Irina Paliashvili began her private practice in 1992 by founding one of the first private law firms in Kiev and expanded by co-founding a private law firm in Moscow. In 1995, she founded the Washington-based RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A., where she serves as the President and Senior Counsel. Before going into private practice, Dr. Paliashvili served as General Counsel (International) to two major companies in Ukraine. In 1991, Dr. Paliashvili completed a six-month assignment with a prominent Chicago law firm as a part of the American Bar Association's Soviet Lawyer Internship Program followed by a four-month assignment in Frankfurt working with a leading German law. She has also served as a Professor of Law at the Kiev State University Law School. Dr. Paliashvili graduated with high honors from the Kiev State University School of International Law and received a Ph.D. in Private International Law from the same school. She also holds an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from George Washington University. Dr. Paliashvili frequently speaks at international conferences on the legal and business climates in Ukraine and other countries of the CIS economic region. Her articles regularly appear in leading professional publications in the United States and Europe. Dr. Paliashvili is licensed to practice Ukrainian law as a Special Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia and is a member of the Kiev Bar, the American Bar Association, the Washington Foreign Law Society, the Committee on Non-Member Economies of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), the Congress of Fellows of the Center for International Legal Studies, Russian International Law Association, the International Trademark Association (INTA), other professional organizations, and is a Member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Legal Affairs Group of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council. Dr. Paliashvili is the founder and Co-Chair of the CIS Local Counsel Forum, the informal network of managing and senior partners of leading business law firms from the CIS economic region. She was individually designated as recommended corporate and M&A practitioner in Ukraine by the PLC Which Lawyer?. Dr. Paliashvili has special expertise in the area of oil and gas, intellectual property protection, commercial dispute settlement and mediation. She is a mediator trained and certified by the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution in New York and a member of its International Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and a member of the INTA International Panel of Neutrals. She also serves on the Board of Reporters of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration of The Center for American and International Law (ITA) as Reporter for Ukraine. Dr. Paliashvili is fluent in English, Ukrainian, Russian, Georgian, and Spanish. She divides her working time among Washington and Kiev. E-mail: irinap@rulg.com. Back

Victor Kovalenko served as Acting Director of the Law Department at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce & Industry from 1989 to 1993. He was responsible for drafting contracts and agreements on behalf of the Chamber, advising foreign and Ukrainian companies on trade and investment issues, registering foreign companies in Ukraine, drafting various trade laws and litigating in Ukrainian courts on labor issues. Mr. Kovalenko has worked for a major U.S. law firm in both the United States and Moscow and in 1993, became a member of our legal team, first in Moscow and then in Kiev, specializing in corporate and business law. His areas of expertise also include currency issues, customs regulations, labor law, taxes, corporate issues, securities, energy legislation, oil and gas regulation, telecommunications law, project financing (particularly in agriculture), land and real estate law, construction regulations, leasing, privatization, and international and domestic business transactions in both Ukraine and Russia. Mr. Kovalenko received his law degree with high honors from Kiev State University in 1986 and his LL.M. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1993. He has also studied at the Taiwan Institute for Economic Research. Mr. Kovalenko is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. Mr. Kovalenko is the Managing Partner of the Ukrainian Legal Group in Kiev. E-mail: Victor.Kovalenko@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Professor Petro Martinenko served as a Justice of the Ukrainian Constitutional Court from 1996 to 2001 before joining the RULG - Ukrainian Legal Group as a Senior Counsel in 2001. Prof. Martinenko has been an accredited Ukrainian advokat (trial lawyer) since 1989, practicing both private and public law. His practice focuses on two areas: litigation of constitutional and administrative law matters, and the legislative process (both consulting Ukrainian legislators involved in drafting laws and providing expert legislative analysis to clients having an interest in the legislative process). Prof. Martinenko has significant experience in drafting legislation, including participation in the drafting of the Ukrainian Constitution, numerous Ukrainian constitutional and international trade laws and the founding documents for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In his capacity as an expert advising the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, he also worked on drafts of several conventions between Ukraine and the Council of Europe. In 1992-1996, Prof. Martinenko served as Ukraine's Deputy Representative to the "Venetian Commission" of the Council of Europe. In 1991-1996, he served as Chief Consultant to the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Supreme Rada. In 1992-1993, Prof. Martinenko joined the Collegium on Issues of Legal Policy of the Supreme Rada. In 1999-2000, he served as an expert for the Ukrainian-European Policy and Legal Advice Centre (UEPLAC). He holds professorships at the Kiev Taras Shevchenko State University, the Kiev-Mogilyanskaya Academy, and the International Solomonov University. In 1971-1976, Prof. Martinenko worked as an Assistant Professor at the National University of the Central African Republic (Bangui). He lectured at the University of Alberta (Edmonton) and the University of Montreal, Canada in 1994 and at University of Clermont-Ferrand in France in 1997. He has served as academic advisor to 15 doctoral candidates. Prof. Martinenko is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the International Association of Constitutional Law. He has authored more than 170 professional publications, including 12 monographs on various aspects of constitutional, administrative, commercial and international law. These include: "Comparative Constitutional Law" (1987); "Totality of the World and Comparative Jurisprudence" (1990); "Parliamentarianism: The World Practice and Ukraine's Searches" (1996, USA); "Justice constitutionnelle et democratie referendaire" (1996, France); "Commentary on the Ukrainian Constitution" (1996, 1998, co-author); "Expertise of the Constitutional Jurisdiction: Ukrainian Model" (2000, Italy, South Korea; 2001, Mexico); "The Impact of International Law on the Constitution of Ukraine (2000, Kiev)." Prof. Martinenko has been awarded the title of "Esteemed Lawyer of Ukraine". He is a 1962 graduate of the Saratov State Law Institute and received his doctorate in juridical science from Kiev Taras Shevchenko State University in 1966. Prof. Martinenko is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and French, and has a working knowledge of English and German. E-mail: pet_martinenko@yahoo.fr. Back

