Elena Mashonskaya

One of our clients being Belarusian industrial enterprise requested our assistance with legal analysis of a shareholders agreement to be concluded as part of a major investment project on creation of a new joint venture on vaccine manufacturing in Belarus.

The Ministry of Architecture and Construction of the Republic of Belarus has prepared two draft Resolutions on approval of instructions for construction design and technical supervision – what will change in the light of actual technical codes of common practice?

From now lease relations shall be regulated by the Edict No. 160 rather than the Edict No. 101. What new provisions it brings, what benefits it provides and for who, when lease payments may be increased or decreased – see in our review.

Edict of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 143 dated April 24, 2020 “On Support of Economy” introduced some additional tax incentives in order to reduce the burden on business in the difficult economic situation and defer or decrease some of their tax obligations to the budget. These incentives can be roughly divided into measures of “hard” regulation providing business entities with specific benefits and measures of “soft” regulation in the form of recommendations for local authorities.

The Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus adopted Resolution No. 229 dated 15.04.2020 “On non-accrual of amortization of fixed assets and intangible assets in 2020”. This means that from April 15, 2020, organizations and individual entrepreneurs can decide not to charge depreciation for the period of the current calendar year – from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

According to the rating, Arzinger Law Offices is one of the key law firms in the Belarusian market in the practice of “Dispute Resolution”. Also, in the published rating of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR 1000) 2020, Arzinger Law Offices confirmed its last year position.

A tax residency certificate is a document that allows to apply the provisions of double taxation treaty of the Republic of Belarus to avoid double taxation. Such a treaty establishes in which state and how taxes are paid on a particular type of income. Belarus participates in 74 double taxation treaties.

The draft law amending the Labor Code was adopted in the second reading by the House of Representatives. In the near future, the document will be approved by the Upper House of Parliament, after which it will be received for signature by the Head of State.Some provisions actually update the Code, make it modern: new and sometimes long-awaited terms are introduced (e.g., distance working).

The key topic of the conference: international experience in the field of children's rights in situations when they moved and held by one parent in a foreign state without the consent of the latter.

On 23 April 2019 the Young Arbitrators Forum of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC YAF) together with the Young ADR – Belarus with the support of our company and Sorainen held a seminar on arbitration in IT and IT in arbitration.

The seminar was focused on the following key topics: current issues of economic, foreign trade and investment activities in Belarus. The event was organized by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK) in Belarus and the German Economy Information Centre.

Earlier, the participants (shareholders) of Belarussian companies shared with the budget 13% of their profit if a dividend was assigned to an individual (individual income tax). The total tax rate for legal entities was 12% (profits tax).

The general confiscation and an article about shell enterprises are canceled, the sizes of large and extremely large material loss are reviewed. All this derives from Law No. 171 adopted by the Belarusian Parliament on January 9, 2019. Details are available from Nikita Babkin, Arzinger & Partners specialist.

The Belarusian Expert Center for the issues of production and processing of potash ores and other mineral resources. Representation in court on the issues of a bank guarantee and recovery of unjust enrichment. The dispute amount was over $1 million.

Representation of interests of a Belarusian subsidiary of the largest Chinese telecommunication company in the dispute with a Belarusian contractor associated with construction of one of the biggest data centers in Europe.

We performed the legal expertise of performance of the agreement with the contractor, ensured holding of negotiations and representation of the client’s interests in Belarusian economic courts. The disputed amount was over USD 10 million.

Representation of interests of a Belarusian enterprise in the International Arbitration Court with the BelCCI regarding a dispute with a foreign equipment supplier in connection with modernization of the production facilities. 

Representation of interests for defense against claims made due to the fact that the product was similar to the competitor’s product by a number of features, development of documents for addressing the MART.

We performed the legal expertise, involved professional for performing surveys, initiated negotiations, and managed to settled down the conflict without financial losses for the client.

Advising and representation of interests of a major Belarusian developer of the software for manufacturers of high-tech products in a dispute with a customer due to improper performance of contractual terms by the customer and violation of the developer’s intellectual property rights. The dispute amount is over EUR 600 thousand.

We supported registration of computer applications at the NIPC, entry of computer applications in the unified customs register of intellectual property, negotiations and the correspondence on claims.

Representation of interests of a group of optic cable manufacturer in the course of the anti-dumping investigation performed by the Domestic Market Protection Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission regarding optic fibers from the USA and Japan.

Manufacturers of cables and conductor products Representation of interests of Belarusian members of the enterprise in the dispute with Russian member associated with an illegal takeover attempt, including review of the case of expulsion of the Russian members from the company in court.

Support of reorganization of one of the major cable factories in the form of acquisition of a limited liability company by a closed joint-stock company. 

Support of liquidation of a limited liability company and a unitary enterprise.

Creating a trading house of a Belarusian factory outside the Republic of Belarus.

Development of the customer’s tender documents for holding a tender for conclusion of a contract agreement for construction of the factory and development of all agreements associated with construction of the facility.

Development of the tender documents for participation in procurement and tenders for supply of products to major facilities of Beltelecom SUE, Bereza GRES power plant, and Belarusian NPP. 

Advising on application of the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction in disputes with former wives, citizens of Belarus, who brought children out of the countries without their former husbands’ consents.