Become a partner
28.06.2024
12:15–13:45
Investing in Russia: Five Tools to Protect against Conflict with a Local Partner
Congress Centre, conference hall B2
Broadcast
Protecting the interests of a foreign investor in a joint venture with a local partner requires a special focus on minimizing potential sources of conflict. By failing to understand the tools that exist in the event of a corporate dispute, we reduce our ability to interest foreign investors in Russian companies. Risks can be mitigated by fine-tuning governance mechanisms within the company and the structuring of corporate contracts. Should a conflict nevertheless arise, we must approach its resolution comprehensively: from negotiation and court to the use of PR and GR technologies and correct business valuations. The latter often go unused. Equally important is where disputes are heard, in a Russian state court or in arbitration. What tools do foreign investors possess to effectively protect their interests at every stage of a corporate conflict?
Moderator
Andrey Kozlov
Managing Partner, Lawyer, Law Firm "RussianLegal"
Speakers
Valery Eremenko
Partner, Co-Head of Litigation Practice, EPAM Law
Ilya Zharskiy
Managing Partner, Veta Expert Group
Anna Konyaeva
Managing Partner, CPO GROUP
Alyona Kucher
Associate Professor of the Civil Law Chair of the Faculty of Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Senior Partner, Kucher Kuleshov Maximenko & Partners (KKMP)
Julia Mullina
General Director, Russian Arbitration Center at the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization "Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration"
Maxim Nikitin
Founder, Managing Partner, Special Assignments Agency
Broadcast
Andrey Kozlov
Managing Partner, Lawyer, Law Firm "RussianLegal"
Andrey Kozlov is the founder and managing partner of the RussianLegal Law Firm.
Andrey specializes in disputes on compliance restoring and countermeasures against the withdrawal of assets, M&A transactions supporting and negotiations for further division of joint business or quitting it.
Category I “Best Lawyers: Federal Ranking” 2023 – “Resolution of Corporate Conflicts” according to Kommersant;
Member of the working group of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.
Attorney-at-law, graduate of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Faculty of Law and University College London (LL.M); Chief editor of the Academy of Law magazine, founder of the educational projects “Drafting School”, “Russian Legal Tournament” - the project of the year in the field of education according to Pravo-300 national ranking 2024.
Andrey specializes in disputes on compliance restoring and countermeasures against the withdrawal of assets, M&A transactions supporting and negotiations for further division of joint business or quitting it.
Category I “Best Lawyers: Federal Ranking” 2023 – “Resolution of Corporate Conflicts” according to Kommersant;
Member of the working group of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.
Attorney-at-law, graduate of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Faculty of Law and University College London (LL.M); Chief editor of the Academy of Law magazine, founder of the educational projects “Drafting School”, “Russian Legal Tournament” - the project of the year in the field of education according to Pravo-300 national ranking 2024.
Valery Eremenko
Partner, Co-Head of Litigation Practice, EPAM Law
Valery Eremenko’s experience in dispute resolution dates back to 1996. He specialises in corporate and antitrust disputes, as well as disputes related to bankruptcy and insolvency, insurance, real estate, securities and shareholders’ protection legislation.
Valery has a proven record in coordinating and taking part in over 3,000 arbitration cases. He has repeatedly represented clients before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in several significant cases that have influenced the formation of Russian jurisprudence.
Valery’s experience includes taking part in hearings of committees of the State Duma and the Federation Council and representing clients before executive authorities.
He is a member of the Moscow lawyers’ club.
Valery graduated from the Law School of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1997. He is a graduate of the SKOLKOVO Business School and the International Institute for Management Development LIFT: Leadership Identity Foundation and Transformation programme and the SKOLKOVO School of Management "Leaders as Teachers. Tell your story".
Valery has a proven record in coordinating and taking part in over 3,000 arbitration cases. He has repeatedly represented clients before the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in several significant cases that have influenced the formation of Russian jurisprudence.
