AGA Partners has defended the interests of the football club.

AGA Partners’ lawyers Dmytro Koval and Iurii Gulevatyi defended the interests of the football club and its officials in the disciplinary proceedings of the Control and Disciplinary Committee of the Ukrainian Association of Football.

Following the consideration of the case, the lawyers managed to prove the innocence of the officials of the football club. As a result, the Committee did not impose disciplinary sanctions on club officials.

According to the results of the annual all-Ukrainian study "Market Leaders: Rating of Ukrainian Law Firms 2021" from Yurydychna Gazeta, AGA Partners was shortlisted among the TOP-50 law firms of Ukraine 2021, and managing partner of AGA Partners Aminat Suleymanova entered the list of TOP-15 effective managers - partners of law firms.

In addition, AGA Partners team has been recognized in the following nominations:

• Agrarian and land law
• International arbitration
• International Law / International Trade
• Private clients
• Family law

Thanks to Yurydychna Gazeta for the recognition! 

AGA Partners successfully represented large multinational holding in London arbitration in the dispute against agricultural seller. 

Our Client did not receive the goods under the contract and claimed default damages from the seller. The dispute evolved over the quantum of damages and specifically about the date of default and the relevant market price for assessment of damages.  

After intensive written proceedings involving exchange of numerous evidence by the parties, the arbitral tribunal found in favour of our Client confirming our position as to the relevant date for assessment of damages. The tribunal fully satisfied our client’s claims awarding about USD170,000 of damages plus interest and arbitration fees and expenses. 

The AGA Partners’ team was represented by partner Ivan Kasynyuk and senior associate Iurii Gulevatyi. 

AGA Partners is an expert partner of the II Ukrainian Arbitration Forum.

AGA Partners partners Iryna Moroz and Ivan Kasynyuk will speak at the II Ukrainian Arbitration Forum, which will be held on December 3.
In particular, Iryna Moroz will make a presentation during the discussion "Alternative Reality", and Ivan Kasynyuk will host an open interview with Anna Tishchenko, Director of the Department of International Disputes of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Arbitration Forum is one of the most ambitious events in the legal industry and an expert platform for professional discussion on the development of arbitration in Ukraine. This is not the first time AGA Partners is partnering with the event.

Senior associate of AGA Partners Olena Sibirtseva was elected chairman of the UBA Committee on civil, family and inheritance law.

AGA Partners and ISKOR Sport Lawyers Agency have agreed on cooperation in the field of sports law.

The synergy of two professional teams will strengthen the existing experience of each and will allow to defend the rights and interests of athletes, coaches, sports clubs and federations.

“ISKOR Sport Lawyers Agency has long been known as a company that brings together the best sports lawyers in Ukraine. In turn, over the past few years, AGA Partners has been actively developing its legal practice in the field of sports, using many years of arbitration experience. We are pleased to start cooperation with ISKOR Sport Lawyers Agency, which is a logical continuation of our chosen vector of activity and will contribute to the powerful development of both companies in the sports law market, ”- commented Dmytro Koval and Iurii Gulevatyi, lawyers of AGA Partners.

"This is the first precedent of uniting two independent leaders in the legal space to achieve a common goal in the field of sports - protecting the rights of athletes and coaches, qualified legal support of sports clubs and federations, as well as ensuring the legal awareness of current and future athletes," - says Ilya Skoropashkin, managing partner of ISKOR Sport Lawyers Agency.

On November 18, AGA Partners lawyers Elena Sibirtseva and Alexander Gubin spoke at the webinar "Protection of Creditors' Rights in the Context of Family Law", organized jointly with the Association of Ukrainian Banks.

We are grateful to the Association of Ukrainian Banks for assistance in organizing the event!

AGA Partners defended the interests of the Dynamo Kyiv basketball club.

AGA Partners associates Dmytro Koval and Iurii Gulevatyi defended the interests of the basketball club Dynamo Kiev in a dispute over violation of the employment contract by a basketball player.
Following the consideration of the dispute, the Legal Relations Commission of the Basketball Federation of Ukraine recognized the violation of the contract by the basketball player. The contract was terminated by a decision of the Commission.

AGA Partners successfully represented a major oil producing and trading company in London arbitration initiated by an international trading company, registered in United Arab Emirates (UAE). The stakes in this case were extremely high – the opponent claimed recovery of more than 28 million US dollars! 

The case concerned the parties’ disagreement regarding the conclusion of the contract on supply of a large parcel of sunflower oil. Although their preliminary negotiations did not result in signing of the contract, the UAE counterparty wrongfully declared the client in default for failure to deliver the goods and commenced London arbitration. 

While initiating the proceedings, the UAE counterparty made several procedural mistakes which, on their face, would have appeared harmless – they failed to put the arbitral institution in the copy of the email, enclosing the notice of arbitration, and failed to attach a copy of the alleged contract to it. But these procedural mistakes triggered a whole cascade of serious procedural irregularities which eventually led to the premature nomination of an arbitrator instead of the client. 

As the client had been deprived of its essential right to participate in the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, AGA Partners raised objections against jurisdiction of the tribunal. Eventually, the tribunal held that premature appointment of arbitrators poisoned the entire arbitration process. On this basis, the tribunal declined its jurisdiction to consider the case at hand. 

The present case vividly illustrated the paramount importance of proper and prudent commencement of arbitration and the constitution of the arbitral tribunal. 