Tamara Lukanina is a graduate of Kiev State University Law School, and has more than twenty years of experience in corporate, business, tax, and labor law. Ms. Lukanina served as a Consultant to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, advising on legal issues concerning the business activities of Ukrainian enterprises. She has also served as Associate General Counsel to major Kiev enterprises, Electronmash and Ukrtelecom. Her expert advice on pending legislation is frequently sought by the Ministry of Justice and other ministries and governmental agencies. In addition to being a corporate lawyer, Ms. Lukanina is one of the leading commercial litigators in Ukraine, with a record of winning several precedent-setting cases in the State Arbitrazh Courts of Ukraine. She was a member of the legal team representing one of our clients before the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. She has become involved in such developing areas of Ukrainian law as oil and gas regulation and space and telecommunications law. Ms. Lukanina is fluent in Ukrainian and Russian. E-mail: Tamara.Lukanina@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Richard Smith is Senior Counsel at our Washington, D.C., office and a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the Maryland Bar, and the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. He holds a degree in International Relations from the College of William & Mary and received his J.D. from the University of Baltimore. Prior to joining RULG, Mr. Smith worked for over four years in Russia, first as International Contracts Director for Tver InterContact Group, then as an associate attorney for the law firm Clifford Chance. Additionally, Mr. Smith served as an informal legal advisor to various American non-governmental organizations working in Moscow and the provinces, advising primarily on issues of Russian labor law. His practice focuses on corporate, commercial, labor law, securities, and he also advises on international data protection and technology matters. Mr. Smith is fluent in both English and Russian. E-mail: rsmith@rulg.com. Back

Alena Vasilenko graduated from the Kiev State School of Law in 1999, specializing in Financial Law. She had previously worked as a Paralegal at the Ukrainian Legal Group since 1996. In this capacity, she assisted in drafting founding documents, contracts, and other legal documents. Now, Ms. Vasilenko deals with the incorporation of companies in Ukraine and advises on issues related to the regulation of activity and taxation of permanent representative offices of foreign companies, as well as on corporate, export-import, business, civil, labor law matters, and on tax, currency, and investment regulations. Ms. Vasilenko also serves as the Director of the Ukrainian Legal Group. Ms. Vasilenko is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. E-mail: alena.vasilenko@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Yelena Korshikova joined the Ukrainian Legal Group as a Legal Assistant in 1998, in which position she participated in the drafting of contracts, memoranda, and other legal documents. In February 2002, she graduated from the Department of Law of the Presidential University of the Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management, with a specialization in Commercial and Labor Law. In 1996, Ms. Korshikova became qualified as a Business Manager and Economist upon graduating from the Joint Department of the Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management and Ukrainian Institute for Improvement of Education Managers' Professional Skills. She worked as a personal assistant to the Chief of the General Representative Office of Foreign Companies in Ukraine from 1994 to 1998. Ms. Korshikova is fluent in Ukrainian and Russian, and has a working knowledge of English. E-mail: Elena.Korshikova@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Svitlana Kovalenko joined the Ukrainian Legal Group in August 2003. She received her law degree from the Kiev State University School of Law in 2001, specializing in Corporate Law. Ms. Kovalenko practices in the areas of antimonopoly law, securities, privatization, corporate law, commercial litigation, currency regulation, land and real estate law, labor law, leasing, tax regulation, international and domestic business transactions, licensing of certain types of economic activity and consumer rights protection. Prior to coming to Ukrainian Legal Group, Ms. Kovalenko worked as a Legal Counsel at the State Committee of Ukraine for Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship, performing legal research, analyzing information on foreign and domestic political and legal events, reviewing written petitions to the State Committee, and working closely with government agencies on various issues related to the activity of the Committee. Ms. Kovalenko is fluent in Ukrainian and Russian, and has a working knowledge of English. Back

