Below is a Kyiv Post annual ranking Top 10 Legal Stars. To view Top 10 Rising Stars list, click here. To find out how both rankings were completed, read a story Legal eagles shine.
TOP 10 LEGAL STARS
Vadym Belyanevych
Position: senior counselor at Vasil Kisil & Partners.
Practices: civil, commercial and administrative law, state property privatization.
Age: 53
Experience: 25 years
Education: Doctor of Jurisprudence (Kandydat jurydychnykh nauk), 2001. Kharkiv Law Institute named after Dzerzhinsky (now Kharkiv National Yaroslav the Wise Law Academy), 1989; Kyiv Road-Transport Institute, Department of Economics, 1981.
Biggest strengths and achievements: It makes me happy that my works, particularly, the numerous reviews of Ukraine’s Law Codes, have become useful for many successful lawyers.
Clients: would not disclose.
Glib Bondar
Position: partner with Avellum Partners.
Practices: general banking & finance, capital markets, securitization and structured finance, bank and corporate lending, project finance, debt restructuring.
Age: 35
Experience: 12 years
Education: Master of Law degree (with honors) from Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2000; LL.M. degree (with honors), Columbia Law School, USA, 2001.
Biggest strengths and achievements: Bondar is ranked among the leading banking and finance as well as capital markets lawyers in Ukraine by various legal directories, including Legal500, Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, PLC Which Lawyer?, Who’s Who Legal, Expert Guides, Best Lawyers, Ukrainian Law Firms, and IFLR1000.
Clients: Alfa Bank, Avangard, Credit Suisse, Datagroup, Deutsche Bank, EBRD, IFC, ING, Kernel, MHP, PrivatBank, Rabobank, Raiffeisen Bank International AG, The Royal Bank of Scotland, VTB.
Serhiy Chorny
Position: co-managing partner of the Kyiv office of Baker & McKenzie.
Practices: banking & finance, capital markets.
Age: 47
Experience: 25 years
Education: Beyond his Ukrainian legal qualifications which include LL.M. with honors in International Law (1987) from the Kyiv State University and C.Sc. (Ph.D.) in Law (1992) from the Institute of State and Law of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Chorny has studied law at the University of Essex, United Kingdom, where he earned an LL.M. with distinction (1994) and at Institut International des Droits de l’Homme, Strasbourg, France, where he received a Diploma in International and Comparative Law of Human Rights (1993).
Biggest strengths and achievements: Serhiy ran first-of-the-kind international finance transactions in Ukraine, from the first secured international syndicated loans to Ukrainian banking and corporate borrowers in the early 90s to the first Eurobond issuances in 2002-2003 and pioneering securitizations in 2007-2008. A banking & finance practice group established and led by Chorny is continuously ranked as number one by many international raters for over 5 years. Serhiy was among the first (if not the first) Ukrainian lawyers made local (salary) partners and then international (equity) partners at an international law firm.
Clients: BNP Paribas, UkrSibbank, Citibank, ING Bank, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, VTB Capital, City of Kyiv, Ukrtelecom, Metinvest, Gastransit, EBRD, IFC, Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, DTEK.
Armen Khachaturyan
Position: senior partner at Asters.
Practices: banking and finance, capital markets, mergers and acquisition, corporate, energy, restructuring, employment.
Age: 51
Experience: 29 years
Education: Kyiv National University, J.D., 1983, and Ph.D. in Private International Law, 1990; International Law Institute, Washington, D.C., U.S. Legal System, 1991; Yale Law School, USA, LL.M, 1993.
Biggest strengths and achievements: Being a member of Asters’ management committee responsible for the firm’s development strategy. Top tier recommendations in the leading international directories, such as IFLR1000, Legal500, Chambers & Partners, Best Lawyers. Member of the Advisory Board of the IBA’s Law Firm Management Committee, the Foreign Advisory Board of the Ukrainian American Bar Association, the board of directors of US-Ukraine Business Council, and the National IPO Committee of Ukraine.
