With the opening of the Kyiv office in late 2008, Clifford Chance established a presence in the market at a time when clients needed our services most. As the first UK 'magic circle' law firm in Ukraine, we offer unparalleled depth of resources spanning the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

The Kyiv office also works closely with our teams in Frankfurt, London, Moscow and Warsaw in order to share best practices across borders, deliver constant legal innovation and provide clients with the highest quality advice.

Since opening, both international and local clients have instructed us to act on a broad range of high profile debt and corporate restructurings, regulatory and compliance situations. Clifford Chance is also currently the firm of choice for legal advice in connection with the new post-crisis commercial activity in Ukraine, particularly in the areas of capital markets, M&A, portfolio trading, new lending and project developments.

Having gone through probably the most turbulent phase of the global economic crisis, financial institutions, industrial companies, investors and project developers are adapting quickly to the country's vast capital requirements and changing legal environment. In this context, we understand that high-quality commercially sound legal advice is an essential component for executing critical business decisions, taking advantage of emerging opportunities and mitigating risks.

Over the past year, Clifford Chance's Kyiv office has handled some of the Ukraine's most prominent local and cross-border deals. As Chambers (2009) put it, 'clients also feel that the presence of UK qualified lawyers makes the local teams more self-sufficient and ensures a coordinated approach to multijurisdictional transactions'.

Our practice areas and individual lawyers are recognized by the global legal directories such as Chambers, Legal 500 and IFLR 1000.

The firm's involvement in key commercial and strategic transactions in the corporate, financial and real estate sectors in Ukraine has made it a natural choice for clients in need of local expertise and global market knowledge. Speaking about Clifford Chance's presence in Eastern Europe, IFLR 1000 (2009) remarked that 'the firm has an impressive number of partners on the ground in the region, with many deals being led out of the regional offices instead of being handballed back to London'.

Our recognized key practice areas in Ukraine include Banking and finance, Capital markets, Corporate and M&A, and Real estate.

Banking and finance

As economic activity and investor interest across Central and Eastern Europe revives, the Kyiv office continues to act for borrowers, corporate and investment banks, multilateral lenders, project sponsors and developers as well as the full range of investors in connection with all aspects of financing: acquisition finance, real estate finance, asset finance, structured finance, corporate lending and refinancing, trade and pre-export finance, project and infrastructure finance. Furthermore, the team in Kyiv has advised several banks and financial institutions across the range of regulatory and operational activity, including compliance with the requirements of the National Bank of Ukraine, licensing and governance, currency controls and capital adequacy rules.

The Kyiv office has advised on a number of the high-profile debt restructurings in Ukraine. 'It has already managed to win a notable share of debt restructuring instructions and offers a blend of local expertise and cross-border capacity. The team regularly co-operates with its counterpart in London. Commentators agree that the group has taken a bold approach and made a big impact on the market - it is becoming increasingly prominent', Chambers (2010).

Capital markets

As borrowers and investors return to capital markets to meet funding requirements, the firm’s exceptional depth of resources in every major financial centre make it an especially advantageous partner to ensure clients can leverage their full range of options. With a breadth of experience advising in connection with both plain vanilla and complex structured transactions, the team in Kyiv is uniquely placed to help clients implement the appropriate debt and equity instruments in the right markets.

The team has acted for issuers and underwriters in connection with international capital market transactions across Europe and in the United States. We advise clients on raising funds through both loan facilities and securities issuance, including: Initial Public Offerings, Secondary Offerings and Capital Raising,  ADRs, GDRs and other depositary receipts, MTN, LPN, CLN programmes, Eurobonds, Long-term and mid-term credit facilities, Securitisation, Derivative documentation and structuring and Private Placements.

Corporate and M&A

Ukraine’s ongoing industrial consolidation, corporate restructurings and privatizations depend upon constant legal innovation – not only to steer a course through shifting regulatory hurdles but to bring deals to market by getting structures right. Furthermore, compliance with the merger control and foreign investment regime necessitates diligent planning and perfect execution to avoid unexpected obstacles, costly delays and (in a worst case scenario) transaction reversals. For opportunistic market participants constantly re-evaluating assets and competitive position, the Kyiv team offers legal advice on all phases of mergers and acquisitions activity: Due Diligence – Purchase of asset and shares – Deal structuring – Negotiations.

The team advises leading corporations, financial institutions and private investors on executing strategic plans through complex transactions and equity offerings, including M&A, joint ventures, partnerships, private equity, direct investments, divestments, privatisation and environmental law. Working closely with Clifford Chance experts in other jurisdictions, the Kyiv team provides clients efficient and cost-effective transaction management.

Real estate

We have been involved in various Real Estate transactions in Ukraine assisting Real Estate investors, world leading developers and financiers on cutting edge deals.

We have a dedicated team of Real Estate specialised lawyers who are regularly involved in all aspects of real estate transactions and combine expertise in relevant areas including real estate acquisition and financing, title issues and due diligence, property development and investment, asset and shares deals, and lease-back.

We are happy to put our profound expertise and top quality at our clients' service, helping them meet their business objectives, take advantage of new emerging opportunities and mitigate risks.

If you would like to know more about our office in Kyiv or other aspects of our involvement in Ukraine please e-mail: Ukraine@CliffordChance.com