Violation of antitrust regulations can lead to significant reputational and financial losses for the business. The team of the law firm "Gutsu, Zhukovsky & Partners" is ready to help you find a balance between private and public interests. We have long-standing and extensive experience in handling cases in the field of competition law.

Services

• Abuse of Dominant Position

• Execution of concerted actions

• Unfair competition

• Legal support of participants and organizers of tenders in the placement of orders by public authorities and certain types of legal entities

• Representation of interests in court and antitrust authorities

• Tariff regulation

• Advising on advertising legislation

• Development of individual antimonopoly compliance program

• Coordinating transactions and other actions with the FAS of Russia and the Government Commission for Control Over Foreign Investments

Key people

Real estate is a major asset in today's unstable economy, so the legal protection of this asset is one of the priority tasks of business.

The Firm has extensive experience in this field. We are ready to conduct comprehensive legal support of any real estate transaction, as well as to take part in realization of a long-term investment project. Most interesting for us are complex and unusual problems in this area, which at first glance may seem insoluble.

The Practice "Real Estate and Construction" has been recognised by regional rankings PRAVO-300 (2018, 2020, 2021), Kommersant (2021, 2022, 2023) as one of the best.

Services

• Resolution of disputes involving large developers

• Resolution of complex legal issues in real estate

• Approval of construction project documentation

• Support for renovation of cultural heritage

• Advising on obtaining a construction permit

• Legal assistance in establishing easements

• Advising on locating production facilities

• Legal review (due diligence) of real estate

• Support in commercial real estate acquisition transactions

Key people

Taxes are one of the biggest expense items for most companies, so it is critical for businesses to choose a tax system and develop tax models to improve the efficiency of the company. It is important to be especially careful in this matter, as the chosen system may turn out to be unprofitable, and various tax schemes that seem so attractive are illegal and may lead to legal action and even greater losses instead of profits.

Constant study, analysis of problems and changes in tax legislation by our specialists, allows us to protect our clients from various negative consequences in the course of their business activities.

The problem of interaction with tax authorities during tax audits is extremely topical. Various legal methods allow us to effectively confront tax authorities and achieve positive results, both at the pre-trial stage and in court.

The Practice " Tax Law" has been recognised by regional rankings PRAVO-300 and Kommersant as one of the best.

Services

• Resolution of tax disputes, tax arbitration

• Legal support of tax audits

• Tax law compliance

• Detection of tax risks

• Consultations on legal issues of tax planning

• Representation of clients' interests in relations with tax authorities

• General tax consulting

Key people

The routine work of large corporations raises many complex legal issues related to corporate practice. A correct and competent approach to drawing up constituent documents of the company is a guarantee for starting a successful business and helps to avoid many problems later on.

In addition, the help of qualified lawyers allows you to save time and resources during business restructuring, reduce risks and financial expenditures when buying a business, as well as prevent losses when selling it.

The Practice "Corporate Law / M&A" has been recognised by regional rankings PRAVO-300 (2021), Kommersant (2022), Forbes Legal Ranking (2021) as one of the best.

Services

• Structuring business sale and purchase transactions

• General corporate procedures

• Mergers and Acquisitions: international and Russian practice

• Due diligence and compliance (due diligence and compliance)

• International tax planning

• CFC support and reporting

• Drafting shareholders agreements, corporate agreements, internal corporate relations and investor relations

• Support of securities emission procedure at all stages

• Structuring the corporate structure of the future company

• Development of internal local acts in order to increase efficiency of company management

• Representation in disputes over reinstatement of corporate control, including disputes with a foreign element

• Assessing the prospects and liabilities of the contemplated transaction, analyzing all aspects of the past, present and projected future of the acquired business and identifying any possible risks

• Creation of a holding structure with regard to governance processes, ability to attract financial resources and minimization of civil and legal risks

• Assistance in the resolution of corporate conflicts (corporate deadlocks)

Key people

Technology, Media & Telecommunications

Technology has become an integral part of our everyday life and has a significant impact on business processes. Russian legislation is constantly transforming and challenges the lawyers advising in the sphere of intellectual technologies, media and telecommunications.

