INTEGRITES is top-tier law firm in Ukraine for International Trade, Energy and Dispute Resolution in The Legal500 EMEA 2021

The Legal500 EMEA 2021 ranks INTEGRITES in all 12 practice areas and grants Tier 1 to Energy, Dispute resolution and International Trade. Notably, International Trade makes up top tier in 2021 due to its growing presence in high-value cross-border trade matters. Nine practices prove their established positions and remain among the leaders on the national legal market.

Top-tier practices

Dispute Resolution has been ranked as Tier 1 in Ukraine for the second year in a row. The team predominantly acts for international and domestic private enterprises in both litigation and arbitration. In 2020, it handled arbitration matters with a combined value of more than USD 3.5 billion. The team has deepened their niche expertise in litigation related to chemicals, energy, fintech and e-payments industries. The ranking emphasizes ‘professionalism with a human touch’ and describes INTEGRITES as ‘an exceptionally good law firm providing excellent legal and strategic advice’.

Two experts from the team – Partner and Head of International Arbitration Olena Perepelynska and Partner and Head of Cross-Border Litigation Dmytro Marchukov are ranked as Leading Individuals in this field. Recently promoted to Partner, Serhii Uvarov is named as Rising Star for ‘…his availability, responsiveness and quality of service.’ The ranking mentions the increasingly important role of Oleksandr Onishchenko, Partner and Head of Domestic Litigation, who ‘…has great experience and leads his team on the way to achieving the best result for the client’, as well as the newly appointed Counsel Krystyna Khripkova.

Energy practice at INTEGRITES is recognized as Tier 1 for the second year in a row proving the leading position on the local market. Being the legal advisor of choice to the biggest investors into Ukraine’s renewables, the team receives positive feedback with the most prominent quotes:

\ ‘a very reliable and effective firm that is able to solve challenging issues’;

\ ‘They know the industry well, as well as the challenges companies face while implementing projects in Ukraine’.

Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, Managing Partner and Head of Energy is recognized as the Leading Individual in the field. The clients truly appreciate his experience, industry background and negotiations skills:

\ ‘Oleksiy Feliv is an ideas maker for development, strategy, lobbying, negotiation and support in project financing procedures. He can organise great support starting from the beginning of the project up to its successful conclusion.’

International Trade at INTEGRITES improves position becoming top-tier team in Ukraine due to its growing presence in high-value cross-border trade matters, both regulatory and contentious. It has recently acted for a group of Ukrainian dairy producers in a USD 240 mln safeguard investigation, proving that state aid enabled the European exporters to subsidise lower prices on the Ukrainian market.

Sergey Lakhno, Counsel and Head of International Trade ranks as Leading Individual in the field. His focus is WTO law, preferential trade agreements, trade remedy measures and the harmonization of local regulations with the WTO and the EU law. Sergey and Yevgen Ivanets, Counsel focusing on economic investigations and trade defence, receive positive market feedback:

\ ‘My main contacts for this project were Sergey Lakhno and Yevgen Ivanets. They both are good experts in international trade, probably the best in Ukraine. I was impressed by their legal knowledge, industry background and problem-solving approach. I would definitely recommend them to people I know from other industries going through the anti-dumping investigations.’

Tier 2

Banking and Finance team at INTEGRITES ranks as Tier 2 for Banking, finance and capital markets in Ukraine for being ‘very strong and motivated‘ and ‘very quick, very good and understandable‘. The team focuses on the financing of high-profile renewable energy projects, as well as M&A transactions in the banking sector, synthetic local currency lending, OTC derivatives, risk participation schemes, mezzanine lending, and both asset-based and secured loans.

The ranking highly appraises Partners Igor Krasovskiy and Oleh Zahnitko (Leading Individual) as well as Senior Associate Olena Savchuk (Rising Stars). Among their representative clients are Wärtsilä Finland, NBT AS, Total Eren, EuroCape, LongWing, GE Capital, Scatec, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and JSB Ukrgasbank. Testimonials:

\ ‘The team is very strong in finance area. It is the first choice for us when we need a local law advice in Ukraine.’

\ ‘Igor Krasovskiy and Olena Savchuk are the main contacts for us. They are available 24/7 and render perfect services.’

Commercial, corporate and M&A team is ranked as Tier 2 for being ‘very good in generating new solutions helping to unblock the negotiation process’. The team is increasingly involved in major M&A transactions, notably in the energy, agriculture and retail sectors.

The practice is led by “skilled in corporate solutions, attentive to the client matters” Partner Illya Tkachuk, recognized as Leading Individual in this field, who works closely with the Munich-based Partner Julian Ries. Key clients of the team are NBT AS, Total Eren, EuroCape, LongWing, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and JSB Ukrgasbank, Sibelco Group, BGS Rail, Servier, ClubMed. The client says:

\ ‘Integrites’ commercial, corporate and M&A team is very proactive, attentive to details, executing everything in time and predicting client’s needs. This team provides clients with legal updates and legal alerts.’

