EPAM at St. Petersburg International Legal Forum 2017

16-20 May 2017

On May 16-20, 2017, St. Petersburg will host VII St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPILF). Partners and associates of EPAM will act as moderators and speakers at the Forum’s business sessions. In addition, the Firm’s evening reception at Legal Street and a number of other Forum-related events will be held within SPILF.

The St. Petersburg International Legal Forum was established in 2011 by the Russian Ministry of Justice and is supported by the Russian President. The Forum has gained a reputation of the largest platform for discussions between politicians, lawyers, economists, and academics representing all major economic and legal systems.

The Forum’s primary mission is to promote ideas related to the law modernization amidst the global changes. This includes devising solutions that move toward:

improved interaction between legal systems and the generation of common approaches to problems of law in the context of globalization;
modernization of Russian law in accordance with the best international legal practices and bringing Russian legislation in compliance with international standards for protecting the rights and interests of all subjects of legal relations (including entrepreneurs, foreign investors, copyright holders, etc.);
development of Russian jurisprudence and legal education across the globe.

On May 17-19, there will be held a 1st International Bankruptcy Forum under the St Petersburg International Legal Forum. This will be unique platform bringing together representatives of executive and legislative authorities, judges, official receivers, lawyers, scholars, businessmen and representatives of numerous international bankruptcy organizations. For more details on the forum please go at http://iif.spblegalforum.com/en/

Every year, EPAM is substantially involved in the business agenda and the related events of the Forum. This year, the Firm is to hold a satellite business event and an evening reception, the Firm’s partners and counsels are to act as moderators and speakers at the panel discussions.

The Chairman Dimitry Afanasiev will speak at the session named “Economy and Law – Importance of Rule of Law for a Conducive Business Life”, whose attendees will discuss the importance of rule of law for efficient law enforcement and anticorruption efforts. For more details on the round table please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_1_2. Dimitry Afanasiev will also moderate the discussion called “Lawmaking in the interests of business: cooperation with a plus sign” organized by Non-Profit Partnership for Advancement of Corporate Law and Thomson Reuters, jointly with leading Russian business media holding RBC. Helen Avakyan, counsel at the Firm and the COO at NP ACL will speak at the discussion. For more details on the discussion please go at http://bizconf.rbc.ru/2017/pmuf/.

Helen Avakyan will also speak at the discussion named “Disclosure of Security Interests as a Tool to Protect Creditors’ Rights and Significance of Security Interest Registers in Insolvency Proceedings” of the 1^st International Bankruptcy Forum. For more details on the discussion please go at http://iif.spblegalforum.ru/en/

Victoria Burkovskaya, Partner and Head of WCC Practice, will speak at the Kommersant business breakfast “Unjustified Tax Benefit: Where is the Balance of Interests of Business and Authority?”. For more details on the breakfast please go at http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3255893.

Pavel Sadovsky, Head of the IP/ТМТ Practice, will speak at the session entitled “Legal Aspects of Technology Transfer: from Concept to Innovation”, which will address the legal aspects of development of the innovation-driven economy, the knowledge-based economy through intellectual activity conversion into a value implemented in new products, services and technologies. For more details on the round table please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_3_3.

The Firm’s St. Petersburg office will host a SPILF-related practical discussion named “How to Speed Up Arbitration?” organized by the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC YAF) and International Centre for Dispute Resolution Young & International (ICDR Y&I) jointly with Arbitration Association 40 (RAA 40). The discussion will be moderated by Managing Partner Ilya Nikiforov. For more details on the discussion please go at http://epam.ru/rus/events/view/pri-podderzhke-ab-epam-proidet-sovmestnoe-meropriyatie.

Partner Anna Numerova will speak at the panel discussion organised by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia and named “Antitrust in the Global Economy: Challenges for Regional Alliances”. For more details on the discussion please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_5_1.

Competition counsel Maria Kobanenko will attend the session named “Pharmaceutical Market Regulation”, which also sponsored by the FAS of Russia. For more details on the discussion please go at http://www.spblegalforum.ru/en/2017_RoundTable_7_7

Satellite event entitled “Monitoring and Oversight Reform: Seeking for Balance of Convenience for the State and the Businesses”, which is organized by the Firm, will bring together representatives of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, the Federal Environmental, Industrial, and Nuclear Service (Rostechnadzor), the Russian Ministry of Emergencies and other agencies, as well as experts of the Expert Centre with the Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights. The event attendees will get the unique possibility to obtain first-hand information on what is planned and what is being done. They will discuss the changes to the laws to be introduced, the reform timeframe, and, most importantly, - the action plan for businesses to follow and get ready to play the new rules. Partner at the Firm and Co-Chairman of the Business against Corruption Public Center Andrey Porfiriev is to moderate the discussion. For more details on the discussion please go at http://www.spblegalforum.ru/en/2017_Satellite_Events.

Andrey Porfiriev will also speak at the session named “Access to Legal Assistance – Experience of the Association of Lawyers of the Russian Federation in the Pro Bono System”, which will address the trending practice of gratuitous legal assistance to the public. For more details on the discussion please go to http://www.spblegalforum.ru/en/2017_RoundTable_2_5.

Partner Dmitry Stepanov will attend a number of SPILF specialist sessions: “Corporate and Complex Business Disputes in Arbitration. New Opportunities and New Challenges” (for more details please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_6_3) and “Information Rights of Business Entities Participants – Finding the Balance of Interests” (for more details please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_9_1), and will join the RULF team for the Arbitration Battle (for more details please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_Arbitr_battle).

Competition Practice Counsel Denis Gavrilov will to speak at the session “Digital Economy and Challenges for the Competition Law and Policy” (for more details please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_5_4).

Partner and Head of M&A and Corporate Law Practice Arkady Krasnikhin will speak at the round table named “Specifics of Joint Stock Company Management under Shareholder Agreement with a State” (for more details please go at http://spblegalforum.com/en/2017_RoundTable_4_9).

In addition, during the Forum, the Competition Experts Association, jointly with the FAS of Russia, will hold the round table named “Topical Issues of the Antitrust Practice”, which will be attended by partner Anna Numerova and Counsels Denis Gavrilov and Evgeny Bolshakov. For more details on the round table please go at http://competitionsupport.com/rus/meropriyatiya/16-maya-2017-goda-sostoitsya-kruglyy-stol-aktualnye-voprosy-primeneniya-antimonopo.