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Kinstellar announces new promotions to Counsel
February 2024 – Kinstellar is delighted to announce the promotions to Counsel of: Yerlan Akhmetov, Kuanysh Shekerbekov (Almaty, Kazakhstan), Cătălin Dinu, Cătălin Graure (Bucharest, Romania), Barnabás Sági (Budapest, Hungary), Yulia Eismont, Maksym Tesliar (Kyiv, Ukraine), Michal Forýtek (Prague, Czech Republic), Andrijana Kaštelan, Vedran Kopilović, Marija Vuchetich (Zagreb, Croatia). ALMATY Yerlan Akhmetov focuses on banking and finance, M&A and capital markets matters. Having been with the Firm for nine years, Yerlan has earned a reputation for cultivating strong client relationships, demonstrating leadership qualities and making significant contributions to our firm's success. He has played a key role
Kinstellar strengthens its team in Kazakhstan with the appointment of Ardak Idayatova as Partner
Kinstellar is delighted to announce that Ardak Idayatova has joined the firm’s Almaty office as Partner. Ardak Idayatova is an experienced practitioner with a career spanning 20 years. She focuses primarily on commercial arbitration (especially construction arbitration) and litigation, as well as on public-private partnerships and real estate. Ardak’s expertise includes providing comprehensive support to major infrastructure projects, primarily representing foreign investors, international development banks and foreign contractors. Additionally, she represents and provides legal assistance to clients in foreign commercial arbitrations, mainly in connection with construction disputes arising out of different
Kinstellar advises Siemens Mobility on the acquisition of the Slovak company HMH
Kinstellar has successfully advised Siemens Mobility on the acquisition of the Slovak company HMH, a leading regional producer and innovator of railway security solutions. Siemens Mobility, part of the Siemens multinational conglomerate, has been a leader in transport solutions for more than 160 years. It offers a comprehensive portfolio through its five business units: Rail Infrastructure, Turnkey, Rolling Stock, Customer Services and Intelligent Traffic Systems. HMH is a Slovak-based technology company and producer of the MIREL national train protection system for Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Designed as a harmonised system with an interface according to European rail standards, MIREL
Kinstellar advises I Squared Capital on the acquisition of Arriva Group
Kinstellar, together with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as the lead counsel, has successfully advised Miami-based I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investment manager, on the multi-jurisdictional acquisition of the entire Arriva Group, an international transport business of Deutsche Bahn. The sale is expected to close in 2024. Kinstellar delivered a comprehensive range of legal services. This included conducting due diligence and offering regulatory advice that spanned multiple Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Kinstellar also provided transactional advice, with a specific focus on local law requirements arising in connection with the negotiation of the SPA and completion of the
Ukraine resumes large-scale privatisations
On 20 June 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Draft Law No. 8250 amending, among others, the Law of Ukraine “On the Privatisation of State and Municipal Property” (Law), signalling that Ukraine has once again set a course for large-scale privatisations. This time, however, the search for investors in large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) comes from the on-going war and mounting budget deficit. The Law unblocks the sale of SOEs with book value of over UAH 250 million (approx. USD 6.76 million). It enables the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) to impose post-privatisation obligations on investors in large SOEs, including maintaining the SOE's core business and paying off wage and tax arrears. The
Kinstellar announces new promotions to Partner and Counsel
Kinstellar is delighted and proud to announce the promotions to Partner of Tomáš Melišek (Bratislava), Levente Hegedűs (Budapest), Bulut Girgin (Istanbul), Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova, Natalia Kirichenko, Oleg Matiusha, Illya Muchnyk (all in our Kyiv office), and to Counsel of Dominika Bajzáthová (Bratislava). PARTNERS Tomá š Melišek, Bratislava Tomáš is the Head of the local Banking & Finance service line. He has 15 years of experience in banking and finance, focusing on project and acquisition financing as well as on financial regulations. Tomáš has substantial experience advising clients on significant financing transactions in the areas of real estate, energy, infrastructure, automotive, media
