M&A and Banking & Finance practices at PwC Legal Ukraine recognized as one of the strongest on the market

Andrey Pronchenko, Managing Partner at PwC Legal Ukraine, said:

“This year we celebrate 25 years of PwC work in Ukraine and our legal practice, in particular. All these years we have been helping our clients to become more competitive and grow on international markets while remaining transparent and ethical.
 

If in the early 90's we felt in a sense that we were "educators" and had to invest the lion's share of our time into explaining the need for "compliance" to our clients, now clients are turning to us precisely because of the understanding that we are the ones who can provide compliance in all aspects. Modern society imposes harsher requirements on businesses: ethics and business transparency are now playing a key role. What matters is not only what you do, but also how you do it.
 

All these years we worked on shaping the market and investing in our reputation, and in the last 2-3 years we feel these investments are beginning to pay off. At the moment, our client portfolio is comprised of dozens of Fortune Global 500 companies.
 

Our business philosophy is based on cooperation with companies that share our values ​​and principles of doing business and have zero tolerance towards nontransparent and questionable practices. We are aware that such a principled position limits the pool of companies that may become our customers; but if we and the client subscribe to this criterion that is crucial for both of us – all parties involved get indisputable advantages. With us the client feels 100% secure - after all, besides having a team experienced lawyers working for you, the reputation of the PwC brand plays its role as well. Such a selective approach to determining who can become our client is our conscious contribution to creating a transparent and competitive business environment in Ukraine.
 

Without a doubt, all this translates into higher scores in international rankings, including IFLR 1000”.

“This success comes first of all thanks to our clients - leading financial institutions, as well as Ukrainian and international companies that trust our team to work on complex and controversial projects and utilize our comprehensive legal advice for their transactions”,

- commented Alexey Katasonov, Partner and Head of Corporate and M&A and Banking & Finance practices at PwC Legal Ukraine.

“On the other hand, these results serve as proof of the high professionalism of our legal team. Last August we strengthened our team in a major way by bringing in Oleksandra Kostrytsia, a top-notch professional with a keen understanding of corporate law and over 13 years of experience in Mergers & Acquisitions.

Before joining PwC Legal Ukraine, Oleksandra worked as a legal consultant at leading domestic and international law firms as well as an in-house lawyer at top companies.

We do both routine regulatory work and handle complex transactions (last year my colleagues successfully closed 3 biggest deals on Ukraine’s domestic market totalling 400 m USD). I recall once, after closing a deal, the happy-camper client came to our office and uttered a phrase that stuck with us and eventually became our motto:
 

“This is the firm where deals come through!”