Our team is ready to be a reliable advisor not only in the most demanded services on the market, but also in narrow areas, such as the cyber sports industry. Our lawyers are constantly improving their skills and knowledge, taking advanced courses in new areas of law, such as investment electronic platforms, utilitarian digital rights, smart contracts, ICOs, and successfully conducting projects in the context of regulatory developments and the changing business climate and market trends.

Services

• Support for communications providers

• Registration of rights of ownership of telecommunications facilities and AMC

• Support of IT companies operations

• Software and database registration

• Corporate structuring of IT business in Russia and abroad

• Building relations with software developers

• Cryptoindustry, ICO

• Utility digital rights

• Investment activities in IT sphere

• Activities of investment electronic platforms: creation from scratch and maintenance

• E-sport: the cyber-sports industry in Russia, CIS and worldwide

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is a legal institute the importance of which is hard to underestimate in the conditions of globalization and explosive development of technologies. At the same time with the growth of importance of this sphere there is an increasing number of illegal use of results of intellectual activity protected by law and other violations of intellectual property rights which is quite an acute problem of modern business.

Intellectual property includes brand names, trademarks and service marks, works of art and science, inventions, utility models and industrial designs, production secrets (know-how), etc. Availability of effective legal protection of intellectual property is an important condition for dynamic development of any company.

Services

• Recovery of compensation and damages resulting from unlawful use of the results of intellectual activity

• Protection of exclusive rights to objects of intellectual property in administrative and judicial procedure

• Ensuring termination of intellectual property rights infringement

• Assistance in registration of trademarks (service marks)

• Services for registration of inventions and utility models 

• Conclusion and registration of license agreements

Key people

Throughout its existence, society has impacted and transformed the natural environment. Undesirable consequences for nature, as well as for humans, have required the development of a certain range of knowledge aimed at studying the issues of restoration, conservation, rational use and protection of the environment.

Also an important part of today's changing world is ESG transformation, which is already being recognised as integral to the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of businesses. Companies need to take a systematic approach to ESG in their operations and strive for sustainability by integrating ESG factor management into all levels of their organisational structure.

As it can be seen, the international community has identified the global problems of our time: the ecological crisis and environmental protection. First of all, it is related to the reduction of mineral resources, climate change and environmental degradation on the planet. Solving these problems requires increased attention not only from the state, but also from society as a whole. Recently, new bills in the field of environmental protection have appeared, forcing enterprises, which are in direct contact with nature, to comply with the requirements of the law, often infringing on their economic interests. Hence, there are various legal problems that require the intervention of specialists, because the violation of the law in the sphere of ecology and nature management can lead to the most negative consequences for the enterprise, up to administrative termination of activity and bringing the management to responsibility.

Services

• Conducting a comprehensive environmental and legal analysis of a company's operations

• Settlement of disputes arising out of subsoil use, construction, industrial production, waste disposal, etc.

• Extrajudicial and judicial protection of the company in case of bringing it to responsibility for environmental offences

• Placement of food production facilities, approval of sanitary protection zone project

• Support of food production and restaurant operations in accordance with Rospotrebnadzor requirements

• ESG compliance

Key people

Economic sanctions applied in the spring of 2022 have seriously affected and will continue to affect businesses of the Russian Federation. Our task is to help clients navigate the changing business environment, minimize the legal risks of their actions, make the best legal decisions and continue to conduct business in the legal field, taking into an account all of the economic changes.

Services:

• Consulting regarding the choice of the optimal jurisdiction for business operations and legal support during business relocation

• Consulting regarding assets management issues in other countries

• Consulting regarding sanctions consequences of the introduced restrictions

• Verification of compliance of the company's practice with the sanctions legislation of the countries where the company operates

• Assessment of legal business risks under the sanctions

• Structuring business deals under sanctions