From national regulators and municipalities to state-owned and international investment banks, Asters is a go-to for advice on both complex financial deals and legislation. The practice fields niche expertise in foreign exchange control and regulation, as well as advising on licensing in the banking, financial services and securities markets. It continues to expand its focus, handling payment services matters, sub-brokerage activities and products and Ukrainian currency rules related to imports under the martial law regime. Armen Khachaturyan leads the team, alongside Iryna Pokanay, a go-to choice for international investors and foreign banks, who excels in cross-border transactions. Team co-head Roman Stepanenko boasts a broad practice, ranging from capital markets transactions and project finance to financial restructurings and derivative instruments. Kateryna Oliynyk handles both secured and unsecured financing transactions, and is an active member of the team, along with Oleksandr Khomenko and Maksym Tereshchuk. Inna Bondarenko focuses on project and trade finance and secured and syndicated lending.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Very practical and helpful, and just good lawyers (and nice people).’

  • ‘Very responsive, thorough, thoughtful and always ready to help. The team goes above and beyond to understand the issues at hand. I also appreciate how much time the team is prepared to dedicate to client relationships and know-how. They are also brilliant in updating clients and other service providers on progress of particular matters as well as general legal updates.’

  • ‘Oleksiy Demyanenko is an outstanding lawyer, manager and partner. We often work on joint projects, and we find him always to be on top of his game.’

Key clients

  • Agrosem Group
  • Black Sea Trade and Development Bank
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
  • International Finance Corporation
  • Ukrainian Export Credit Agency

Work highlights

  • Acted as a Ukrainian legal counsel to the Ukrainian Export Credit Agency on establishing the war risk insurance mechanism applicable to carriages of Ukrainian export goods through the Black Sea.
  • Acted as a legal counsel to EBRD in connection with its €10m financing to a manufacturer of oak lamellas located in Ukraine.
  • Acting as a legal counsel to the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) in connection with its €8m financing to LLC 'Real Estate Development Centre' for construction of a Novotel-branded four-star hotel in Lviv.

Lawyers

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Leading partners
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Next Generation Partners
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Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Armen Khachaturyan, Iryna Pokanay, Roman Stepanenko

Other key lawyers

Oleksiy Demyanenko, Kateryna Oliynyk, Oleksandr Khomenko, Maksym Tereshchuk, Inna Bondarenko