Clients: EBRD, IFC, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Swedbank, First Ukrainian International Bank, Deutsche Bank AG, VimpelCom, Bombardier, Severstal-Metiz.
Michael Kharenko
Position: partner with Sayenko Kharenko.
Practices: international finance, debt restructuring, capital markets.
Age: 36
Experience: 17 years.
Education: LL.D. in public finance law from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv; LL.M. with honors from Columbia University School of Law; LL.B. summa cum laude from Kyiv Taras Shevchenko University.
Biggest strengths and achievements: the Best Top Manager of the Ukrainian legal market by “TOP-100. Best Top-Managers of Ukraine” ranking by Ekonomika Publishing House; Lawyer of the Year in Ukraine 2011 by Yuridicheskaya Practika; Finance and Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year for Ukraine by The Best Lawyers International 2011, 2012.
Clients: Bank of Cyprus, Deutsche Bank, DTEK, EBRD, HSBC, IFC, ING, Metinvest, NLB, State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine, Swedbank, UBS, United States Department of Agriculture.
Vasil Kisil
Position: senior partner at Vasil Kisil & Partners.
Practices: private international, civil and investment law.
Age: 63
Experience: 36 years
Education: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, International Law, 1976; Doctor of Laws, International Private Law, 2001. Professor.
Biggest strengths and achievements: The success of former students, who now form the top of the legal market in Ukraine, and with whom have the honor and pleasure to work with, shoulder to shoulder.
Clients: acts as a senior supervisor over the major projects of the firm.
Oleg Makarov
Position: managing partner at Vasil Kisil & Partners
Practices: domestic and international litigation, taxation, investments, securities, property and bankruptcy law.
Age: 47
Experience: 25 years
Education: National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Institute of International Relations, International Law Department, 1989.
Biggest strengths and achievements: Creation, development and growth of a team of like-minded professionals who are trusted and respected.
Clients: WND
Olexander Martinenko
Position: senior partner at CMS Cameron McKenna, Kyiv.
Practices: commercial, regulatory and disputes, energy and projects.
Age: 51
Experience: 23 years
Education: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 1985; PhD from the Institute of the State and Law, Ukraine, 1991; LLM from Harvard University, 1994.
Biggest strengths and achievements: Valuable combination of western education and profound experience in representing major well-known international and Ukrainian clients working in various sectors: life sciences, telecom, media and technologies, oil & gas.
Clients: WND.
Alexander Minin
Position: senior partner at KM Partners
Practice: tax.
Age: 45
Experience: 20 years.
Education: Master’s in International Economic Relations from Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine, 1991. Second degree in International Law from Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine, 1992. Postgraduate studies in International Law and Economic Relations in Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Biggest strengths and achievements: Realize things as they are, change the rules and approaches. Really inspire and make great changes happen with certain principal tax issues and approaches.
Clients: AES (Kyiv and Rivne regional energy distribution companies), Cargill, Exxon Mobil, Lactalis, London Regional Properties, MAN Truck & Bus, McDonald’s, Monsanto, Noble Resources, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Praktiker, Procter & Gamble, Tetra Pak.
Mykola Stetsenko
Position: managing partner at Avellum Partners.
Practices: mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private equity, restructurings, general corporate, real estate, and hotel, resorts and tourism.
Age: 34
Experience: 12 years
Education: J.D. degree (with distinction), 2000, the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University; LL.M. degree (with distinction), 2004, Georgetown University Law Center.
Biggest strengths and achievements: Stetsenko is ranked among the leading corporate/M&A as well as capital markets lawyers in Ukraine by various legal directories, including Legal500, Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, PLC Which Lawyer?, Who’s Who Legal, Best Lawyers, and IFLR1000.
Clients: Avangard, Datagroup, Industrial Milk Company, Kernel, MHP, Renaissance Group, Ukrlandfarming.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at [email protected].
