INTEGRITES

INTEGRITES announces a strategic restructuring, leading to the separation of our Kazakhstan offices. After years of successful collaboration, the partners in Ukraine and Kazakhstan have mutually decided to pursue independent paths. As a result, INTEGRITES Kazakhstan will be leaving the group to continue independent operations under the brand Salus Legal. This step will allow Salus Legal to sharpen its focus on serving clients in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The Kyiv office remains dedicated to advising domestic and foreign clients who do business in Ukraine. The firm will in particular concentrate on projects for reconstruction during and after the war, on promoting Ukrainian agenda and helping international investors to start or expand business in Ukraine. This restructuring will not affect our commitment to excellence, integrity, and professionalism. We extend our sincere thanks to our clients, partners, and the public for their continued trust and support. We appreciate your understanding during this transition and are committed to ensuring a smooth process.

INTEGRITES advised NOVUS and UNIVER on the structure, documentation and filing issuance of UAH 400 million (approx. EUR 10 million) corporate bonds in the local market. The bonds are secured by the mortgage provided by NOVUS group of companies and overseen by INTEGRITES as an independent bond administrator entity. Initiated in late 2023 and led by the arranger – Univer Capital, a licenced investment firm, the project came to formal submission to the securities regulator in May 2024, while the temporary issue certificate was granted in September this year. The corporate bonds of NOVUS Ukraine LLC will become available to investors starting from September 26, 2024, soon after the approval obtained from the NSSMC (National Securities and Stock Market Commission). The case comes ground-breaking for both retail and legal services industry, as it has become the first of the kind in Ukraine to introduce a non-banking organisation as an independent bond administrator. The team of INTEGRITES leveraged experience in policy shaping and public advocacy to contribute to development of regulations that enabled non-banking organisations, including law firms, to act as bond issue administrator. In this regard, INTEGRITES acted to set a precedent and shape the framework for other actors in the debt securities markets. Along with playing the leading role in the advocacy efforts, the lawyers of INTEGRITES developed the first template contract on bond issue administration for the industry which is reflective of the best practices in the Eurobonds, as well as handled the conclusion of the mortgage agreement. Led by Managing partner, Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, and Partner Oleh Zahnitko, the team working on the landmark case included Counsel Vasyl Yurmanovych, Senior Associates Yuriy Korchev and Sergiy Datsiv. https://lnkd.in/g9HYEuNV

Olena Perepelynska, Partner and head of International Arbitration, President of the Ukrainian Arbitration Association (UAA), participated in the Vilnius Arbitration Day 2024, one of the key events for the arbitration community of the CEE region.   More than 200 attendees of the event, including distinguished international arbitration practitioners, industry experts, and academics, discussed sanctions and corruption issues in arbitration, energy disputes, national security and the involvement of state entities into international proceedings.   Olena took part in: ➡️ The panel "Navigating through Corruption Allegations in Arbitration" which offered a platform for discussing the increasing challenges in addressing corruption and the importance of integrity in arbitration proceedings. In her presentation, Olena discussed the difficulties of determining the standard and the burden of proof of corruption allegations and gave practical examples of cases involving Ukrainian parties.  ➡️ ArbCEE discussion “Arbitrator Story: Finding Nemo... the Right One!” focusing on how to choose the right arbitrator from among the CEE practitioners. Olena's comments primarily concerned the approaches of arbitrators and arbitration institutions to the selection of candidates.   A heartfelt thanks to the organizers of #VilniusArbitrationDay for an opportunity to connect with fellow leaders in the CEE arbitration community!

Buzz Interviews for CEE Legal Matters are a kind of a jurisdiction pulse check we are always happy to contribute to.   In the recent one, senior partner Vyacheslav Korchev described Ukraine's economic landscape, challenges and transformations in the area of Antitrust and Competition, and latest market trends which have their impact on the workload of competition law practitioners.   Read the interview: https://lnkd.in/exWqRJQf

Resilient despite the war 💪   INTEGRITES has been shortlisted for The Lawyer European Awards 2024 in three categories: - European finance team of the year - European litigation team of the year - Law firm of the year: Ukraine   Deeply grateful to the team and the jury of the Awards for the recognition and the job done: this year they’ve received a record number of entries from firms across the continent, seeking to pick up some of the most prestigious trophies in the legal profession.   Congratulations to the teams: Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, Vyacheslav Korchev, Illya Tkachuk, Igor Krasovskiy, Oleh Zahnitko, Dmytro Marchukov, Serhii Uvarov! Winners will be announced on 28 November in London, so fingers crossed!   More about The Lawyer European Awards 2024: https://lnkd.in/eaz4E_9

Our Real Estate, Construction and Infrastructure team, partner Anna Pogrebna and counsel Tetiana Storozhuk, authored an article on mechanisms Ukraine offers to stimulate investment projects aimed at economic development and resilience during wartime. In particular, the article refers to projects with significant investments.   Originally published in The Legal Industry Reviews Germany (Edition 5), the article can be accessed on our website: https://lnkd.in/ec_tBcBQ

Senior partner Vyacheslav Korchev participated in the 41st Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime and moderated the session “Ukraine – Fighting to uphold the rule of law”. In focus were the achievements and further challenges in the anti-corruption realm in Ukraine during the war. The session featured such distinguished speakers as Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention Viktor Pavlushchyk, Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine Semen Kryvonos, Prosecutor of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Andrii Kasian, Ukraine’s MP and member of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation - Lisa Yasko, judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court Oleksii Kravchuk. The Symposium traditionally delivered a unique level and depth of expertise from the corporate and public sectors, as well as the academia from across the globe. We are honoured to delegate Vyacheslav as invited moderator to the Symposium for the second consecutive year and are grateful to University of Cambridge for organization and Jack Davies of Kirkland & Ellis for the outstanding contribution to the joint facilitation of the session.

Our Banking & Finance team - partner Igor Krasovskiy, counsel Olena Savchuk and senior associate Yuriy Korchev - contributed to the 2nd edition of the Global Project Finance Guide by Ergün Law Firm (Turkey) with a chapter on Ukraine. This updated edition continues to offer a comprehensive summary of the laws and practices governing project finance in various jurisdictions. The Guide provides an in-depth overview of the legislation and international treaties relevant to project finance, highlighting security interests, incentives, and restrictions in each jurisdiction. The Guide also addresses critical technical areas and incorporates the latest trends and developments. We are grateful to colleagues from Ergün Law Firm for the invitation to contribute. Access the chapter on Ukraine: https://lnkd.in/eBpY48UH

On 13 August 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine presented renewable energy support quotas for 2024 and scheduled the first pilot auctions in 2024 for the allocation of the support quota among investors intending to build new renewable energy facilities. This is the first attempt to launch auctions since the auction model was introduced into legislation in 2019. Read details on our website: https://lnkd.in/ec_fqmMF Dr. Oleksiy Feliv Sergiy Datsiv

Our team looks forward to attending the largest event of the kind in the world – International Bar Association Annual Conference 2024 in Mexico City which expects to welcome 5000 lawyers from 130 jurisdictions.   Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, Vyacheslav Korchev, Dmytro Marchukov will be ready to get together and discuss opportunities which Ukraine invites to leverage right now.   Investment in the reconstruction of Ukraine, M&A potential, legislative framework and developments, disputes, investment and commercial arbitrations – please DM our Linkedin page or members of our delegation directly if you’d like to schedule a meeting.   See you soon in Mexico! #IBAMexico