Insights

Russian Lawmakers Have Introduced Bills to Zero out the Country's Dividend Tax for Certain Companies in Designated Regions | commentary by Sergey Kalinin for Bloomberg

Russian lawmakers have introduced bills to zero out the country's dividend tax for certain companies in designated regions.

EPAM Successful for Beluga Group in Trademark Dispute With Shampanskiye Vina | CEE Legal Matters

EPAM has represented publicly owned joint-stock company Alviz, subsidiary to the Beluga Group, in an intellectual property rights dispute against LLC Shampanskiye Vina.

Cooperation Not Tension | Maria Demina, Intellectual Property Magazine

Associate Maria Demina reviews whether competition law may assist policymakers in remedying patent law flaws.

Commercial Arbitration - Russia. GAR Know-How | Evgeny Raschevsky, Dmitry Dyakin, Dmitry Kaysin and Victor Radnaev

Evgeny Raschevsky, Dmitry Dyakin, Dmitry Kaysin and Victor Radnaev became the authors of the Commercial Arbitration Russia chapter for the know-how section of GAR.

Russian Сhapter for IBA Arbitration Guide | Ilya Nikiforov, Victor Radnaev, Olga Tsvetkova and Mikhail Samoylov

How prevalent is the use of arbitration in your jurisdiction? What are seen as the principal advantages and disadvantages of arbitration? Arbitration is the prevailing dispute resolution mechanism for disputes arising in connection with international commercial contracts, but has only limited application in domestic transactions. Reportedly less than one per cent of domestic disputes are resolved through arbitration.

New Head of EPAM Criminal Law Practice in St. Petersburg | CEE Legal Matters

Tatyana Nozhkina, Partner at EPAM, has become Head of the firm's Criminal Law practice in St. Petersburg.

Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, 30 May 2017, Case No. A60-12039/2016 | Mikhail Samoylov, Yearbook Commercial Arbitration 2017

The Supreme Court reversed the decisions of the lower courts, which had referred the parties to arbitration. The Court confirmed that an arbitration agreement may be concluded by reference to a separate document containing an arbitration clause. However, there was no valid agreement here: the arbitration provision in the RIPE NCC (Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre) Standard Service Agreement, which governs disputes between the RIPE and its members, did not apply to a dispute between members.

EPAM Overturns Decision to Block BlaBlaCar in Russia | The Lawyer

BlaBlaCar, an international carpooling service, instructed EPAM following a court decision to block the company’s Russian website in response to the prosecutor’s office suit. The prosecutor likened BlaBlaCar’s activities to those of taxi operators who distribute fares to drivers without a taxi licence.

Significant Tax Privileges in Belarus for ICT Companies

On December 21, 2018 the new Decree No.8 established by the President of the Republic of Belarus simple and transparent rules for running innovative business models for Belarusian Hi-Tech Park residents (HTP).

The Russian Big Business Will Be Able to Secretly Return Capital From Abroad | Sergey Kalinin commentary, micetimes.asia

As stated by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, the state is ready to help domestic businesses on a Pro Bono basis to return capital from abroad by issuing foreign currency bonds. This good for the part of entrepreneurs the news the President announced on December 21 at a meeting in the Kremlin. The issue of the “bonds of external loans denominated in foreign currency” is scheduled for next year. According to the President, the government and the Central Bank has already elaborated this issue, it remained for the technical issues – issue details and conditions.

When “One Belt One Road” Project Disputes Arise, Who Will Resolve Them? | Evgeny Raschevsky, Practical Law Arbitration Blog

Getting the Deal Through: Shipping 2018 | Alexey Karchiomov and Yulia Beliakova, Russian Overview

Senior Associate Alexey Karchiomov and Associate Yulia Beliakova have become the authors of Russian Overview for Getting the Deal Through: Shipping 2018.

Probate Law Reform: Maintaining Estate Funds

Federal Law No.259-FZ dated July 29, 2017 (the “Law”) introduced significant amendments to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (“the Civil Code”) in regard to the regulation of inheritance-related matters. One of the key novelties was the emergence of a new tool – estate funds. The Law provides for procedures to set up an estate fund, determines the legal status of its beneficiaries and sets forth procedures for managing the fund. The Law will take effect on September 1, 2018.

EPAM Provide Legal Advice on Sale of Shares in National Media Group Company | The Lawyer

A team of associates from the Corporate and M&A Practice at EPAM provided legal advice on a transaction involving the sale of shares in one of the companies belonging to National Media Group.

Foreign Investment in Russia. Recent Amendments

On July 1, 2017 entered into force the Federal Law dated July 1, 2017 No. 155-FZ “On amendments to Article 5 of the Federal Law “On the Privatization of State and Municipal Property” and the Federal Law “On the Procedure for Making Foreign Investments in Companies which are of Strategic Importance for Ensuring the National Defense and State Security” (hereinafter – “Law No. 155-FZ” and “Strategic Investments Law” respectfully).