Antitrust and Competition at INTEGRITES ranks as Tier 2, advising leading domestic and international companies on concerted practices and abuse of dominance investigations, merger control, competition investigations and antitrust litigation. Serhii Shershun, Partner and Head of Antitrust and Competition, together with Vyacheslav Korchev, Senior Partner, are names to remember. Representative clients are Sibelco Group, OSTCHEM, AKW Ukrainian Kaolin Company, Gals Agro, KFC, Dominoni, Vitmark, Wärtsilä etc.

The Legal500 EMEA 2021 grants Tier 2 to the Employment practice, saying the team has ‘perfect knowledge of practical issues and is always easily accessible’ and offers ‘responsiveness, engagement and willingness to contribute on practical matters that some other firms might consider out of scope’. Their work spans recruitment and dismissals, social security matters, trade union negotiations, disputes and the employment of foreign nationals. Their representative clients are Verallia, Air Products, Servier, Leroy Merlin, BGS Rail, Sibelco Group etc.

The ranking mentions ‘very pragmatic and friendly’ Partner Illya Tkachuk and Germany-based Partner Julian Ries that are the names to note. The most prominent testimonials:

\ ‘Great reactivity. Illya Tkachuk always strives to anticipate business needs beyond legal requests sent to him. He is a great partner.’

Handling the growing portfolio of private client work for high-net-worth individuals with a focus on tax matters, business structuring and disputes, Private Client practice at INTEGRITES is recognized as Tier 2 in Ukraine. The ranking mentions three specialists working in this field – tax and customs expert Viktoriya Fomenko who in 2021 became the Leading Individual for the first time, litigator Dmytro Marchukov, arbitration expert Olena Perepelynska.

The team enjoys a numerous positive market feedback with the most prominent quotes:

\ ‘Dmytro Marchukov is a brilliant legal mind, highly competent and very devoted to his clients. His professional skills and human approach make him the best legal advisor on any complex matter.’

\ ‘…If I need to recommend a law firm dealing with tax issues, I would definitely say Integrites is the best choice in terms of level of service, expertise and fees. Viktoriya Fomenko is excellent in tax work.’

Having a strong focus on construction of renewable energy projects, which includes handling EPC contracts and project financing documentation, as well as the acquisition of land, Real Estate and Construction practice is among Tier 2 teams in Ukraine. Dr. Oleksiy Feliv, Managing Partner and Head of Real Estate and Construction is ranked as Leading Individual in the field. With the most representative clients in this field Wärtsilä, EuroCape, LongWing, NBT AS, Scatec, AKW Ukrainian Kaolin, Ümitli and others, the team received the following feedback:

\ ‘The team is good at delivering advice on real estate issues. Yes, they are unique on the market. Probably, the best ones here. I would recommend their expertise to international companies, investors coming to Ukraine. They are compliant, transparent, easy to deal with and have strong expertise. They met my requirements and I could not ask for more.’

\ ‘Oleksiy Feliv is the real estate expert in Ukraine. He could give us a perfect assessment of the situation of the real estate market, including price estimations and the situation at the local authorities and how the building permission will look. A very great benefit was that he was also perfectly speaking English, German, Russian and Ukrainian.’

Tax team at INTEGRITES is ranked as Tier 2 in 2021. The practice is busy with advice on domestic tax and customs disputes, transfer pricing, regulatory compliance and the support of cross-border corporate transactions. The ranking says the team is ‘one of the best on the local market and always provides high-level advice on complex tax and customs matters’.

Partner Viktoriya Fomenko is recommended by the ranking. Senior Associates Oleg Kotliar and the ‘smart, attentive’ Kostyantin Kharchenko are names to remember. Key clients of the team are NBT AS, EuroCape, Scatec, Dunapack Packaging, Epiroc Ukraine. This year the team receives impressive feedback:

\ ‘The team is very strong in tax disputes. Their strategies are innovative and effective. They always offer a few scenarios to settle the case and minimise risks.’

\ ‘My first contact at INTEGRITES is Viktoriya Fomenko. She is a partner of the firm and head of tax practice. She is very experienced in tax matters and especially in tax disputes. She is clear and consistent in her advice that I rely on. Kostyantin Kharchenko also did tax work for us. He is smart, attentive to details and easy to deal with.’

White-Collar Crime at INTEGRITES is Tier 2 in 2021. The firm assists a mix of clients with criminal proceedings, including victims of crime, suspects and individuals whose rights and interests have been violated during an investigation. Oleksandr Onishchenko, Partner, leads the practice.

Tier 3

Intellectual Property makes Tier 3 for the growing clientele coming from among IT and software development, construction, healthcare and defence industries. The ranking recommends Senior Associate and Head of practice Dariya Ganzienko and ‘friendly, efficient, practical and quick to respond’ Senior Associate Daryna Vasylieva. Testimonials:

\ ‘They are very responsive and easy to work with – quick to understand what we need and are trying to achieve.’

*The Legal500 is the world’s leading legal directory providing comprehensive performance analysis of law firms in more than 150 jurisdictions. The research is based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers.