Most Highly Regarded Firms: CIS 2010 - Corporate Tax
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.