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12.05.2023
13:30–15:00
Russia–India: Legal Challenges for Business in an Era of Booming Bilateral Trade and Investment
Congress Centre, conference hall D2
Broadcast
Russia's “Pivot to the East" has provided an additional impetus to generate new economic ties between countries that have historically focused on working with classical financial centres, at a time when they are losing their credibility and reputation as trustworthy partners. Alongside its legal system, which is based on that of the UK, India has many national features which, when coupled with the overall exoticism of the country, create a complex backdrop for doing business. The pace of economic convergence between the two countries is at an all-time high. Last year Russia became India's largest supplier of crude oil. In 2023, the two countries switched from dollars to local currencies in trade transactions. Numerous Russian IT companies (VisonLabs, Geoscan, Quantum Communications, Scout, etc.) have entered the Indian market. Trial shipments of the new strategically important North-South ITC logistics route are underway. In other words, Russian business is actively entering the Indian market, which means that there is an immediate need for a comprehensive understanding of the Indian legal landscape, especially in the context of protecting the interests of companies. The situation is similar for Indian companies supplying goods to Russia through parallel imports under the legalized product list, as well as for domestic pharmaceutical companies that have a strong chance of taking over vacant market niches for medicines and medical devices. How can favourable access for business to the countries' markets be organized? How should information channels for doing business in India and Russia be centralized? How can regulatory and administrative barriers to business be effectively harmonized?
Moderator
Andrey Kozlov
Managing Partner, Lawyer, Law Firm "RussianLegal"
Panellists
Amarjit Singh Bedi
General Secretary, Bar Association of India
Anton Belyakov
Managing Director, TECHNONICOL, Republic of India
Ashish Deep Verma
Founder, Managing Partner, Vidhisastras-Advocates and Solicitors
Ramnik Kohli
Director, OMZEN GLOBAL; Representative, Business Council for Cooperation with India
Valentin Makarov
President, RUSSOFT Association
Azamat Metov
Director General, Pharm Aid
Ashwani Taneja
Managing Partner, Prudent Law Chambers
Broadcast
Andrey Kozlov
Managing Partner, Lawyer, Law Firm "RussianLegal"
Andrey Kozlov is the founder and managing partner of RussianLegal Law Firm. The Firm resolves large-scale litigation, consults in asset structuring, international projects and import & export operations. The Firm is highly ranked by the leading ratings of the country: Pravo-300, Forbes, Kommersant.
In the most high-profile corporate conflict of 2021 - case of Polyplastic and National Computer Corporation shareholders, Andrey Kozlov represented Alfa Group in the disputes against The Big Four companies. In 2018 he successfully defended the founder of the largest law firm in Cyprus, Andreas Neocleous, who was accused of abuse of power by a trust fund.
Andrey Kozlov is involved in the transformation of higher education in Russia. He founded the Russian Legal Contest, the largest annual national competition for students across the country, held in partnership with the Presidential Academy and Moscow State University after Lomonosov. His other project is the School of Drafting (teaching the skill of legal writing). In 2022, the School of Drafting was launched jointly with the Scientific Valley of Moscow State University, an innovation cluster of Moscow University.
Attorney-at-law, member of the Moscow Bar Association.
In the most high-profile corporate conflict of 2021 - case of Polyplastic and National Computer Corporation shareholders, Andrey Kozlov represented Alfa Group in the disputes against The Big Four companies. In 2018 he successfully defended the founder of the largest law firm in Cyprus, Andreas Neocleous, who was accused of abuse of power by a trust fund.
Andrey Kozlov is involved in the transformation of higher education in Russia. He founded the Russian Legal Contest, the largest annual national competition for students across the country, held in partnership with the Presidential Academy and Moscow State University after Lomonosov. His other project is the School of Drafting (teaching the skill of legal writing). In 2022, the School of Drafting was launched jointly with the Scientific Valley of Moscow State University, an innovation cluster of Moscow University.
Attorney-at-law, member of the Moscow Bar Association.
Amarjit Singh Bedi
General Secretary, Bar Association of India
Amarjit is a seasoned legal professional having more than 23 years of experience as a litigation lawyer. He is currently the General Secretary of The Bar Association of India (barindia.in).
