Russia and CIS

Legal Expertise 

Our Russia and CIS practice are specialists in providing English and European law advice to our clients on transactions involving the region of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and neighbouring areas, such as the Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia.

We have the right combination of technical and global experience and trusted relationships with the best local legal counsel selected for their strength in a particular area relevant to our clients. This makes us well placed to advise clients on various transactions and matters involving FSU jurisdictions.

Our Russian and CIS practice offers:

• Geographic coverage which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Mongolia
• Senior and trusted advisors based in London with extensive experience acting in Russia and CIS
• Broad industry experience including agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, automotive, public sector, mining, oil & gas, digital, transport and banking
• Bi-lingual lawyers fluent in Russian and English which allows us to provide useful insight and navigate culturally diverse projects effectively
• Deep and trusted relationships locally in Russia and CIS with a network of reliable and cost-efficient local legal counsel who treat Ashurst as an important client, and provide us and our clients with high level support and engagement
• Technical know-how on high profile and complex transactions
• A fully integrated team with knowledge and experience directly relevant to the needs of the transaction
• A unique work allocation model and a commercial approach for our lawyers that gives us the ability to ensure we have the right global lawyers working on the transaction at any time

Some of our recent deals include:

• Central Bank of Russia on corporate governance and structural improvements in the regulation of the Russian financial system, based on the best practice adopted in the United Kingdom
• Veon on a potential acquisition of a publicly traded telecom company in Kazakhstan
• Mironovskiy Hleboproduct MHP SA) in relation to its IPO on the London Stock Exchange achieving US$1.7bn capitalisation and underwritten by UBS and Morgan Stanley
• The London Stock Exchange in connection with its business development in Russia and Kazakhstan
• Vostok Energy plc on the disposal by UK administrators of Vostok Energy assets to an oil company
• Rusal on Millhouse Capital UK Ltd's £923m acquisition of a 4.9% stake in MMC Norilsk Nickel from Interros Company and United Company Rusal
• Russian Railways on potential acquisition in the Greek port of Thessaloniki. A rare example of a large state-owned Russian company engaging in a public M&A tender process in Greece
• Citi and JPMorgan Cazenove in relation to the offer by a consortium of founders and the Kazakh government to take private ENRC