Ukraine: The post-victory reconstruction
Historically, Ukraine has been known as a country with a good investment climate, particularly in the energy sector. The country’s high feed-in tariff rates, general digitalization, well-established and simplified regulatory procedures, and the availability of alternative suppliers for works and services, among other factors, have contributed to a large influx of investors in new green energy projects in Ukraine. The large-scale and aggressive war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which first began in 2014 and further escalated in 2022, has led to an increasing number of human losses and widespread material destruction. Power plants and power lines, airports, ports, schools, hospitals, roads, residential
Ukraine and EU sign Common Civil Aviation Area Agreement
A recent article in Ukrainian legal affairs newspaper "Yurydychna Praktyka" ("Юридична Практика) features the comments of three Kinstellar experts—Vincent Morand (Senior Legal Advisor based in Prague), Oleksandr Kurdydyk (Partner and Head of Banking and Energy & Natural Resources in Kyiv, firm-wide Head of Projects & Infrastructure, and firm-wide Co-head of Energy & Natural Resources) and Yuliia Eismont (Senior Associate in Kyiv)—focusing on the key expectations of signing the Common Aviation Area Agreement, which creates the basis for Ukraine's integration with the European Aviation Area. The article shares the viewpoints of leading lawyers on the long-term consequences of signing the
Kinstellar strengthens its team in Uzbekistan with the appointment of Sherzod Yunusov as Partner
Kinstellar is delighted to announce that Sherzod Yunusov has joined the firm’s Tashkent office as Partner. His joining the firm bolsters our team’s capabilities in Uzbekistan and particularly our expertise in the energy and infrastructure sectors and project finance. Sherzod Yunusov has expertise and an established track record handling a wide array of matters related to oil and gas transactions (including exploration and gas production; production sharing agreements; development of fields; design and construction of infrastructure projects; gas transportation and processing; plant operation; sales of gas; and project finance), renewables (solar and wind), and infrastructure projects. He also advises on restructurings
Ukraine seeks private-sector engagement for modernisation of its port infrastructure
Despite having the largest port potential in the region, with 13 state-owned seaports located on the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas, Ukraine’s port industry struggles with various problems, including outdated and worn-out equipment, a lack of deep-water anchorages, the inadequate condition of public transport infrastructure, fragmentation of port lands and assets, lack of proper regulation for outer harbour (roadstead) construction works, high port tariffs compared to neighbouring countries etc. Among other things, there is an urgent need to modernise state-owned port assets and to improve their management, both of which require significant financial investments and new approaches using the best international practices.
Kinstellar advises EBRD on a EUR 10 million credit facility for ERU Trading, a leading Ukrainian privately owned gas trader
Kinstellar’s Kyiv office has acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in connection with a EUR 10 million revolving credit facility for ERU Trading LLC, a leading privately owned gas trader in Ukraine, for the financing of its working capital needs. Among other matters, Kinstellar's team has extensively advised the Bank on regulatory matters related to the storage of natural gas in Ukraine and on the creation of security over the natural gas in storage. Matteo Patrone, Managing Director, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus (EEC) at the EBRD, comments on the signing of the loan agreement between the EBRD and ERU Trading: “By supporting a privately owned gas trader, we are
Kinstellar advises on a first-of-its-kind PPP motorway project in the Czech Republic
Kinstellar, in conjunction with the UK law firm Linklaters, has successfully advised a group of international banks in relation to the concession agreement and the drafting and negotiating of financing documentation for the first-ever PPP motorway project in the Czech Republic. The banks involved in financing the transaction are: Československá obchodní banka, KfW IPEX, DZ Bank, NordLB, MEAG, SMBC, Siemens Bank, UniCredit and Société Générale. The roughly CZK 18 billion (approximately EUR 700 million) deal required considerable expertise on the part of the team, as well as the need to devise a large number of new projects and financing-related solutions. A French consortium comprising VINCI Concessions and