highly regarded for his work with real
estate transactions.
Belarus firm Vlasova Mikhel & Partners benefits from the inclusion of
managing partner Konstantin Mikhel in this section. Mikhel is a member
of the foreign investment advisory council to government ministers and
is recommended for his transactional and restructuring knowledge. Also
based in Minsk is Alexander Stepanovski of Stepanovski Papakul and
Partners Ltd, who specialises in investment and construction as well
as disputes between building companies.
In Ukraine, Timur Bondaryev at Arzinger is "excellent" and Ulan
Tilenbaev at Kalikova & Associates is similarly highly regarded. The
outstanding Alexander Botian and Vassili Salei are listed from
Borovtsov & Salei in Belarus, while Kiryl Apanasevich and Dennis
Turovets are recognised for their high-quality work at Sorainen and
Magisters respectively. Armenia’s David Sargsyan from Ameria Legal
Practice is another local leader and in Azerbaijan Ismail Askerov
stands out for his work at MGB Law Offices.
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