He started his career working in the office of Additional Advocate General for State of Rajasthan and established his credentials by handling complex matters on behalf of the State Government and Public Sector Undertakings before the High Courts and Supreme Court of India.
In 2006, Amarjit appeared for the Advocate on Record exams conducted by Supreme Court of India and stood first and received Gold medal from the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Indian and the Law Minister of India. Amarjit has since then specialized in commercial litigation with representing some of the biggest companies in India including Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors Finance Ltd., Clean Motion (Swedish Company), Reliance Capital, Indian Hume Pipe, Triburg, Swede Auto etc. Amarjit was also appointed on the panel of State of Goa, HUDCO, Coal India and has acted as strategic advisor to senior management including MNCs and supports them in their strategic decisions of litigation strategy.
In addition to this, Amarjit has also done a mediation course conducted by the Delhi High Court Mediation Centre and uses the techniques learnt during the course in successfully resolving various legal and commercial disputes saving time and costs for his clients.
He started his career working in the office of Additional Advocate General for State of Rajasthan and established his credentials by handling complex matters on behalf of the State Government and Public Sector Undertakings before the High Courts and Supreme Court of India.
In 2006, Amarjit appeared for the Advocate on Record exams conducted by Supreme Court of India and stood first and received Gold medal from the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Indian and the Law Minister of India. Amarjit has since then specialized in commercial litigation with representing some of the biggest companies in India including Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors Finance Ltd., Clean Motion (Swedish Company), Reliance Capital, Indian Hume Pipe, Triburg, Swede Auto etc. Amarjit was also appointed on the panel of State of Goa, HUDCO, Coal India and has acted as strategic advisor to senior management including MNCs and supports them in their strategic decisions of litigation strategy.
In addition to this, Amarjit has also done a mediation course conducted by the Delhi High Court Mediation Centre and uses the techniques learnt during the course in successfully resolving various legal and commercial disputes saving time and costs for his clients.
Anton Belyakov
Managing Director, TECHNONICOL, Republic of India
EDUCATION
2010-2012 Graduate School of Business, Moscow State University
МВА. Management
2004-2006 Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)
Financial management
1994-1999 Lipetsk State Technical University
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
From 1999 till 2011 Anton Belyakov worked at OJSC NLMK (now PJSC NLMK or
Novolipetsk Steel) as an economist of 1st category. PJSC NLMK is a mining and
metallurgical holding - one of the top three in the industry in Russia, with the annual turnover
of over $ 10 billion and assets in Russia, USA and Europe. Main businesses: extraction of raw
materials, steel production, trading, servicing, logistics.
In 2003, Anton Belyakov joined TECHNONICOL corporation team - the leading
international manufacturer of building materials and systems,
with 56 production sites in 7 countries; 22 offices in 18 countries; 19
training centers; 6 research centers. Revenue - 1.5 billion
dollars, the number of employees - 6 thousand people.
Since 2014, as Managing Director, Anton Belyakov has been in charge of
international business unit TECHNONICOL-ASIA and manages offices in Moscow,
India, China, Vietnam, Thailand.
As of today the results are as follows: the infrastructure of international business has
been established and functioning: branches and representative offices of the company (including China and India); partner network of distributors, engineering and construction companies.
2010-2012 Graduate School of Business, Moscow State University
МВА. Management
2004-2006 Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)
Financial management
1994-1999 Lipetsk State Technical University
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
From 1999 till 2011 Anton Belyakov worked at OJSC NLMK (now PJSC NLMK or
Novolipetsk Steel) as an economist of 1st category. PJSC NLMK is a mining and
metallurgical holding - one of the top three in the industry in Russia, with the annual turnover
of over $ 10 billion and assets in Russia, USA and Europe. Main businesses: extraction of raw
materials, steel production, trading, servicing, logistics.
In 2003, Anton Belyakov joined TECHNONICOL corporation team - the leading
international manufacturer of building materials and systems,
with 56 production sites in 7 countries; 22 offices in 18 countries; 19
training centers; 6 research centers. Revenue - 1.5 billion
dollars, the number of employees - 6 thousand people.
