New Brand

Dear Friends, Partners and Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce that our firm has decided to change its name. Effective February 2010 Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners will be named Pepeliaev Group.

The rebranding of our firm is the logical result of our successful development over the past few years and the path we chose to expand geographical coverage, develop regional and international cooperation, expand the scope of our activities and strengthen practice areas.

In many ways 2009 was a seminal year for our firm. Against the backdrop of a complex environment attributable to the global economic crisis, we managed to consolidate our position as a fully-fledged law firm, expanded the number of our practice areas and scope of our services, and strengthened our position in such areas as corporate and employment law, antimonopoly regulation, land and real estate, customs law and foreign trade regulation, commercial and corporate litigation. In addition, we dynamically developed new sector-oriented practice areas. The telecommunications group continued its successful development. A banking practice, group for the administrative legal support of business, pharmaceuticals and health care group and environmental group were established.

The composition of our partners and professionals also evolved substantially and was strengthened. More than 50 specialists fr om international law firms, the state authorities and academia joined our team in 2009.

“We leveraged successfully new opportunities to improve the financial position of the firm, strengthen the team and adhere strictly to our long-standing strategy: to be the best national firm in Russia”, says Sergey Pepeliaev, managing partner of the company. He notes: “to be the best national firm” implies that “we should not depend on foreign companies and should be able to demonstrate greater flexibility in our communications with clients. As a result our firm is able to adhere to our own corporate standards, effectively cooperate, wh ere necessary, with any foreign companies, including law firms, and actively participate in international associations and unions”.

Over the past year, the company developed dynamically regional markets and handled significant projects in CIS countries and abroad. Our company became a member of TerraLex, the largest international association of law firms that unites local firms in more than 100 countries. In addition, the company is a member of Taxand, a well-known tax consulting group.

According to the leading international ratings of law firms published by Chambers Global, Chambers Europe and The Legal 500 EMEA, our company is without a doubt the leading provider of legal services in taxation in Russia. We are also one of the three leading firms in the following areas: antimonopoly regulation, dispute resolution, intellectual property, corporate law and M&A, real estate and employment law.

We consistently provide our clients with legal services that meet the most stringent international standards of quality and service.

Sincerely,

Your team at Pepeliaev Group