Founded by a Candidate of Legal Sciences
The firm was founded in 1999 by Vladimir Nikolaevich Blotsky, a Candidate of Legal Sciences and practising lawyer with many years of experience advising major companies. Since then we have built 27 years of practice in corporate law, M&A, international arbitration, tax disputes, real estate and asset structuring. We handle matters for business owners, senior management and private clients, in Russia and 16 other jurisdictions.
One partner per matter
Leads the matter from first contact to result, with no hand-offs between different lawyers and no production line.
Six practice areas
Corporate law, M&A, international arbitration, tax disputes, real estate, asset structuring: we work in depth, not “a little of everything”.
16 jurisdictions
We handle matters where the client’s business and assets actually are, from the UAE and Switzerland to Latin America.
Confidentiality
Sensitive matters are handled by a closed group of lawyers, and information does not leave the team working on the case.
Each practice area has its own partner
Maksim Aleksandrovich Zhikharev
Chief Executive OfficerOversees the corporate and international practice.
Maksim Mikhailovich Komissarov
Head of the Legal DepartmentLeads the litigation practice and commercial court disputes.
Oksana Alekseevna Shanina
Deputy Chief Executive OfficerSupports M&A transactions and asset structuring.
Yuliya Aleksandrovna Falina
Deputy Head of the Legal DepartmentWorks on inheritance and family matters.
Areas of work
From our practice
Recovering from a bank the funds left in a company’s account after liquidation +
During the voluntary liquidation of a Moscow legal entity (an LLC), RUB 5,000,000 remained in the company’s bank account. By law, this money belonged to the participants of the entity and had to be transferred to them in proportion to their shares in the charter capital. This was not done.
After the LLC liquidation procedure was completed, the liquidator applied to the bank to transfer these funds to the former participants. The bank wrongfully refused to pay, arguing that the former participants had no right or authority to dispose of money in the organisation’s account after its liquidation.
The bank’s refusal was also wrongly justified by the need for the former participants to use the procedure for distributing discovered property of a liquidated legal entity that remained after all obligations to creditors had been met. Such a procedure is initiated through the courts with the involvement of an arbitration manager appointed by the commercial court. The arbitration manager distributes the discovered property of the liquidated entity left after settlement with creditors. The manager’s fee is paid from the funds of the applicants (the former participants of the liquidated company). The procedure described, if wrongly applied, would therefore have cost the former participants additional money.
Despite the bank’s position and the established case law in similar cases, our lawyers proved in court the right of the entity’s former participants to receive the money held in the liquidated entity’s bank account in proportion to their shares in the charter capital, without resorting to the procedure for distributing discovered property of a liquidated legal entity.
The money was recovered from the bank for the company’s former participants in the cassation court, because the courts of first instance and appeal had misapplied the rules of substantive law.
As a result, the bank paid the amounts due in full.
Supporting a major sale and purchase of a group of companies (a holding) +
In preparing for the sale and purchase of a large group of companies in Russia (total value of more than 540 million US dollars) engaged in the harvesting of aquatic biological resources (fishing fleets, a management company, trading companies), our lawyers carried out a full programme of audit work on the business’s assets and all of its documentation (due diligence).
The relevant approvals of the antimonopoly authority were obtained, and separate transactions were completed for the sale of real estate, company interests and shares of the parent company, using the escrow accounts of the registrar (the keeper of the shareholder register).
Draft personal income tax returns (Form 3-NDFL) were also prepared for the holding’s former shareholders, to ensure proper and correct taxation of the income received from the sale of the assets.
Tax disputes in the course of legal support for companies’ business activity +
The tax authority had assessed penalties and late-payment interest totalling more than RUB 10 million against a Moscow company for allegedly unlawful use of a trademark.
Our lawyers challenged the tax authority’s decision in court. As a result, all demands for payment of the penalties were found to be unfounded and the tax authority’s decision was held unlawful.
The judgment of the commercial court of first instance (the Moscow Commercial Court) was upheld by the higher courts.
Thanks to the coordinated and skilled work of our lawyers, the company avoided the recovery of large penalties that had been wrongly assessed.
