Ihor Olekhov

Practice Areas

Banking & Finance, Banking & International Finance, Insolvency and Restructuring, Capital Markets, Sustainable Project Finance, Structured Commodities Trade Finance, Banking Regulations Mergers & Acquisitions (Financial Institutions), Tax, Sustainable Infrastructure

Professional Memberships

EBA, ACC, ASDE, UBA, USUBC, AHK

Publications

• Ihor Olekhov regularly contributes on corporate finance, tax and banking law issues to the major Ukrainian and international business and trade publications;

• Ihor Olekhov is the author of numerous legislative initiatives and is the regular participant in numerous working groups on reforming and improving legislation in the banking & finance, debt restructuring and tax areas, aviation, privatization and public-private partnership legislation.

• January 2025 – Ukraine: Updates to Foreign Exchange Rules in 2025

• December 2024 – Ukraine enacts tax code amendments amid martial law

• November 2024 – Ukraine’s state-owned banks to be sold

• July 2024 – Cross-Border Payments for War Risk Insurance and Certain Guarantees / Suretyships Allowed

• May 2024 – FX Rules simplified during wartime in Ukraine

• April 2024 – Participatory Interests in LLCs become Electronic in Ukraine

• February 2024 – Agrarian Notes: A New Instrument to Finance Agrarian Business

Work Highlights

• Dutch Good Growth Fund on securing regulatory approvals from the National Bank of Ukraine and the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine for the acquisition of a significant shareholding in the Joint-Stock Company Joint Stock Bank "Lviv", leading SME bank, which focuses its operations in west of Ukraine

• An ING-led syndicate of international banks, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Crédit Agricole - Corporate Investment Bank (CACIB), and Dutch development bank FMO, on the restructuring of Nibulon’s pre-export credit facility

• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on EUR 22m loan to Farmak Group for pharma acquisition in Poland and upgrade of its IT system in Ukraine

• Arise, leading independent company that realises new green energy, on its acquisition of a 70% stake in the Norway and Ukraine-focused renewables developer Fenix Repower AS in a bid to diversify its business technologically and gain a foothold in the Ukrainian market. We carried out legal due diligence of 11 energy-generating/storage facilities for the client and provided a comprehensive step plan on the process of developing renewable energy facilities

• An ING-led syndicate of banks on an adjustment to the loan repayment terms under the USD 450m pre-export facility for Ukraine’s Kernel Group

• a consortium led by NJJ Holding, the investment firm owned by Xavier Niel, founder of European telecom group Iliad and U.S. private equity firm Horizon Capital, on the landmark acquisition of Datagroup-Volia, Ukraine’s leading fixed telecom and pay TV provider, and Lifecell, the country’s third-largest and fastest-growing mobile operator

• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on its USD $75m investment in the USD $825 million sustainability-linked bond (SLB) issued by Ukraine’s national power company, Ukrenergo

• Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), an export credit bank from South Korea, on extending its secured USD $36 million financing to Grain Terminal Holdings in Ukraine

• PrimoCollect Group on successfully securing approval from the National Bank of Ukraine for the acquisition of a substantial shareholding in Tiger Finance, a leading non-banking financial company in Ukraine

• Acted as the legal partner to NEXT-UA, a joint project launched by the Ukrainian government, USAID, EBRD and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. CMS worked with a consortium of high-profile technical and financial advisors, including Cirway Consulting, Afi, Araliya, Barva Invest and D3 Consulting

• European Investment Bank in relation to a €50 million loan to Ukraine’s first vertically integrated innovation park UNIT.City

• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on a loan of approximately USD 13.9 million to Irshanska SES LLC

Clients

ING Bank, EBRD, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, European Investment Bank, UniCredit, Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), KUKE, IFU, Intesa Sanpaolo

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Ukraine, CEE/CIS

Industry Sector Expertise

Fintech, Infrastructure & Projects, Insurance, Energy, Capital Markets, Banking & Finance

Languages Spoken

English, Ukrainian, Polish, German, French, Spanish, Russian

Experience

Ihor Olekhov is a Partner and the Head of Banking & Finance Practice in Kyiv office of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang. Ihor specialises in a broad range of finance, banking and investment projects and transactions, as well as corporate governance, corporate reorganisations and financial regulation of banks, investment companies and asset managers, insurance and other financial companies, as well as capital markets deals. Recognised as a leading banking & finance specialist in Ukraine, Ihor has a particular focus on complex international finance transactions, including commodity finance, acquisition finance, asset finance and project finance in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources sectors, M&A in the banking, insurance and financial services sectors, debt restructuring and insolvency, tax aspects of financial transactions and corporate reorganisations, asset management, and aircraft finance.

Ihor Olekhov is a regular member of working groups appointed to develop new legislation in Ukraine, including such as the Code of Corporate Governance and has actively contributed to the development of milestone legislative acts of Ukraine, such as the Law of Ukraine on Foreign Currency, the new JSC Law and many banking laws and regulations. Ihor Olekhov is one of the co-authors of the Law of Ukraine On Financial Restructuring and the draft Law of Ukraine on Asset Resolution Companies. Ihor has also contributed to development of ESG and sustainable lending rules for international lenders and investors in CEE and regularly participates in sustainable infrastructure and projects development.

As part of his asset finance expertise, Ihor has advised many leading leasing companies and international banks on various aspects of aircraft leasing operations in Ukraine, structuring leasing transactions for aircraft and engines, and for leasing of industrial equipment and infrastructure, both in Ukraine and internationally. Ihor has recently helped leading international technology companies to operate cloud services for most of Ukraine’s financial sector during wartime and helped well-known FinTech companies to establish operations with Ukrainian customers.

Education