INTEGRITES acted as a legal counsel to NBT AS on acquisition of a Ukrainian wind power developer as well as provided legal support to its wind power development project

INTEGRITES acted as a local legal counsel to NBT AS, a Norwegian wind farm developer, on a high-scale and multi-faceted project that included acquisition of a Ukrainian wind farm developer and construction of a 250 MW wind farm worth EUR 372 million in Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. The project will produce approximately 900,000 kWh of electricity per year that will be enough to supply 250,000 people with electricity.

INTEGRITES team provided legal support to the client at each stage of acquisition procedure, in particular conducting legal due diligence of the project, participating in multilateral negotiations involving three sellers and five competing buyers and performing transaction structuring.

INTEGRITES has also provided advice to the client on construction requirements and support in relation to the successful obtaining of a construction permit as well as in the negotiations over the EPC contract based on an amended FIDIC form. The implementation of the development of the project also required comprehensive legal advice on energy regulatory matters, including support on obtaining a permanent electricity generation license, taking part in negotiations with the offtaker on the power purchase agreement and with the grid operator on the grid connection agreement.

The team also works on the financing of the project, taking part in negotiations with the leading international financial institutions (including the EBRD), commercial lenders (including JP Morgan, a leading American investment bank) and equity partners as well as ensured continuous consultations related to the local financial market requirements and regulations of the National Bank of Ukraine.

Oleksiy Feliv, Managing Partner of the firm, leads the project team, represented by Dmytro Kiselyov, Senior Associate, and Gennadii Roschepii, Senior Associate (both Real Estate and Construction, Energy and Natural Recourses), Anton Babak, Senior Associate, (Corporate and M&A), Viktoriya Fomenko, Counsel (Tax and Customs Law), Pavlo Loginov, Counsel, (Antitrust and Competition), Dmytro Marchukov, Partner, and Serhii Uvarov, Counsel (both Cross-border litigation and international arbitration), Olena Savchuk, Associate, (Banking and Finance) and Kateryna Korneliuk, Junior Associate (Real Estate and Construction, Energy and Natural Resources).

“We are proud to be a part of such an important project implemented in Ukraine. Its significance lies in the fact that it is the first project financing in Ukraine, that opens the door to other similar projects and new investments,” said Oleksiy Feliv.

Currently, INTEGRITES continues to support NBT AS in its wind farm project pipeline of six wind farms in the south of Ukraine with a total installed capacity of 750 MW.

During the project, INTEGRITES worked closely with K&L Gates LLP who is NBT’s adviser on all the issues relating to English law.