Legal support for the construction and commissioning of capital construction projects +
In the course of legal support for a company’s business in Russia (a large agricultural producer in the Kaluga Region), we repeatedly handled the construction and commissioning of capital construction projects, including cadastral registration, state registration of title to the real estate and the acceptance of the facilities onto the organisation’s balance sheet.
We provided comprehensive legal support throughout construction, from the decision to build to state registration and the facility’s acceptance onto the company’s balance sheet:
- amendments to the general plan (in cooperation with the competent municipal authorities);
- arranging the construction design, geodetic survey, cadastral work, the sanitary protection zone design and the corresponding sanitary and epidemiological opinion;
- obtaining the building permit;
- supporting the conclusion and performance of construction contracts, including acceptance of the completed work;
- obtaining the permit to commission the facility, together with cadastral registration and state registration of title.
Concluding and supporting foreign trade contracts +
Our lawyers provided legal support for concluding a foreign trade contract for the supply of rapeseed oil production equipment from China to Russia (worth about 400 thousand US dollars) for a joint Chinese-Russian manufacturing company.
We prepared a draft bilingual contract, secured the parties’ agreement on all its essential terms and registered the signed contract for currency control at the bank. All necessary meetings and negotiations with the Chinese partners and counterparties were held.
Later, during performance of the contract, we ensured the transport of the equipment, its import into the Russian Federation, customs clearance and delivery to the buyer’s site.
We arranged the necessary contracts with the transport company and customs agents. Working with logistics specialists, we prepared the relevant international shipping documents (invoices, packing lists and the technical documentation for customs clearance of the goods).
During customs clearance, we ensured payment of the customs fee and VAT to the unified account of the Federal Customs Service.
As a result of this work, the equipment was successfully delivered to the buyer. The supplier subsequently carried out installation and commissioning of the equipment with its own resources.
Recovering debt and interest under a loan agreement +
An interest-bearing loan agreement was concluded between a company (Russia) and an individual, a Russian citizen, under which the latter (the borrower) was provided with a loan of RUB 3,000,000. Interest accrued on the loan at 27% per annum.
To secure performance of the obligations under this loan agreement, a mortgage of real estate was also concluded.
The borrower did not repay the loan or the accrued interest within the period set by the agreement.
In the course of legal support for the company, the debt, the interest on the loan and interest for the use of another’s money were recovered from the borrower through the courts.
In the enforcement proceedings, the awarded funds were recovered from the debtor in full by compulsion, including enforcement against the pledged property in satisfaction of the debt.
Recovering damages caused by a road accident +
A road accident caused material damage to a vehicle belonging to a company (a large agricultural producer in the Kaluga Region, Russia).
The OSAGO insurance payout received proved insufficient to cover the actual damage.
An independent expert assessment of the actual damage caused to the vehicle by the accident was arranged.
A claim was then prepared and filed in court against the party at fault for the accident, seeking the difference between the OSAGO payout received and the actual amount of damage to the vehicle (about RUB 500 thousand), together with the cost of the expert assessment and the state duty paid.
The court upheld the claim in full.
Legal support for liquidating legal entities +
Our lawyers have repeatedly carried out the full set of steps required by law for the voluntary liquidation of legal entities (Russia: Moscow, the Moscow Region and the Kaluga Region).
In particular, we drew up the liquidator’s decisions (appointing the liquidator, starting the liquidation, approving the interim and final liquidation balance sheets, and submitting the liquidation balance sheet to the registration authority). We arranged the mandatory publication of notices of the company’s liquidation in the manner required by law, the distribution of the remaining property (including money in the company’s account) among the participants of the liquidated entity in proportion to their shares in the charter capital, the entry of the relevant information in the USRLE and the transfer of the liquidated company’s documents to the archive.
International practice
We handle clients’ matters where their business and assets are. We coordinate complex cross-border issues from a single point of contact in Moscow, without the need to hire a local lawyer in each country separately.
Transaction support abroad
Buying and structuring foreign assets: real estate, company interests, accounts and trusts. We check the legal soundness of the transaction before the money is sent, not after.
