Asters

Managing Committee: Oleksiy Didkovskiy, Armen Khachaturyan, Igor Svechkar

Number of Fee-Earners: 120, including 23 partners

Languages: English, Ukrainian, Russian

Firm Overview:

Asters is the biggest law firm in Ukraine operating since 1995. With offices in Kyiv, London, Brussels and Washington D.C. the firm provides a unique combination of strong transactional, regulatory and dispute resolution practices, as well as deep insights to all key sectors of economy.

Main Areas of Practice:

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Banking & Finance
• Capital Markets
• Competition & Antitrust
• Compliance & Anti-corruption
• Corporate & M&A
• Customs
• Cybersecurity
• Domestic Litigation
• Employment & Immigration
• Energy & Natural Resources
• Environment & ESG
• Family & Inheritance
• Forensic
• Intellectual Property
• International Arbitration & Cross-Border Litigation
• International Trade
• Private Clients
• Public Advocacy & Law
• Public-Private Partnership
• Real Estate & Construction
• Restructuring & Insolvency
• State Aid
• Taxation
• Tech & Comms
• White-Collar Crime

Asters keeps high standards of its expertise in full range of legal services. Its established history, manpower and extensive industry-specific experience allows it to play a leading role in advising clients in various market sectors.

Industry Sectors:

• Agribusiness
• Automotive
• Aviation
• Banks & Financial Services
• Communications
• Energy
• Gaming, Gambling & Lottery
• Infrastructure & Transport
• Insurance
• Media & Advertising
• Military & Defence
• Oil & Gas
• Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
• Private Equity
• Real Estate & Construction
• Retail & FMCG
• Sports
• Technology & Innovations

Key Clients:

Asters’ lawyers regularly handle a variety of complex matters and the largest transactions for foreign and local blue chips, governments, state-run companies, investors, banks, international financial institutions, HNWI, pro athletes and sports clubs, for instance: Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, DFC, EBRD, IFC, Home Box Office, Horizon Capital, Millennium & Copthorne, Microsoft, Molson Coors, Nielsen, Prada S.p.A., PrivatBank, Siguler Guff & Company, The State of Ukraine, Uklon, Visa, Webuild S.p.A, and many others.

International Network:

Asters is an exclusive Ukrainian member of Lex Mundi, World Services Group, Biolegis, Legalink, and Energy Law Group.

Recent Work Highlights:

• Acted as a Ukrainian legal advisor to the Ukrainian Export Credit Agency on establishing a first-of-its-kind war risk insurance mechanism for international export of Ukrainian goods through the Black Sea.
• Advising the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine in the inter-state proceedings being brought by Ukraine against the Russian Federation before the European Court of Human Rights to address the damages caused by the violations committed by the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Acting as local Ukrainian legal counsel for Ukraine in connection with court proceedings in the High Court of Justice in London commenced by the Trustee, The Law Debenture Trust Corporation, against Ukraine regarding its alleged debt under 3 billion USD bonds purportedly issued by Ukraine in 2013 and 100% taken up by the Russian Federation.
• Successfully represented one of the largest manufacturers of welding products in Europe and Central Asia in a dispute against the Russian Federation regarding compensation for damages suffered by the client due to the nationalization of its subsidiary by the authorities of the Republic of Belarus following the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion.
• Successfully defended interests of PrivatBank, the largest bank in Ukraine, in the Supreme Court, which delivered the final ruling, stopping the ex-owners' attempt to return PrivatBank, which was nationalized in 2016.
• Successfully defended the interests of Home Box Office, an American multinational media and entertainment company, in a dispute concerning the production and distribution in Ukraine of "Chornobyl" – an award-winning limited series.
• Acted as a Ukrainian law counsel to an ad hoc group of lenders on the successful restructuring of a USD 2.066 billion debt of DTEK, the largest private, vertically integrated energy company in Ukraine. This deal is one of the largest debt restructuring projects in Ukraine private companies' history.
• Advised IFC and EBRD in connection with major financings on the Ukrainian market totalling approx. USD 3 billion.
• Acted as a Ukrainian counsel for JSC Ukrainian Railways in the successful restructurings of loan participation notes issued by Rail Capital Markets plc in the total amount of USD 895 million.
• Advised DFC in connection with a 10-year loan portfolio guaranty agreement for a total of USD 28 million to support the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine.
• Acted as a Ukrainian law counsel to Arawak Energy Ukraine B.V., a member of group of companies Vitol, in the sale of 50% of shares in Geo-Alliance Oil-Gas Public Limited to gas producer Geo Alliance Group Limited.
• Acted as a legal counsel in connection with the construction of Dnistrovska wind park in Odesa region of Ukraine. The project is owned by Elementum Energy, VR Capital’s renewable energy subsidiary, and Ukraine Power Resources, a US renewable energy projects developer.
• Handled 180 out of 324 most significant merger cases in Ukraine in 2008-2024, including Walt Disney/21st Century Fox, AB InBev/SABMiller, P&G/Merck, TEVA/Allergan, Dow/Du Pont, Bayer/Monsanto, ChemChina/Syngenta.