Since 2014, as Managing Director, Anton Belyakov has been in charge of
international business unit TECHNONICOL-ASIA and manages offices in Moscow,
India, China, Vietnam, Thailand.
As of today the results are as follows: the infrastructure of international business has
been established and functioning: branches and representative offices of the company (including China and India); partner network of distributors, engineering and construction companies.
Ashish Deep Verma
Founder, Managing Partner, Vidhisastras-Advocates and Solicitors
Vidhiśāstras-Advocates & Solicitors is one of the reputed law Firm in India with expertise in International Alternate Dispute Resolution, Commercial Corporate litigation, Company Disputes, Contractual matters and in Intellectual Property Law along with civil and criminal litigation.
Mr. Verma represented the client in the Queen's Bench Division of the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom, spoke at international venues on customs regulation within the EAEU Customs Union; new trends in international trade, disputes with trademarks and copyrights. In April 2023, he became a speaker at the X International Moscow Legal Forum and shared his thoughts on the topic “Global investment and the legal structure of trade, investment and the environment in the Indian-Russian perspective”.
For his contributions to the legal field, Mr. Verma has been awarded the ‘Pride of India’ by Saiard Ministry of Education and ‘Bharti Visya Samaan’ by the Ministry of Education. The law firm was awarded the Lex Falcon Award for Best Law Firm of the Year.
Mr. Verma represented the client in the Queen's Bench Division of the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom, spoke at international venues on customs regulation within the EAEU Customs Union; new trends in international trade, disputes with trademarks and copyrights. In April 2023, he became a speaker at the X International Moscow Legal Forum and shared his thoughts on the topic “Global investment and the legal structure of trade, investment and the environment in the Indian-Russian perspective”.
For his contributions to the legal field, Mr. Verma has been awarded the ‘Pride of India’ by Saiard Ministry of Education and ‘Bharti Visya Samaan’ by the Ministry of Education. The law firm was awarded the Lex Falcon Award for Best Law Firm of the Year.
Ramnik Kohli
Director, OMZEN GLOBAL; Representative, Business Council for Cooperation with India
A business professional with nearly 20 years of experience in mid and senior management positions in various products & services industries such as: Telecom, Banking, FMCG and Construction sectors. Worked with Top Russian orporates like MTS (AFK Sistema), VTB Bank, Sber Bank (Advisor to CEO) & Technonicol India (CEO India operations). Launched Micromax (Country Head – Russia & CIS), a wellknown Indian Mobile Brand in Russia from scratch and took it to 5% market share within 2 years of launch and a turnover of 95 million USD.
Appointed as the Honorary Representative of the Business Council for Cooperation with India, by the Moscow State government, department for External Economic and International relations since 2019.
Appointed as the Honorary Representative of the Business Council for Cooperation with India, by the Moscow State government, department for External Economic and International relations since 2019.
Valentin Makarov
President, RUSSOFT Association
Makarov Valentin was born 16.04.1955 in Leningrad, Russia. Graduated from the Leningrad Aircraft Instrumentation Institute in 1978, in 1978-1985 he had been working in the Defense Industry. In 1985 entered the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. Since “perestroika” time he has got good experience of organizing international cooperation (1988-1992 – secretary in the Russian Delegation to UNESCO, in 1996-2000 as deputy Chairman of International relations’ Committee of Administration of St Petersburg). He has also got extended managerial experience in private business (1992-1996 – in Interprivatization Foundation and in the EuroConseil Rusian-French JV consulting company).
President of RUSSOFT Association (earlier Fort Ross) since its foundation on 9.9.99, he has been organizer of lobbying campaigns in the Government and Chairman of numerous IT-events in Russia and abroad (RUSSOFT Forum, Software Outsourcing Summit, Mobile Software Forum, Russian IT-seasons). Chief-editor of the annual Russian export software industry survey since its beginning in 2003. Representative of Russian IT Association (APKIT) in WITSA in 2004-2006, 2012. Invited speaker at numerous international conferences and author of dozens of articles on IT in Russia.
