Pepeliaev Group's mission to London
Rustem Ahmetshin, Yuri Vorobyev, Tatyana Pavlyukova
A delegation from Pepeliaev Group recently made a business visit to London. During the trip, the firm's lawyers took part in seminars organised jointly with leading British law firms.
On 23 February, a round table was held under a title 'New Russian CFC rules: Minimising risks'. This event was organised in association with Stephenson Harwood. From Pepeliaev Group, senior partner Rustem Ahmetshin and senior associate Tatyana Pavlyukova told the audience about the new Law on controlled foreign companies and the implications it has for business. The speakers focused on tax planning in Russia and other countries and touched on the aspect of minimising risks. James Quarmby, a partner at Stephenson Harwood, moderated the round table discussion.
On 24 February, a seminar was organised dedicated to: 'Deoffshorisation in Russia: impact on the International Legal Market'. This was staged by Pepeliaev Group, together with the British law firm Simmons & Simmons and the British Russian Law Association. Rustem Ahmetshin and Tatyana Pavlyukova again spoke, and on this occasion they were joined by Yuri Vorobyev, a partner at Pepeliaev Group. They discussed the new Russian law targeted at combating offshore companies. During the second session Darren Oswick, a partner at Simmons & Simmons, independent tax consultant Giles Clarke and Tom Road, Vice President - Wealth and Investment Management, Barclays, spoke about how deoffshorisation affects Russian clients, British business and English lawyers.
Pepeliaev Group partner Yuri Vorobyev summed up the visit. “In my opinion, European investors are certainly interested in Russia and we have not observed any trend towards a decline in this interest,” he commented. “For my part, I can note the active interest which the audience has shown in the changed approach to arbitration clauses, the procedure to have court decisions recognised in Russia and other topics that have obvious practical importance.”
Pepeliaev Group is a leading Russian law firm offering the full range of legal services in all regions of Russia, most former Soviet countries and abroad. Over 160 lawyers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnoyarsk, as well as in Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (within the alliance with Russin & Vecchi), provide legal assistance to over 1,500 companies operating in various industries. 50% of these are international corporations implementing long-term investment projects in Russia.