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Automotive industry and transportation

Our lawyers are highly skilled and experienced in providing legal support for companies engaged in the automotive industry. Putting together a sector-based team enables us to properly develop business strategy taking various legal changes into account. Such a team brings together experts from various branches of law, including taxation, customs law and foreign trade regulation, construction and real estate, commercial practice.

Our key competences are our knowledge of the legal regulation of the branch, and of measures of state support and protection of rights of investors. As a member of the TerraLex international association of law firms, we provide our clients with reliable support for implementing complex international projects.

Pepeliaev Group has among its clients more than 80 companies on this market, including prominent car manufacturers, producers and distributors of components, and dealers.

In today’s difficult and controversial investment environment, we are justly regarded as the flagship law firm among those active on this market.

Achievements

We supply services to 50% of the car manufacturers included in the Fortune 500 for 2014.

We work with the principal strategic alliances in the industry (8 out of 10 of which have production facilities in Russia), providing legal assistance regarding local manufacturing content, customs clearance, taxation issues, support for real estate transactions, as well as in disputes with consumers and partners.

We participated in drafting regulations for the “industrial assembly” regime, including holding negotiations with the Russian Ministry for Economic Development, the Russian Federal Customs Service and other government authorities.We were one of the first legal advisors that participated in “industrial assembly” projects for large foreign automotive alliances in Russia.

We actively work with the automotive industry committees of AEB and AmCham.

Projects

Pepeliaev Group’s Customs Practice has successfully completed a 4 year long litigation

Lawyers of Pepeliaev Group’s Customs Law Practice have won a litigation which started on 24 November 2020 (case No. А51-18513/2020). This case was instigated by the Vladivostok Customs Office, which filed with a state commercial court a claim to recover import customs duties and default interest of over RUB 1.7 billion in total because this sum included the cost of a business aircraft.

Legal support to a major car manufacturer during its global reorganisation

Our corporate lawyers advised a major car manufacturer on a global reorganisation involving its foreign distributors. The EUR 40 million project involved entities incorporated in Russia, Ukraine, France, Czech Republic, Latvia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Our lawyers’ main role was managing the assets owned by more than 30 of the client’s subsidiaries in the above countries and subsequently advising the client on potential beneficial ways of restructuring the group considering the global changes made to its cost allocation policy.

Other projects