Valery’s experience includes taking part in hearings of committees of the State Duma and the Federation Council and representing clients before executive authorities.
He is a member of the Moscow lawyers’ club.
Valery graduated from the Law School of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1997. He is a graduate of the SKOLKOVO Business School and the International Institute for Management Development LIFT: Leadership Identity Foundation and Transformation programme and the SKOLKOVO School of Management "Leaders as Teachers. Tell your story".
Ilya Zharskiy
Managing Partner, Veta Expert Group
Ilya founded and has been in charge of Veta Expert Group, which makes economic and technical examinations and provides full-service expert support for litigation. Ilya is a practicing expert and his competencies and interests lie in the following areas:
• Development and support of investment projects (commercial and residential real estate), business assessments.
• Development of mathematical models for the assessment of intangible assets, lost profits, analysis of the financial and economic activities of a business.
• Valuation of securities and financial instruments
• Market research, financial and economic expertise on tariff calculations; monopoly and other economically unfair prices, losses caused by violations of antimonopoly legislation.
In addition to his professional work, Ilya is active in public life as chairman of the bankruptcy subcommittee of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, gives lectures at the institutes M-Logos, Institute for the Development of Modern Educational Technologies (IDMET), Russian State University of Justice (RSUJ), and is the author and co-author of books and articles on specialized topics.
• Development and support of investment projects (commercial and residential real estate), business assessments.
• Development of mathematical models for the assessment of intangible assets, lost profits, analysis of the financial and economic activities of a business.
• Valuation of securities and financial instruments
• Market research, financial and economic expertise on tariff calculations; monopoly and other economically unfair prices, losses caused by violations of antimonopoly legislation.
In addition to his professional work, Ilya is active in public life as chairman of the bankruptcy subcommittee of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, gives lectures at the institutes M-Logos, Institute for the Development of Modern Educational Technologies (IDMET), Russian State University of Justice (RSUJ), and is the author and co-author of books and articles on specialized topics.
Anna Konyaeva
Managing Partner, CPO GROUP
Alyona Kucher
Associate Professor of the Civil Law Chair of the Faculty of Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Senior Partner, Kucher Kuleshov Maximenko & Partners (KKMP)
For over 25 years, Alyona Kucher has advised on general corporate matters, real estate, construction and infrastructure transactions, oil and gas projects and M&A transactions.
Alyona has been recognized as Corporate Lawyer of the Year and a leading M&A lawyer in Russia by Best Lawyers (2022). She has also been consistently recognized by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, IFLR1000, Pravo-300, Kommersant and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Alyona was a member of the Expert Council of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development on Corporate Governance and a member of the Council for the Improvement of Arbitration Proceedings under the Russian Ministry of Justice. She was awarded a diploma of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for her contribution to the Ministry's tasks. Alyona is also on the lists of recommended arbitrators of the Russian Arbitration Center and ICC Russia.
Alyona is the author of a book on contract formation and negotiation procedures, a co-author of the leading Russian textbook on civil law, published by the Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and author of a number of articles on various issues of Russian law.
Alyona has been recognized as Corporate Lawyer of the Year and a leading M&A lawyer in Russia by Best Lawyers (2022). She has also been consistently recognized by Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, IFLR1000, Pravo-300, Kommersant and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Alyona was a member of the Expert Council of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development on Corporate Governance and a member of the Council for the Improvement of Arbitration Proceedings under the Russian Ministry of Justice. She was awarded a diploma of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for her contribution to the Ministry's tasks. Alyona is also on the lists of recommended arbitrators of the Russian Arbitration Center and ICC Russia.
Alyona is the author of a book on contract formation and negotiation procedures, a co-author of the leading Russian textbook on civil law, published by the Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and author of a number of articles on various issues of Russian law.
