On June 9, 2020, by unanimous decision of the General Arbitrators Meeting, Valery Eremenko, Partner heading Litigation Practice at EPAM, was elected to the Presidium as a Deputy Chairman of the Arbitration Center Presidium.
EPAM announces its key promotions. Effective January 1, 2020, Sergey Kalinin, Vera Rikhterman and Andrey Mashkovtsev shall be promoted to Partners.
Effective January 1, 2020, the following Senior Lawyers of the Firm shall be promoted as Counsels: Oleg Bouiko and Denis Golubev (Litigation), Daria Ilyina (M&A and Corporate), Ildar Mustafin (WCC), Pavel Sukholinsky (Administrative Law), Sergey Ustalov (Energy) and Alexey Karchiomov (Maritime Shipping / Transport Law and International Trade & Customs in St Petersburg).
A group of bus operators filed a class action lawsuit seeking to ban BlaBlaCar operations in the Russian Federation and to prohibit the information posted on BlaBlaCar’s platfrom. The claimant and the joining operators argued that BlaBlaCar was in breach of passenger and consumer protection laws, and that the advertisements being posted on BlaBlaCar’s official website and on its mobile application were breaking Russian tax law.
Attorneys of the Litigation Practice at EPAM in St. Petersburg have successfully defended the interests of the founders of air carrier Transaero in a dispute over a major loan that formed part of the company’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Until recently, Aqua Investments Group, a client of the Firm, in cooperation with Kavminkurortresursy JSC, had successfully protected their exclusive geographical indication (GI) rights to the products Yessentuki N4 and Yessentuki N17 (GI Yessentuki). In most cases, the holder of the GI rights had managed to prevent competitors from launching counterfeit products attempting to use the well-known healing diets and mineralized healing water brands.
In one of the biggest bankruptcy cases in modern Russian history, a team from the Litigation Practice at EPAM in St. Petersburg has successfully deflected the latest claim submitted by the bankruptcy trustee in the Transaero bankruptcy case.
The Firm’s attorneys continue to successfully defend the patent rights of major international pharmaceutical companies. This is the fourth pharmaceutical manufacturer (along with Novartis, Bayer, and BMS) that successfully sought legal redress in the Intellectual Property Court thanks to the Firm’s team
A team from the Litigation Practice at EPAM in St. Petersburg, representing the interests of a client in the Commercial Court of the North-Western Federal District, secured a new hearing in a case involving a RUB 2.5 billion subsidiary liability claim against a former shareholder in Energocapital, the largest brokerage firm in north-western Russia.
Attorneys of EPAM successfully defended Novartis Pharma (of Novartis Group) in the antimonopoly and legal proceedings in a dispute initiated by the antimonopoly authority to check the price of a drug, whose price had not been regulated.
In the course of the FAS Russia (Federal Antimonopoly Service) proceedings, the Firm’s antimonopoly team succeeded in proving that the marketing program of our client’s competitor was in conflict with anti-monopoly laws. The program involved the competitor encouraging supermarket employees to promote goods in an attempt to circumvent trade law requirements, however, these actions were found to be in violation of fair competition rules.
Associates from the Firm have continued their efforts to protect the patent rights of major international pharmaceutical firms, working with colleagues from Tilling Peters to secure a victory in the Intellectual Property Court for German multinational Bayer, overturning previous court rulings in the case.
On November 29, 2018 Saint Petersburg hosted an awards ceremony for the Top-100 - 2018 prize winners organized by Delovoy Peterburg newspaper. Ilya Nikiforov, Managing Partner at EPAM, was recognized with the Law Firm Management and Development nomination.
The Russian Arbitration Association has launched an investment arbitration task force. Dmitry Dyakin, Partner and Co-Head of the Litigation Practice at EPAM as well as a prominent investment arbitration expert, came forward with the initiative to launch the task force he now leads.
Attorneys of the Litigation Practice at EPAM have successfully represented the state-owned enterprise Morsvyazsputnik, the only Russian supplier of INMARSAT satellite communications services, in a contractual dispute with Glonass North-West. The associates are now to represent Morsvyazsputnik against the company in compulsory liquidation proceedings.