Olga Ilchuk joined the Ukrainian Legal Group as a Legal Assistant in 2001, in which capacity she participated in the drafting of statements of claim, other procedural documents involved in commercial disputes, statutory documents, contracts, and other legal documents. Ms. Ilchuk received her law degree in 2004 upon graduating from the National Academy of Management, specializing in Business Law. Her areas of practice include commercial, commercial procedural, corporate, labor, and tax law. Ms. Ilchuk also holds a Master’s degree in Philology from Kiev State Linguistic University (2000). Ms. Ilchuk is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. E-mail: Olga.Ilchuk@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Xenia Eremenko graduated from the National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine in 2003 with specializations in Administrative and Criminal Law, Psychology, and Philology. Prior to joining Ukrainian Legal Group, Ms. Eremenko worked for the Ukrainian Government as an analyst performing legal research and research in economics, politics, markets, and social spheres. In June 2005, Ms. Eremenko joined the Ukrainian Legal Group as a Legal Assistant. In July 2006, Ms. Eremenko was promoted to the position of Counsel and currently deals with drafting contracts, founding, and other legal documents. Her areas of expertise include commercial, commercial procedural, corporate, labor, and tax law. Ms. Eremenko is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, English, and has a working knowledge of German and French. E-mail: Xenia.Eremenko@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Vasyl Chikh joined the Ukrainian Legal Group in September 2006. In February 2007, Mr. Chikh received his Master's degree in International Law from Kiev International University, Department of International Law where in 2005, he also obtained his Bachelor's degree specializing in Private International Law. Prior to joining Ukrainian Legal Group, Mr. Chikh interned with the Ukrainian office of a well-known international law firm, where his responsibilities included pre-acquisition due diligence, checking certificates of State registration, preparing amendments to agreements and performing legal research. In 2003, Mr. Chikh interned with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine's International Organizations Committee. His areas of expertise include corporate, tax, and financial law. Currently, Mr. Chikh deals with the incorporation of companies in Ukraine, performs legal research, and participates in drafting contracts, and other legal documents. Mr. Chikh is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. Back

Oksana Korelova joined the Ukrainian Legal Group in April 2007. In 2000, she graduated with honors from Ukraine's Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy. From April 2000 to October 2005, Ms. Korelova worked as an Assistant Public Prosecutor at the Obolonsky District Public Prosecutor's Office in Kiev. There she oversaw the observance and application of laws by enterprises and organizations, public authorities, institutions and individuals and represented the interests of the State and individuals in court. These responsibilities contributed to her experience in banking, credit-and-finance, tax, budget, land, criminal, civil law, business law and other areas of legislation. In October 2005, Ms. Korelova took a Counsel position with a subsidiary of the Gloria-Gart Security Agency. There her principal responsibilities were providing legal support of financial and economic activities, including litigation, contracts, representing the company's interests in commercial, administrative and general jurisdiction courts and the approval of staff orders and ordinances. Ms. Korelova's current areas of practice include State registration of enterprises, advising on tax matters, appeals against unlawful actions of public authorities and illegal resolutions of law-enforcement bodies, representing and protecting enterprises' financial and economic rights in commercial, administrative and general jurisdiction courts of all instances. Ms. Korelova is fluent in Ukrainian and Russian, and has a working knowledge of English. E-mail: oksana.korelova@ulg.kiev.ua Back

Artem Gromov joined the Ukrainian Legal Group in August 2007. In June 2007, Mr. Gromov received his Master's of Law degree from Chernivtsi National University, Department of Law, specializing in International Law. In addition, Mr. Gromov graduated from the Foreign Language Faculty of Chernivtsi National University. At the Ukrainian Legal Group, Mr. Gromov focuses his practice on corporate law, labor law , and immigration issues. Mr. Gromov is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, and has a working knowledge of Italian. E-mail: artem.gromov@ulg.kiev.ua Back

Mr. Grigorov holds a Master’s degree in International Law from the Department of International Law at Kiev State University, Institute of International Relations. At the Ukrainian Legal Group, Mr. Grigorov focuses his practice on tax, labor law, and real estate issues. Mr. Grigorov is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, and has a working knowledge of German. E-mail: ivan.grigorov@ulg.kiev.ua Back

Tatiana Palatova joined the Ukrainian Legal Group in July 2007. Ms. Palatova received her Bachelor’s degree in Private International Law in June 2006 from the Kiev State University, Institute of International Relations, Department of International Law. Ms. Palatova expects to receive a Master’s degree from the same University in February 2008. At the Ukrainian Legal Group, Ms. Palatova focuses her practice on corporate law and antimonopoly issues. Ms. Palatova is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, and has a working knowledge of French. E-mail: Tatiana.Palatova@ulg.kiev.ua Back

