LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – CMS Cameron McKenna LLP has today (9 July) announced details of the opening of a new office in Ukraine. The Kyiv office will open in September with five partners and a number of associates. The partners will be joining the firm over the next two to three months.
Helen Rodwell, regional head of Corporate for CMS Cameron McKenna in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), will also be based in Kyiv for the next six to twelve months to help integrate the office in to the firm’s wider CEE network.
Duncan Weston, Managing Partner for CMS Cameron McKenna in CEE, commented: “Ukraine is the next logical place for us to open an office. We have a long tradition of breaking new ground in CEE, and this move very much builds on our market-leading presence in the region. With a booming economy, naturally many of our major clients are either already actively investing in the country, or else are considering it. Our presence in the market will mean we are well-placed to support our clients as they pursue these opportunities.”
Dick Tyler, Managing Partner of CMS Cameron McKenna, also commented: “Our move in Kyiv is part of our strategy to deepen our presence in CEE. We are responding to a growing client demand to assist them further in the country, and are we playing to our undoubted strength as a key firm in the region. This is an exciting opportunity for the firm.”
An example of the firm’s increasing activity in Ukraine was acting, in 2006, for OTP Bank Rt. in its acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in Raiffeisenbank Ukraine for a purchase price of EUR 650 million. OTP Bank is Hungary’s leading bank.
Aided by economic growth in recent EU accession countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, CMS Cameron McKenna saw strong growth continue across its Central and Eastern Europe practice during 2006-07. Over the last two year’s the firm’s turnover in the region has doubled. The firm has offices in Bucharest, Budapest, Moscow, Prague, Sofia and Warsaw and was named CEE Law Firm of the Year 2007 by PLC What Lawyer? The firm also won awards this year for CEE Private Equity Law Firm of the Year from “unquote magazine, and Legal & Consulting Firm of the Year at the CEE Real Estate Quality Awards.
New office premises in Kyiv are currently being fitted out prior to the September opening. CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz and CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre will also be taking office space in the same building.