President of RUSSOFT Association (earlier Fort Ross) since its foundation on 9.9.99, he has been organizer of lobbying campaigns in the Government and Chairman of numerous IT-events in Russia and abroad (RUSSOFT Forum, Software Outsourcing Summit, Mobile Software Forum, Russian IT-seasons). Chief-editor of the annual Russian export software industry survey since its beginning in 2003. Representative of Russian IT Association (APKIT) in WITSA in 2004-2006, 2012. Invited speaker at numerous international conferences and author of dozens of articles on IT in Russia.
Azamat Metov
Director General, Pharm Aid
Azamat Metov has over 16 years of executive experience covering finance, consulting, audit, and the implementation of large-scale investment projects. This includes seven years in the healthcare sector, during which he ran a government program to equip cancer centers and was responsible for the formation of the National Immunobiological Company for the state Investment Programs. Azamat also successfully oversaw the commissioning and construction of a bioenergy complex. After graduating from the Financial University with a degree in financial management, Azamat received a PhD in Economics in 2012. He was later involved in establishing the unified managment systems for Russian Electrical Grids, as well as being part of Ernst & Young’s auditing and consulting practice.
Ashwani Taneja
Managing Partner, Prudent Law Chambers
Mr. Ashwani Taneja is currently practising as lawyer specialising in the areas of dealing with and handling all facets of economic, corporate and tax law rendering his advisory and representation services at various judicial forums all across the country.
Mr. Taneja is a former Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), a Lawyer, Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Cost & Management Accountant and also holds degrees of B.Com (Hons.), LL.B and LL.M and diploma in DISA from ICAI. He has to his credit more than 25 years of experience. He firstly practiced as Chartered Accountant during the years 1995-2006 in the fields of Tax Planning, Litigation, Business Advisory, Due Diligence and audit of different segments of business organizations. Thereafter, Mr. Taneja, switched over to advocacy in the year 2006 and practised as Lawyer, with a strong focus on appellate side of Income Tax Law. He appeared before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and Supreme Court of India till 2015.
In the year 2015, he was appointed as a Member of ITAT and continued there till 2017. He authored / co-authored more than 2000 judgements dealing with large variety of issues of Domestic as well as International Tax for numerous types of taxpayers. Thereafter, he resumed his practice as a lawyer.
Mr. Taneja is a prolific speaker on various issues pertaining to economic offences, income tax and corporate law and has delivered lectures and talks at various forums across the country. He has given many interviews on TV Channels on union budgets and various developments that keep taking place in country in the area of policy making and administration of income tax law.
Mr. Taneja has widely travelled abroad and on invitation attended a conference on International Tax for updation of UN Model Tax Convention at United Nation’s Head Quarters at New York, USA. He was also invited by Chief Justice of Tax Court of Canada for membership of International Association of Tax Judges, Canada (IATJ) and became member of IATJ in the year 2017 and also participated in their Global Tax Conference held at Helsinki (Finland).
Mr. Taneja is a former Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), a Lawyer, Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Cost & Management Accountant and also holds degrees of B.Com (Hons.), LL.B and LL.M and diploma in DISA from ICAI. He has to his credit more than 25 years of experience. He firstly practiced as Chartered Accountant during the years 1995-2006 in the fields of Tax Planning, Litigation, Business Advisory, Due Diligence and audit of different segments of business organizations. Thereafter, Mr. Taneja, switched over to advocacy in the year 2006 and practised as Lawyer, with a strong focus on appellate side of Income Tax Law. He appeared before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and Supreme Court of India till 2015.
In the year 2015, he was appointed as a Member of ITAT and continued there till 2017. He authored / co-authored more than 2000 judgements dealing with large variety of issues of Domestic as well as International Tax for numerous types of taxpayers. Thereafter, he resumed his practice as a lawyer.
Mr. Taneja is a prolific speaker on various issues pertaining to economic offences, income tax and corporate law and has delivered lectures and talks at various forums across the country. He has given many interviews on TV Channels on union budgets and various developments that keep taking place in country in the area of policy making and administration of income tax law.
Mr. Taneja has widely travelled abroad and on invitation attended a conference on International Tax for updation of UN Model Tax Convention at United Nation’s Head Quarters at New York, USA. He was also invited by Chief Justice of Tax Court of Canada for membership of International Association of Tax Judges, Canada (IATJ) and became member of IATJ in the year 2017 and also participated in their Global Tax Conference held at Helsinki (Finland).