Far from Being Transparent

I n 2007 the necessary laws regarding the State Cadastre and the land market were not adopted because the Ukrainian President dismissed the Ukrainian Parliament. It is no surprise that this situation continues to create considerable room for “shadow” schemes and abuse.

During 2007 Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners advised the Eurasia Group with regard to the USD 51 million acquisition of a development site in the centre of Kiev. Its lawyers also represented IKEA in connection with the USD 70 million acquisition of a development site in Odessa Region. Rysbek Toktomushev, Roman Kostenko, Gennadiy Roschepiy, Tatyana Piskun are widely known for their professionalism and are the firm’s best specialists in land related issues.

Baker & McKenzie, with its experienced and skilled team of lawyers with Lina Nemchenko and Mykhailo Tymoshenko, successfully advised METRO Cash and Carry on its acquisition of 5 land plots in Vinnitsya, Zaporozhye, Chernovtsy, Nikolaev and Rovno in 2007 for the construction of shopping centers. The team headed by Lina Nemchenko provided legal advice to AISI Realty Public Limited related to the commercial activities of acquiring and managing real estate properties and land plots in Ukraine. Alexandrov & Partners provided legal counseling on the acquisition of a 100 ha land plot for the building of a hotel complex and participated in legal assistance as to the renting of agricultural land plots with the aim of investing about USD 50 million. Dmytriy Alexandrov, Ruslana Muzichko, Yaroslav Yaremenko and Andrey Bartoshchuk make up the legal team of the prominent law firm practicing land law.

Dmitriy Sichkar, the leading expert at Konnov & Sozanovsky, was recently involved in providing legal advice to a deal on the purchase of land rights by a foreign investor. Moreover, the firm is known for advising Ukrainian and foreign investors on land acquisition issues and on changes of designation of land plots in Kiev Region.

Sayenko Kharenko’s has an impressive track record of advising a number of financial institutions, developers and investors in land transactions involving the sale, purchase and privatization of land. In 2007, the real estate attorneys provided comprehensive legal support to major foreign and Ukrainian project development companies in a significant number of land acquisitions for residential and commercial construction, as well as Greenfield and Brownfield investment projects across Ukraine for a total area of about 1,000 ha. Mykola Orlov, Sergey Ignatovsky and Kirill Levterov are mentioned as the leading lawyers in this area. In 2007 DLA Piper Ukraine’s team supported a significant number of land related transactions, including providing legal support to a leading American real estate fund, Apollo Real Estate Advisors, and its partner, 1849 Plc, in several Ukrainian cities regarding acquisition of land and construction projects. The firm’s clients include BBH, OBI AG, Regus Group Plc, InterContinental Hotels Group, Assos Capital, Alacor Ltd, EBRD, Antonio Merloni (Ardo), Immoeast and others. Legal director Natalia Kochergina was frequently mentioned as a leading land expert.

The practice of Gramatskiy & Partners covers the provision of rendering various legal services to the subjects of entrepreneurship in the sphere of land law, in particular, provision of advice regarding any matters of land tenure, drawing up and legal support relative to land contracts, legal assistance in registering land rights and associated contracts, audit of the correct confirmation documents for land. Anton Yanchuk is the key specialist in the area of land law. Spenser & Kauffmann earned high marks for land-related matters. Aleksandra Fedotova participated in the purchase by Dragon-Ukrainian Properties Development Plc of land plots whose total area came to 1,500 hectares, where the firm represented Dragon-Ukrainian Properties Development Plc. The total value of the deal was USD 70 million.

The Grischenko & Partners law firm also received good references for its experience on land law. It provided advice to LLC Kronospan Ukr in matters regarding acquisition of land plots by subsidiaries of non-residents. Savva Poliakov was recommended as an experienced and reliable expert.

Lexwell & Partners advised Dniprovska Riviera in relation to one of the largest projects in Kiev aimed at constructing a complex of residential apartments, hotel and gulf club on the Dniper River bank in Kiev. The value of this deal was USD 400 million. This year the firm advised Toyota in connection with land issues in Kiev and Kiev Region in the course of establishment of car dealership centers and Finartis (Swiss Investment Fund) in relation to planned investment projects in Ukraine. Andrey Kolupaev, Igor Nagai and Yuriy Katser are recognized as the leaders in this practice. The lawyers of the ANK law firm successfully participated in the purchase of a land plot of 14 ha by the Europort Company, where they represented Europort Company. The total value of the deal was USD 15 million. Andrey Selyutin and Lesya Kovtun are key lawyers in this sphere. The ARCA law firm recently handled a land plot clearing project for the construction of the Podolsk Bridge in Kiev to the value of USD 5.8 million.

The Legal Alliance Company is acknowledged in litigation and represented the United Institute of Nuclear Research in supporting a sale and purchase agreement with regard to a land plot of the United Institute of Nuclear Research. Irina Pustovitenko and Alexandra Nikitina represent land related projects.

The practice of the Guaranty law firm covers intricate land law issues. In 2007 Dmitriy Kreynin and Nazar Bench advised railway operator Ukrzaliznitsa on the peculiarities of the status of land after the creation of State Joint Stock Company Ukrainski Zaliznitsi.

The lawyers of Dmitrieva & Partners are concentrated on giving legal assistance involving transactions connected with the lease, purchase and sale of land areas, legal examination of constituent documents on land areas, issues regarding mortgaging operations with land areas, examination of credit contracts, mortgage contracts, etc. Anzhelika Vakhnitska is a resident expert in land-related issues.

Legal advice on land relations is one of the main practices of LEXFOR. The firm’s attorneys are also experienced in preparing contracts on land, sale and purchase of land, representation of interests in court disputes, etc. The leading specialist in land matters is one of the partners, Yuriy Chumak.

Beiten Burkhardt has advised international and Ukrainian clients on different acquisitions of land plots in Kiev and various districts, and provided general legal advice on real estate law with respect to acquisition of three land plots. Dr. Julian Ries and Dmytro Kiselyov are bright professionals in this sphere.

Arzinger & Partners advised numerous domestic and foreign investors on matters related to industrial, commercial and residential properties in various regions of Ukraine. Timur Bondarev, Anna Pogrebna came recommended for their consistently high standard of service.

Land law issues at International Law Offices are handled by Alena Losevskaya and Ivan Movliak. In 2007, the firm’s lawyers dealt with re-allocation of a land plot for construction of a cottage neighborhood and a trade center in the Komintern district of Odessa Region.

Alexey Kot, a partner of the Salkom law firm, deals with legal support for large projects involving the acquisition of agricultural land.

The Lawyer Group of Ukraine has worked on an administrative suit to the LLC Brovarskoy Kombinat Mercuriy and to the Brovarskoy town council with third party LLC City Investments, cancellation of renting of land plots for construction and administrative suit brought by LLC Osnova to the Brovarskoy town council, the third party LLC Histori, on cancellation of decisions to rent land plots for construction. Inyurpolis has worked on the development of changing the land plot designation of 700 ha, the case of a public prosecutor of Kharkov as regards a land plot’s release and on developing a scheme to acquire the right to use a land plot for mining operations. Nikolay Kyzekon and Yaroslava Onika are engaged in land practice.