Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance co-hosts debt restructuring conference in Kyiv

On 22 June 2017, Clifford Chance, Redcliffe Partners, Alvarez & Marsal and Rothschild co-hosted a debt restructuring conference in Kyiv. The conference brought together industry leaders and restructuring specialists to discuss recent restructuring developments in Ukraine and the outlook for the Ukrainian economy.

The conference opened with Vitalii Vavryshchuk, the Director of the Financial Stability Department at the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), providing an overview of the dynamics of the Ukrainian economy, including the key risks for the financial sector and the policies being implemented by the NBU to counter those risks. Included among those policies are incentives for Ukrainian banks to implement consensual out-of-court restructurings using international restructuring standards. Olexiy Soshenko of Redcliffe Partners commented, "We are delighted to see that consensual restructurings are gaining momentum in Ukraine."

The conference also included a panel discussion in which representatives of Metinvest, DTEK, Clifford Chance, Redcliffe Partners, Alvarez & Marsal and Rothschild discussed their experiences on recently completed restructurings. The panel discussion involved a lively exchange of views, from both a debtor and creditor perspective, on topics such as the different strategies, the priorities of different stakeholders, the balancing of interests among different creditor groups and the use of English law restructuring tools in Ukraine.

Adam Fadian of Clifford Chance commented, "This was a truly unique event in that it brought together parties whom until recently had been sitting across the table from one another in intense negotiations. It involved a candid exchange of views from the debtor and creditor perspectives on the strategies deployed and the challenges encountered along the way."

The seminar was attended by over 120 representatives of leading Ukrainian banks, corporates and regulatory authorities. "The strong turnout for this event demonstrates the keen interest among clients in staying abreast of the latest restructuring techniques being implemented in Ukraine and internationally", said Jared Grubb of Clifford Chance.

The conference speakers included Vitalii Vavruyshchuk (National Bank of Ukraine), Simon Bard (Rothschild), Alexander Lyubarev (Metinvest), Dmitry Ferdotov (DTEK), Olexiy Soshenko (Redcliffe Partners), Alistair McGillivray (Clifford Chance), Jared Grubb (Clifford Chance), Adrian Cohen (Clifford Chance), Adam Fadian (Clifford Chance), Bob Rajan (Alvarez & Marsal) and Iryna Mudra (State Savings Bank of Ukraine).