Julia Mullina
General Director, Russian Arbitration Center at the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization "Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration"
Russian Arbitration Center (RAC) at the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration (RIMA), Director
The International and Comparative Law Research Center (ICLRC), General Director
Yulia has been involved in the project of the Russian Arbitration Center (RAC) at the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration (RIMA) since its appearance in 2016. She has been the head of both since 2019 and in this position, Yulia actively develops and popularizes arbitration in Russia and abroad. Previously, Yulia acted as a legal adviser to the RAC and participated in arbitration proceedings administered by RAC as an assistant to the arbitration panels.
Before joining RAC, Yulia worked in one of the leading Russian law firms and acted as a representative in courts and arbitration.
Since 2023 Yulia has headed The International and Comparative Law Research Center (ICLRC).
Areas of professional interests:
private international law;
international commercial arbitration;
international investment arbitration;
comparative law.
Yulia holds membership of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and is a part of Advisory Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).
She is fluent in Russian and English and basic in German.
Yulia graduated from Law school of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2015 and in 2019 took her Jur.M. at the Department of Civil Law of the University. In 2019, Yulia was a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Hamburg, Germany).
In 2020 Yulia completed her post-graduate studies at the Department of Civil Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University.
The International and Comparative Law Research Center (ICLRC), General Director
Yulia has been involved in the project of the Russian Arbitration Center (RAC) at the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration (RIMA) since its appearance in 2016. She has been the head of both since 2019 and in this position, Yulia actively develops and popularizes arbitration in Russia and abroad. Previously, Yulia acted as a legal adviser to the RAC and participated in arbitration proceedings administered by RAC as an assistant to the arbitration panels.
Before joining RAC, Yulia worked in one of the leading Russian law firms and acted as a representative in courts and arbitration.
Since 2023 Yulia has headed The International and Comparative Law Research Center (ICLRC).
Areas of professional interests:
private international law;
international commercial arbitration;
international investment arbitration;
comparative law.
Yulia holds membership of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and is a part of Advisory Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).
She is fluent in Russian and English and basic in German.
Yulia graduated from Law school of Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2015 and in 2019 took her Jur.M. at the Department of Civil Law of the University. In 2019, Yulia was a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Hamburg, Germany).
In 2020 Yulia completed her post-graduate studies at the Department of Civil Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Maxim Nikitin
Founder, Managing Partner, Special Assignments Agency
For more than 20 years, Maxim has been advising owners and managers of large Russian and international companies on communication and reputation management. The portfolio includes projects with Gleden Invest, including the AZIMUT HOTELS chain, KR PROPERTIES, the Metropol Hotel, the Petroff Palace, Karat plant, Istra Valley; Copernicus Group, VTB, TopPhysio, Sapsan Group, Yandex, AIC, AlfaStrakhovanie, Samolyot, Donstroy, X5 Group, Prime Property Management, Khokhlovka Art Quarter and many others.
Maxim started the practice of reputation and communications management in the early 2000s at the legendary Tayniy Sovetnik agency, where he tutored on how to strengthen the negotiating positions of parties in a business conflicts; later he headed the PR department at MIAN Group and Gleden-Invest.
After more than 20 years of practice in PR support of conflict situations in disputes between Russian and foreign entities and having had the experience in executive positions in large Russian companies, Maxim has developed approaches to reputation management, the most important of which is honesty with oneself and pride intact in most complicated situations.
Maxim is the author and moderator of transformational programs on leadership development, coach, and facilitator.
Maxim started the practice of reputation and communications management in the early 2000s at the legendary Tayniy Sovetnik agency, where he tutored on how to strengthen the negotiating positions of parties in a business conflicts; later he headed the PR department at MIAN Group and Gleden-Invest.
After more than 20 years of practice in PR support of conflict situations in disputes between Russian and foreign entities and having had the experience in executive positions in large Russian companies, Maxim has developed approaches to reputation management, the most important of which is honesty with oneself and pride intact in most complicated situations.
Maxim is the author and moderator of transformational programs on leadership development, coach, and facilitator.