Asters

Managing Committee: Oleksiy Didkovskiy, Serhii Sviriba, Armen Khachaturyan

Number of Fee-Earners: 120, including 24 partners

Languages:English, Ukrainian, Russian

Firm Overview:

Asters is the biggest law firm in Ukraine operating since 1995. With offices in Kyiv, London, Brussels and Washington D.C. the firm provides a unique combination of strong transactional, regulatory and dispute resolution practices, as well as deep insights to all key sectors of economy.

Main Areas of Practice:

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Banking & Finance
• Capital Markets
• Competition & Antitrust
• Compliance & Anti-corruption
• Corporate & M&A
• Customs
• Cybersecurity
• Domestic Litigation
• Employment & Immigration
• Energy & Natural Resources
• Environment & ESG
• Family & Inheritance
• Intellectual Property
• International Arbitration & Cross-Border Litigation
• International Trade
• Private Clients
• Public Advocacy & Law
• Public-Private Partnership
• Real Estate & Construction
• Restructuring & Insolvency
• State Aid
• Taxation
• Tech & Comms
• White-Collar Crime

Asters keeps high standards of its expertise in full range of legal services. Its established history, manpower and extensive industry-specific experience allows it to play a leading role in advising clients in various market sectors.

Industry Sectors:

• Agribusiness
• Automotive
• Aviation
• Banks & Financial Services
• Communications
• Energy
• Gaming, Gambling & Lottery
• Infrastructure & Transport
• Insurance
• Media & Advertising
• Military & Defence
• Oil & Gas
• Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
• Private Equity
• Real Estate & Construction
• Retail & FMCG
• Sports
• Technology & Innovations

Key Clients:

Asters’ lawyers regularly handle a variety of complex matters and the largest transactions for foreign and local blue chips, governments, state-run companies, investors, banks, international financial institutions, HNWI, pro athletes and sports clubs, for instance:Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, EBRD, IFC, Home Box Office, Horizon Capital,Millennium & Copthorne, Microsoft, Molson Coors, Nielsen, Prada S.p.A., PrivatBank, Siguler Guff & Company, The State of Ukraine, Uklon, Visa, Webuild S.p.A, and many others.

International Network:

Asters is an exclusive Ukrainian member of Lex Mundi, World Services Group, Biolegis, Legalink, and Energy Law Group.

Recent Work Highlights:

• Acted as a Ukrainian legal advisor to the Ukrainian Export Credit Agency on establishing a first-of-its-kind war risk insurance mechanism for international export of Ukrainian goods through the Black Sea.
• Acting as local Ukrainian legal counsel for Ukraine in connection with court proceedings in the High Court of Justice in London commenced by the Trustee, The Law Debenture Trust Corporation, against Ukraine regarding its alleged debt under 3 billion USD bonds purportedly issued by Ukraine in 2013 and 100% taken up by the Russian Federation.
• Successfully defended interests of PrivatBank, the largest bank in Ukraine in terms of the number of clients, assets value, loan portfolio and taxes paid, in the Supreme Court, which delivered the final ruling, stopping the ex-owners' attempt to return PrivatBank, which was nationalized in 2016. The victory in this case will be the basis to close all other court proceedings initiated by the ex-owners of PrivatBank and related persons to challenge the legality of its nationalization.
• Successfully defended the interests of Home Box Office, an American multinational media and entertainment company, in a dispute concerning the production and distribution in Ukraine of "Chornobyl" – an award-winning limited series.
• Acted as a Ukrainian law counsel to an ad hoc group of lenders on the successful restructuring of a USD 2.066 billion debt of DTEK, the largest private, vertically integrated energy company in Ukraine. This deal is one of the largest debt restructuring projects in Ukraine private companies' history.
• Advised IFC and EBRD in connection with major financings on the Ukrainian market totaling approx. USD 3 billion.
• Acted as a Ukrainian legal counsel to JSC Ukrainian Railways in connection with a USD 500 million Eurobonds offering of 8.25% notes due July 2024.
• Acted as a Ukrainian counsel for JSC Ukrainian Railways in the successful restructurings of loan participation notes issued by Rail Capital Markets plc in the total amount of USD 895 million.
• Acted as a Ukrainian law counsel to Arawak Energy Ukraine B.V., a member of group of companies Vitol, in the sale of 50% of shares in Geo-Alliance Oil-Gas Public Limited to gas producer Geo Alliance Group Limited.
• Acted as a legal counsel in connection with the construction of Dnistrovska wind park in Odesa region of Ukraine. The project is owned by Elementum Energy, VR Capital’s renewable energy subsidiary, andUkraine Power Resources, a US renewable energy projects developer.
• Providing ongoing support to Webuild SpA, an Italian industrial group specialized in the construction and civil engineering business, on a broad range of local legal issues, including public construction contracts, restructuring, disputes, etc.
• Handled 173 out of 314 most significant merger cases in Ukraine in 2008-2023, including Walt Disney/21st Century Fox, AB InBev/SABMiller, P&G/Merck, TEVA/Allergan, Dow/Du Pont, Bayer/Monsanto, ChemChina/Syngenta.
• Acted on the defense side (representing exporters, importers, associations and trade missions) in 21 out of 30 trade investigations initiated by Ukraine in 2019-2023.