News and Events - PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices B.V.

2009

PwC CIS Law Offices B.V. recognised as a highly recommended law firm by Legal 500

For the fourth consecutive year PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices B.V. has been recognised as a highly recommended law firm by the Legal 500 for Europe, the Middle East & Africa. Published for the past twenty years, the Legal 500 series is the leading guide to law firms throughout the world. Compiled using first-hand interviews with lawyers and clients, the rating covers legal markets in more than 100 jurisdictions.

In total, 120 law firms took part in the Russian market survey based on the results from 2008. PwC is recommended in 9 out of 11 categories: 1) banking and finance, 2-3) corporate and M&A (Moscow and St Petersburg), 4) employment, 5) energy and natural resources, 6) technology, media and telecommunications, 7) real estate, 8) shipping and transport, and 9) tax.

The guide gives a brief overview of the Russian economy and legal environment. It also provides a ranking of the 25 largest law firms in Russia by the number of employees and publishes client feedback on firms or individual persons. Here are some of the quotes given by our clients:

Energy and natural resources: "PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices BV’s practice spans oil, mining, gas and power. Yana Zoloeva and Vladimir Sokolov are recommended.”
Tax: "As the legal arm of one of the ‘big four’ accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices BV is ‘extremely adept’ at handling tax matters. Yana Proskurina leads the tax practice, which successfully represented a major international beverage maker in all court instances relating to a USD 3 million tax dispute. Svetlana Stroykova is highly recommended.”
Shipping and transport: "The bulk of PricewaterhouseCoopers CIS Law Offices BV’s transport work is led by Evgeniy Gouk and Daria Matveeva in the firm’s St Petersburg office. A recent highlight was advising Mazda on freight-forwarding arrangements.”

2008

Foreign Employees in Your Company

June 3, Marriott Tverskaya Hotel (34, 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street)

PricewaterhouseCoopers is glad to invite you to the annual seminar «Foreign Employees in Your Company», organized by The Moscow Times on 3 June 2008 in Marriott Tverskaya Hotel.

As a special sponsor of the event we would like to invite you, your partners and colleagues to attend the seminar with 25% discount from the official price. To use this discount please enter the The Moscow Times website and write that your company is PricewaterhouseCoopers client at the field “Comments” in the registration form.

To receive additional information regarding registration please contact Viktoria Klimova (The Moscow Times representative) ( reg@tmtbb.ru (with anti-spam) or v.klimova@imedia.ru (with anti-spam)).Phone + 7 (495) 232-3200, 232-1769.Fax + 7 (495) 232-6528.

Singapore Exchange: New Opportunities for Russian Business

27 March 2008

Asian markets have started to attract Russian business, so this event was developed to give an overview of SGX capabilities and perspectives for Russian companies. The programme covered the main SGX listing opportunities and the listing process from the point of view of the issue manager, auditor, and PR advisor.

Top representatives from the Singapore Exchange, PwC Singapore and HL Bank Singapore participated.

It was a great opportunity for our clients to learn more about the Singapore Exchange and to ask SGX representatives questions. Executives from Basic Element, United Industrial Corporation, Prof-Media, B-Invest, Gazprom, the Central Bank, Absolute Group, GidroOGK and Teleset Networks took part in the discussion and gave very positive feedback. The event was broadcast on RBC TV.

Russian Supreme Arbitrazh Court and Russian Constitutional Court Practice Update for 2007

On 20 March 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers held a business breakfast, Russian Supreme Arbitrazh Court and Russian Constitutional Court Practice Update for 2007. PwC clients were invited to learn about the principal changes and latest trends in arbitrazh court practice and had a chance to discuss their questions with tax-dispute resolution experts. The half-day event took place at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Riverside Towers office and attracted around 70 delegates from large companies like Akzo Nobel, P&G, Gazpromneft, ROSNO, EuroChem, Indesit, NTV, and Uralsib.

Yana Proskurina, senior attorney, gave a presentation on unjustified tax benefits and an update on SAC and CC practice regarding VAT issues. Svetlana Naumchik, legal consultant, shared her experience and insights on the economic justification of expenses and an update on SAC practice regarding holding parties liable for tax offences.

2007

Subsoil Use Rights: Your Strategy and Risk Management

On 20 September 2007 the PricewaterhouseCoopers legal practice held a business breakfast for the EU&M sector. The aim was to share our unique knowledge and practical experience of the different aspects of obtaining, re-issuance and terminating of subsoil use rights, to look at the functions and powers of the regulating bodies in this area. A focus in particular was made on the latest changes in subsoil legislation, which expand the grounds for re-issuance of subsoil licences and the negative consequences this might result in for our clients.

Igor Boldyrev, Partner, led the event, making opening and closing remarks and answering multiple questions from the participants.

The topic raised great interest among top managers from more than 30 EU&M companies. Almost all the participants evaluated the content, presentation skills and the whole organisation of the event as excellent.

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Russian Financial Sector

In light of the tremendous growth of Russian M&A market activity and as further development of PwC profile in the financial sector, PricewaterhouseCoopers and mergermarket have conducted a joint study of Russian financial institutions views on mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector.

The key findings of the survey were presented at the Mergers & Acquisitions in the Financial Industry in Russia conference that was held on 16 October 2007 at Marriott Royal Aurora, Moscow.

Igor Makarov, Legal Partner ( co-author of comments for survey ), participated as speaker in the conference. The main topics covered by him were: russian regulatory approval of an aquisition: the main obstacles, and the tricky legal issues of the deals.

Law Forum: key updates to the Russian Legislation

Pricewaterhousecoopers CIS Law Offices B.V. and “The Moscow Times” newspaper co-organized a Russian law forum that took place on March 15 2007. The leading law and advisory companies covered the key issues of the Russian legislation that the companies deal with on the daily basis.