Events                     

Managing Contractual Risk under English and Russian Law

July 11, 2012

Seminar & Networking Business Reception
Organised by the British Consulate General in Ekaterinburg and the BRLA
Sponsored by Clyde & Co, Salans, Simmons & Simmons, Withers, Wragge & Co
Venue: Business Centre Paladium, Ekaterinburg, Russia

               Managing Contractual Risk under English and Russian Law

English law continues to be the preferred choice of law for international contracts involving Russian parties. It is a common choice, particularly, in M&A transactions, loan agreements and international commodity sales. What are the reasons for this? English contract law is acknowledged widely to be flexible and therefore adaptable to the commercial needs of businesses but how (in practical terms) can this flexibility be applied to protect the competing interests of parties to in these cases?

There is now active debate about the need for Russian contract law to develop its own flexible techniques to meet the priorities of businesses so as to provide a genuine alternative choice of law for Russian companies. Much of this discussion is currently taking place in the context of significant proposed changes to the Russian Civil Code. What are the current techniques available in Russian law for minimising contractual risk? To what extent will the legislative changes currently being proposed extend the choice of tools available for minimising contractual risk?

Representatives of leading English and Russian law firms debated these issues and shared their practical experience on these matters particularly in the context of simple and sophisticated loan agreements, M&A contracts and sale and purchase agreements.

The seminar was held on Wednesday 11 July 2012 at Business Centre Paladium, 2nd Floor, 10 Khokhryakova Street, Ekaterinburg, Russia

Sponsors






Managing Contractual Risk under English and Russian Law

Programme

13.15 – 13.45

Registration

13.45 – 14.00

Creating a stable investment climate by protecting property and commercial rights – the role of English contract law

Barbara Habberjam, Minister-Counsellor for Economic Issues, British Embassy Moscow

Rupert D’Cruz , Secretary of the British-Russian Law Association

Session 1 – Managing Contractual Risk Under English Law

14.00 – 14.20

General techniques for managing contractual risk under English law

David Marshall (Wragge & Co, London)

14.20 – 14.40

Protecting the rights of lenders and borrowers under English law

Stephen Ross (Withers, London)

14.40 – 15.00

Protecting the rights of seller and purchasers under English law

Andrew Tobin (Clyde & Co, London)

15.00 – 15.20

Questions & Answers

15.20 – 15.40

Coffee Break

Session 2 – Managing Contractual Risk Under Russian Law

& Contractual Options for Dispute Resolution

15.40 – 16.10

Managing Contractual Risk – A Russian Law Perspective (including an analysis of relevant articles of the proposed new Civil Code)

Karina Chichkanova (Salans, St Petersburg)

16.10 – 16.30

Anticipating and dealing with disputes under English law

Tatiana Menshenina, (Simmons & Simmons, London)

16.30 – 16.50

Anticipating and dealing with disputes under Russian law

Elena Artyukh (Lev & Lev, Ekaterinburg)

16.50 – 17.15

Questions & Answers

Closing Remarks

17.15 – 18.30

Networking Business Reception