International arbitration
We represent the client before arbitral institutions (ICC, LCIA and local venues) in disputes with a foreign element, from corporate conflicts to recovering a debt from a foreign counterparty.
Currency control and compliance
We analyse the requirements of Federal Law No. 173-FZ and bank compliance for cross-border payments, so that a lawful transaction does not turn into a currency control problem after the event.
Compliance
We build compliance procedures to the requirements of the specific jurisdiction: AML/KYC, corporate compliance and dealings with regulators.
GR (Government Relations)
We support business dealings with public authorities: approvals, permitting documentation and representation in discussions with the regulator.
CFC reporting
We prepare notifications and reports on controlled foreign companies on time, with a lawful reduction of the tax burden.
Our offices:
Partner offices:
A substantial portfolio built over the years
On the market since 1999: a lasting reputation, recognition among partners and clients, and established practice across a wide range of areas of law in Russia and abroad.
Recent matters
M&A transaction worth RUB 500 million closed between two industrial groups
We supported the transaction from due diligence to closing, with an international element and structuring across three jurisdictions.
Structuring of a client’s $60 million of capital completed across three jurisdictions
We built the ownership structure for family capital, taking account of currency control and the requirements of each jurisdiction.
RUB 1.2 billion recovered from an unscrupulous counterparty through international arbitration
The case ran for two years, from the pre-trial claim letter to enforcement of the award abroad.
Publications
Analyses that save time and money, written from real matters, without padding.
We handle your matter from first contact to result
Personal, family-office-level support: one partner personally handles your matter from first contact to result.
A personal partner
From day one a specific partner is assigned to the matter and leads it from start to finish, with no hand-offs between different lawyers. You always know exactly who is responsible for your case and can contact them directly at any time, instead of explaining the situation afresh to a new specialist at every stage.
A fixed strategy
Before work begins you receive a written action plan and an exact fee: not a range “from and to”, but a specific amount for a specific scope of work. If new circumstances arise that require a review, this is discussed in advance and not presented afterwards as an unexpected bill.
Direct contact
The status of the matter and the next steps are discussed directly with the lead partner, not through an assistant or a junior, and not in a shared group chat with a dozen participants. You receive updates on every significant step, such as a document filed, a hearing scheduled or a reply from the other side, without having to find out for yourself what is happening.
Accountability for quality
The scope and quality of the work are set out in the contract and checked at every procedural step, rather than judged after the event solely by the final outcome of the case. If anything in the documents prepared needs refining, it is corrected within the fee already agreed, with no additional bills to the client.
Seeing it through to enforcement
We support you not just to a decision on paper but to its actual enforcement: real recovery of the money, registration of title, release of the encumbrance. A court judgment without enforcement is not a result but an interim document, so the work continues until you receive what you came to us for.
Frequently asked questions
How much do your services cost?+
The fee depends on the scope and complexity of the matter. After assessing the situation, we quote a fixed amount for a specific stage of work, with no hourly billing and no extra charges along the way.
Is the first consultation paid?+
No. At the first consultation we go through the situation and give a preliminary assessment of the prospects of the case, before you decide whether to work with us.
How do you ensure client confidentiality?+
Every client agreement includes a non-disclosure clause. We discuss our matters publicly only in anonymised form.
Do you work with clients outside Russia?+
Yes. We practise in 16 jurisdictions, from Switzerland and Cyprus to Hong Kong and the UAE.
Do you guarantee the outcome of a case?+
No lawyer can lawfully guarantee the outcome of a case. We give an honest assessment of the prospects at the outset and take a matter on only when we see real grounds for success.
What documents are needed for the first meeting?+
To begin, a brief description of the situation is enough. We will specify the exact list of documents once we understand the specifics of the matter.
Can we work entirely remotely, without visiting the office?+
Yes. We handle matters across Russia and abroad. Most communication takes place by video call and messenger, and in-person meetings are not required.
How do I start working with you?+
Leave a request and a specialist in the relevant area will contact you within a working day.