This case was handled by the brilliant team led by Ivan Kasynyuk and Iryna Moroz with the assistance of Ievgen Boiarskyi and Pavlo Lebediev. 

Based on the results of an all-Ukrainian study "Client's Choice. TOP-100 lawyers of Ukraine 2021" from Yurydychna Gazeta, partners of AGA Partners Aminat Suleymanova and Ivan Kasynyuk got on the list of TOP-100 lawyers of Ukraine 2021!

In addition, AGA Partners received recognition in 5 nominations:

• International Law / International Trade - Iryna Moroz
• International Arbitration - Aminat Suleymanova and Ivan Kasynyuk
• Family Law - Aminat Suleymanova
• Sports law - Dmytro Koval
• Private clients - Aminat Suleymanova

Congratulations to our colleagues on the recognition!

• AGA Partners, together with the Committee on Civil, Family and Inheritance Law of Ukrainian Bar Association, invites you to participate in the professional event dedicated to the discussion of the division of corporate rights as a common joint property of spouses.
  Among the speakers of the event are judges of the Supreme Court, lawyers, representatives of notaries, and corporate lawyers. Moderator - Managing Partner of AGA Partners Aminat Suleymanova.
  Questions for discussion:
• Can corporate rights be divided?
• How to protect the interests of the spouse who is not a member of the LLC?
• Can you split the received income from the activities of the LLC?
•  Is the authorized capital of LLC subject to section and under what conditions?
• What are the established approaches of the Supreme Court to the division of corporate rights of spouses?

Date and time: November 25, 12:00 - 16:00

To participate in the event, registration is required: https://uba.ua/ukr/events/4197/

AGA Partners successfully represented large agricultural holding in London arbitration. The dispute arose under a contract for the sale of commodities for a total value of about USD1,6 million.

The respondent refused to supply to our client 10,000 metric tons of corn, alleging that the client breached previous contracts. During arbitration proceedings, the respondent asserted that he had a right to withhold the goods under the new contracts until all issues under previous contracts are settled.

The arbitral tribunal found that the respondent was not entitled to withhold delivery of goods and fully satisfied our client’s claim awarding USD700,000 of damages plus arbitration fees and expenses. The tribunal clarified that the respondent’s position could have prevailed only if it had been proved that the contracts can be construed as one single transaction.

Partner Iryna Moroz commented on this situation:

“Under English law, by default, each contract constitutes separate transaction and should be analyzed in isolation. Accordingly, a seller cannot simply withhold delivery of goods under one contract due to alleged violations of another agreement. This seller’s right can arise only in limited cases. For example, a 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. In the present case, our team has managed to prove that each contract was treated by the parties as a separate independent agreement.”

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

AGA Partners successfully represented a large agricultural company in London arbitration under the 2017 LMAA Rules in the dispute against a shipowner. The dispute arose under the voyage charterparty concluded for carriage of the goods to Egypt. 

The case was initiated by the shipowner who claimed the demurrage in the amount of about USD 100,000 from our client. The shipowner’s claim was based on the allegation that our client utilized the vessel in excess of the agreed laytime and incurred demurrage in the port of discharge. 

After 1.5 years of the proceedings, the arbitral tribunal found that the shipowner’s claim shall fail in its totality, thereby supporting our client’s position and awarding the client his legal costs in defending the shipowner’s claim. 

In the present case the performing vessel failed to issue a valid notice of readiness (NOR) and, therefore, the laytime had not started and no demurrage had been earned.  

Under English law applicable to this dispute, the following requirements shall be met for laytime to start running: 

1. the vessel must arrive at a place specified by the parties in the charterparty (port or berth as the case may be); 
2. the vessel has to be physically and legally ready to commence loading/discharging operations;  
3. the shipowner must give a valid NOR.  

Partner Ivan Kasynyuk commented on the case at hand:  

“In the present case, the parties concluded a berth charterparty. That is, firstly, the vessel had to arrive at the berth. Then (upon arrival of the vessel) the shipowner had to give a valid NOR. 

However, the master issued NOR prematurely, when the vessel just arrived at the port, not at berth. So, the NOR was invalid. When the vessel finally arrived at the berth, no valid NOR was given.  Since there was no valid NOR, the laytime did not start and, accordingly, no demurrage had been earned by the shipowner”. 

 The AGA Partners’ team was led by partner Ivan Kasynyuk, senior associate Iurii Gulevatyi and associate Dmytro Izotov. 

AGA Partners successfully represented large agricultural holding in London arbitration in the dispute against an English trading company. The dispute arose under the contract for the sale of commodities for a total value of about USD1 million.  

The respondent declared our client in default due to alleged failure to effect the payment for 5% of the goods within the terms prescribed by the contract. Our client, in turn, considered such declaration as groundless and premature. The client stated that the payment was made within contractual terms, but it was the respondent’s bank who delayed the release of funds.  

After half-year of the proceedings, the arbitral tribunal found that the respondent’s default declaration was premature and fully satisfied our client’s claims awarding about USD200,000 of damages (including the amount of payment made by the client) plus arbitration fees and expenses. 

Partner Iryna Moroz commented on this situation:  

“Usually, parties envisage a detailed payment mechanism under a contract. Among other things, parties often define the moment when the payment is considered to be made within the meaning of the contract. Our team has managed to prove that the client’s obligation to pay was completed when the funds reached the respondent’s bank account.The tribunal, therefore, concluded that any delay of the release of funds in the respondent’s bank shall be for respondent’s responsibility”. 

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