EDITORIAL: CORPORATE TAX IN THE CIS
Who’s Who Legal
Jan 15 2010
Our research identifies 34 eminent lawyers from nine different
countries in the CIS region.
Baker & McKenzie and Salans received the most nominations. We feature
four nominees in this chapter from Baker & McKenzie. In Moscow,
Sergei Zhestkov specialises in supply-chain tax planning, tax advice
for mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring. The "highly
knowledgeable" Alexander Chmelev heads the CIS tax practice group and
is a member of the firm’s European tax steering committee. Alexander
Bychkov focuses on Russian tax and tax structuring; in Baku, Aykhan
Asadov practises general tax planning.
Salans has three nominees listed. At the firm’s office in Almaty the
"highly recommended" Aigoul Kenjebayeva is a managing partner and
focuses on the legal and tax implications of investing in Kazakhstan.
Ophelia Abdullayeva is based in Baku and has recently assisted a
major international telecommunications company on tax issues. Evgeny
Timofeev co-heads the firm’s tax practice from Salans’s Moscow office
and a member of the expert council on tax legislation of the State
Duma budget committee.
In Russia we identify a further seven leading lawyers, the majority
of whom are based in Moscow. Sergey Pepeliaev is the managing partner
of Pepeliaev Goltsblat & Partners and has "very good experience"
in handling tax disputes in arbitration courts, courts of general
jurisdiction and the constitutional court of the Russian federation.
At Herbert Smith LLP Oleg Konnov offers tax advice to a range
of foreign and local companies, particularly in the context of
international tax treaty analysis and OECD guidelines. Maxim Alekseyev,
a senior partner at Alrud Law Firm, focuses on tax audits and the
implementation of planning schemes in joint ventures and businesses
with 100 per cent foreign investments.
>>From DLA Piper LLP the "top-class" Scott Antel has advised
multinational clients on taxation matters concerning investment
structures, the development of greenfield and brownfield manufacturing
sites and the negotiation of regional tax concessions. In the
firm’s St Petersburg office, Ruslan Vasutin focuses his practice
on transaction structuring and reorganisation, developing efficient
cross-border fund remittance techniques and coordinating tax dispute
procedures. The "very well-regarded" Victor Matchekhin from Linklaters
LLP also makes it into the chapter while Irina Dmitrieva at White &
Case LLP heads the firms tax practice in Moscow and specialises in
Russian and international tax matters related to direct investments,
M&A, private equity, corporate restructuring, real estate, leasing
and structured finance transactions.
Our research identifies a wealth of talent in Belarus. From Borovtsov
& Salei, Vassili Salei is "brilliant" while Alexander Botian
provides "excellent counsel". The "very good" Igor Verkhovodko at
Businessconsult specialises in tax regulations and Timour Sysouev
has also been noted for his work in the field. Law Firm Trust has the
"very experienced" tax specialist Eugene Lazarenkov within its ranks.
At Stepanovski Papakul and Partners, Valery Papakul advises on taxation
optimisation while Tatiana Emelianova from Vlasova Mikhel & Partners
also stands out as a leader. Dennis Turovets is the managing partner
at Magisters and is "quite brilliant" while Pavel Tsarev from Re Vera
Consulting Group is "a definite candidate for inclusion in a list of
the best".
We select four lawyers in Ukraine for our list. Two of these are at
Amparo Consulting Group with Evgeniy Slavniy and Alexander Zlenko both
receiving high levels of recommendation in our research. Alexander
Minin from KM Partners is "strongly recommended" and known for his
participation in the Lukor court dispute against the country’s tax
authorities. At Arzinger, the "very good" Anna Pogrebna also makes
it into the chapter.
Azerbaijan contains an additional two leading lawyers in the field.
Jeyhun Bayramov at Omni Law Firm is "well respected" and Elchin
Mammadov from MGB Law Offices provides "brilliant" counsel.
Almat Daumov from Grata Law Firm in Kazakhstan concentrates on tax
issues, particularly for financial institutions and oil industry
companies. In Uzbekistan his colleague the "excellent" Zafar Malikov
is currently a managing partner and controlling the firm’s activities
in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Prior to joining the firm he worked
for PricewaterhouseCoopers as a tax consultant.
Elsewhere, in Armenia, David Sargsyan from Ameria Legal Practice also
features in this chapter and provides "high quality" counsel. In
Kyrgyzstan. Kalikova & Associates’ Maksim Smirnov is seen as a
"top-class" lawyer in the field. Located in Moldova Alexandr Muravsky
is a partner at Dartax Consulting and is "very talented", focusing
his practice on tax disputes.
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