Yaroslav Shkvorets graduated from National Taras Shevchenko University of Kiev with a Master's Degree in Law and a Master's Degree in Translation with high honors. During his career, Mr. Shkvorets has worked as a specialist in the Information and Analysis Office of the Main Department of the Civil Service of Ukraine, and also worked in private practice, advising on corporate, labor and real estate law. Mr. Shkvorets's current areas of practice include corporate and finance law. Mr. Shkvorets simultaneously also pursues his linguistic career by interpreting at professional conferences and translating legal publications. Mr. Shkvorets is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, French, and English, and has a working knowledge of Romanian and German. E-mail: yaroslav.shkvorets@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Maria Matviyenko received her Master’s degree with honors from the Department of International Law at Kiev State University, Institute of International Relations, specializing in Private International Law. At the Ukrainian Legal Group, Ms. Matviyenko focuses her practice on corporate law, tax and banking law. Ms. Matviyenko is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, and has a working knowledge of French. E-mail: maria.matviyenko@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Liudmyla Kolodnyk joined the Ukrainian Legal Group in June 2008. Prior to joining the Ukrainian Legal Group, Ms. Kolodnyk interned with the Ukrainian office of a well-known international law firm. There she worked primarily on mergers and acquisitions, as well as assisting with pre-trial negotiations and drafting of documents on various tax, labor law, intellectual property rights, and other matters. At the Ukrainian Legal Group, Ms. Kolodnyk focuses her practice on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, commercial litigation and arbitration, and labor law. Ms. Kolodnyk is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. E-mail: liudmyla.kolodnyk@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Lilia Gokieli joined the Ukrainian Legal Group in September 2004. Ms. Gokieli received her Bachelor’s degree with honors from the Solomonov International University specializing in Civil Law. At the Ukrainian Legal Group, Ms. Gokieli focuses her practice on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property rights. Ms. Gokieli is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, English, Georgian, and has a working knowledge of French. E-mail: Lilia.Gokieli@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Ilona Tkachenko joined Ukrainian Legal Group in March 2008. Ms. Tkachenko received her Bachelor’s degree from Kiev State University, specializing in Financial Law. Ms. Tkachenko focuses her practice on tax, currency and bank regulation. Ms. Tkachenko is fluent in Ukrainian and Russian, and has working knowledge of English and German. E-mail: Ilona.Tkachenko@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Yaroslav Voronizhsky joined Ukrainian Legal Group in January 2007. Mr. Voronizhsky received his Bachelor's degree with honors from National Taras Shevchenko University of Kiev, specializing in Civil Law. At Ukrainian Legal Group, Mr. Voronizhsky focuses his practice on corporate, labor, real estate law, and intellectual property rights. Mr. Voronizhsky is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English. E-mail: Yaroslav.Voronigsky@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Professor Levan Alexidze is the foremost authority in the area of International Law in Georgia. Since 1969, he has served as Chairman of the Department of International Law at Tbilisi State University, interrupting his university career to serve as a Senior Human Rights Officer in the Division of Human Rights at the United Nations in New York and Geneva from 1970 to 1977. From 1985 to 1993, he served as Vice President of Tbilisi State University. Prof. Alexidze is widely published in his field and received the State Prize of Georgia in 1982 for his monograph Some Theoretical Problems of Contemporary International Law (Jus Cogens). For the past several years, he has served as a legal expert to the Georgian delegation to the Geneva Negotiations for the Settlement of the Conflict in Abkhazia. Prof. Alexidze has also served as an Editorial Board Member of the Georgian Constitutional Committee. He was a member of the Georgian Parliament from 1991-1994, and has served for many years as the pro bono Chief Advisor on International Law to the President of Georgia. He is a member of the World International Law Association and the Georgian Association of Lawyers, and has twice been named to the Board of the Association of International Law. In recent years, Prof. Alexidze has become increasingly involved in the oil and gas sector, and co-authored the draft of the Law "On Production Sharing Agreements" for Georgia. Prof. Alexidze is fluent in Georgian, Russian, and English, and works in Tbilisi. Back

Pytor Bogdanovich is a certified Patent and Trademark Attorney of Ukraine, having obtained his education in this field at a variety of institutions, including the Public Patent Institute in Kiev (1972) and the All-Russian Institute of Industrial Property and Innovation in Moscow (1992). His work experience spans both the public and private sectors. As Head of the Patent Division of the Scientific-Research Institute of Electric-Household Machines and Appliances, Mr. Bogdanovich's work involved patenting inventions and registering firm trademarks and service marks. As Head Patent and Trademark Law Expert at "UBN Kristina", he represented the interests of entities with the State Patent Agency of Ukraine in matters of registration, acquisition, legal protection and sale of rights to inventions, useful models, industrial samples, and trademarks and service marks. As a result of Mr. