On October 8, 2021, the annual solemn ceremony of awarding the All-Ukrainian public competition "Advokate of the Year 2021" was held.

Managing Partner of AGA Partners Aminat Suleymanova received the title of "Advokate of the Year 2021" in international arbitration.

Thanks to the Ukrainian Advocates' Association for the recognition!

On October 7, AGA Partners Managing Partner Aminat Suleymanova acted as a moderator of the 1st session of the VIII International Arbitration Readings in memory of Academician I.G. Pobirchenko "Adapt and Win: New Technologies and Innovations in Arbitration".

The topic of the 2021 Readings is “The Evolution of Arbitration in a Changing World”.

On October 6, 2021 Managing Partner of AGA Partners Aminat Suleymanova made a presentation at the IX Annual Forum of Legal Advisers on the topic "NSDC sanctions as force majeure circumstances."

The Annual forum of legal advisers is a traditional platform for discussing trends in the in-house profession, key challenges for business and its legal advisers. The event was organized by the newspaper "Yurydychna praktyka".

Ukrainian Bar Association and AGA Partners signed a Memorandum of Partnership.

"UBA Partner Status for AGA Partners is a conscious step that we are taking right now. We fully share the mission and goals of the Association, which have been outlined by the current leadership - the President and the Board," says AGA Partners Managing Partner Aminat Suleymanova.

On September 25-26 AGA Partners became a partner of the open equestrian competition "Butenko Stable PEL Show".

Our lawyers Olena Sibirtseva and Oleksandr Gubin attended the show and personally took part in awarding the winners.

Thanks to Butenko Stable for the opportunity to be a part of this unique event!

On September 24, partner of AGA Partners Iryna Moroz spoke at Law&Trade A2B Forum on the topic "International Arbitration.Enforcement of Awards".

Law & Trade Forum Law.Business.Trade is a unique event of the Ukrainian Advocates' Association (UAA), which makes possible to unite the efforts of business and the legal profession in order to solve the main problems in the field of international trade and business protection.

AGA Partners' lawyer Olena Sibirtseva acted as a speaker at a joint event of the Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine and the Association of Judges of Economic Courts of Ukraine "Judicial Protection in the Field of Banking Services in a Market Economy".

Olena spoke on the topic "Legal relations in the banking sector: protection of rights in the context of family law" and shared her experience of protecting the rights of creditors in the context of family legal relations.

The dispute concerned the buyer's wrongful refusal to accept a large consignment of sunflower seeds worth USD 2 million. The buyer justified his refusal by the presence of poisonous ambrosia seeds in the cargo. The Client had no choice but to terminate the contract with the buyer, resell the goods on the market, and claim the difference between the contract and resale prices, as well as the demurrage costs.

Upon the consideration of the case in the first instance, the award was rendered entirely in favor of the AGA Partners’ Client - the London arbitral tribunal held that the refusal of the goods was unlawful and the Client was entitled to compensation for the damages suffered.

Nevertheless, the opposite side challenged the award of the first instance and filed an appeal to the London arbitration. Buyers argued that as the maximum permissible levels for ambrosia were set by EU directives, exceeding such levels was a sufficient reason for refusal of the goods. At the same time, the seller’s position was that 1) the contract did not provide for the application of EU directives, and 2) EU directives relate only to the sunflower seeds intended for animal feed. In this case, however, the seller supplied sunflower seeds for oil production. Sunflower processing during oil production eliminates any negative effect the ambrosia may have, therefore EU directives do not set any maximum permissible ambrosia levels for sunflower seeds used in oil production.

The appeal instanсe agreed with the AGA Partners’ arguments and found that the buyer's refusal of the goods was unlawful, therefore the seller had every right to compensation for all the losses incurred. The arbitrators not only confirmed the award of the first instance but also additionally satisfied our claim for vessel demurrage compensation, arbitration and legal costs. Therefore, the appeal satisfied all the claims AGA Partners raised on behalf of the Client during the consideration of the case.

This bright victory became possible due to the painstaking work of partners Iryna Moroz and Ivan Kasynyuk, senior associate Dmitry Koval and associate Pavel Lebediev. The well-coordinated work of the team let AGA Partners not only to safeguard the success of the first instance but to surpass it with even more favorable award for the Client in the appellate instance.   

AGA Partners successfully represented large agricultural holding in London arbitrations. The disputes arose under contracts for sale of commodities for a total value of more than USD2 million. 

The respondent refused to supply to our client about 12,000 metric tons of Ukrainian corn due to unsettled disputes existing under other contracts concluded between the parties previously, claiming that he has a right of lien until all issues under previous contracts are settled. 

After half-year of proceedings, the arbitral tribunals found that the respondent was not entitled to exercise lien and fully satisfied our client’s claims in both disputes awarding more than USD1,1 million of damages plus arbitration fees and expenses. 

Partner Iryna Moroz commented on this situation:  

“Indeed, under English law, in some cases seller may be entitled to withhold further delivery of goods under the contract if a buyer fails to pay for the goods already delivered under the same contract. However, a seller shall not exercise this right, if alleged debt arises under a separate contract. 

The main issue of these disputes was to determine whether all the contracts between the companies were concluded within one single transaction. Our team has managed to prove that each contract between the companies is a separate independent agreement and is a subject to separate arbitration proceedings.” 

The AGA Partners’ team was led by partners Iryna Moroz and Ivan Kasynyuk, senior associate Dmytro Koval, and associate Dmytro Izotov. 

This year we are recognized in the following practices:

• The best company in the International Trade in Goods
  Ivan Kasynyuk and Iryna Moroz are in the TOP-5 of the best lawyers of the practice.
• In the TOP-3 in Private clients practice
  Aminat Suleymanova and Iryna Moroz are among the recommended lawyers of the practice.
• International arbitration
  Ivan Kasynyuk and Iryna Moroz are among the recommended lawyers of the practice.
• Agribusiness
• Transportation by sea
  Ivan Kasynyuk and Iryna Moroz are among the recommended lawyers of the practice.

Aminat Suleymanova is one of the women who influenced the development of legal business in Ukraine, and Iryna Moroz is one of the most successful women lawyers in the legal business.

These are the results of the study Ukrainian Women in Law 2021 from Yurydychna Gazeta.

AGA Partners successfully defended client's rights in the Supreme Court in the case of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of October 25, 1980.

A dispute arose between a citizen of the Republic of Poland and a citizen of Ukraine regarding their minor child. The daughter of the parties was illegally detained by her mother on the territory of Ukraine, despite the fact that the country of permanent residence of the child from the moment of her birth was the Republic of Poland.

Immediately after the fact of illegal change of the child's country of residence, our client applied to the Central Authority of the Republic of Poland for protection of his rights and legitimate interests with a request to facilitate the child's return from Ukraine to Poland.

Due to the fact that the child's mother refused to return the child to the country of her permanent residence, the father was forced to apply to a Ukrainian court with a claim of recognition illegal the child's detention in Ukraine and for returning her on her permanent residence.

Within the court proceeding, the AGA Partners team managed to prove that the child was born and resided in Poland before she was illegally detained in Ukraine by her mother, and that the mother illegally detained the child in Ukraine.

As a result of the court proceedings, the Supreme Court fully upheld our client's claims and ordered the mother to return the child to the country of residence - the Republic of Poland.

The client's interests were represented by AGA Partners at the appeal and cassation stage, which overturned the first-instance court's decision and protected the child's father's interests under the October 25, 1980 Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Partner Iryna Moroz commented on the case as follows:

"The decision of the court of cassation in this case will inevitably become a reference point and a source of legal conclusions for the proper and fair consideration of further cases in this category of disputes, contributing to the conscientious implementation of the 1980 Convention in Ukraine."

The AGA Partners team was led by partner Iryna Moroz with the support of senior lawyers Oleksandr Gubin and Olena Sibirtseva.

Congratulations to Aminat Suleymanova on being elected to the Board of Ukrainian Bar Association!

Read more about the meeting of the Legal Assembly and the election of the Association leadership for 2021 - 2023 years at: https://cutt.ly/WmzRKh1

Senior associate of AGA Partners, advocate Olena Sibirtseva acted among experts and speakers of the online course "Family Law" by Online Law School and covered the issue of division of spouses' property.

Course program and registration

AGA Partners' team is recognized by the international rating Best Lawyers in 6 nominations:

• Agriculture and Rural Affairs: Aminat Suleymanova
• Arbitration and Mediation: Aminat Suleymanova, Ivan Kasynyuk, Iryna Moroz, Ievgen Boiarskyi, Iurii Gulevatyi
• Family Law: Aminat Suleymanova
• International Arbitration: Aminat Suleymanova, Ivan Kasynyuk, Íryna Moroz, Ievgen Boiarskyi, Iurii Gulevatyi, Oleksandr Gubin

• Litigation: Aminat Suleymanova, Ivan Kasynyuk

• Trade Law: Aminat Suleymanova, Ivan Kasynyuk, Iryna Moroz, Dmytro Koval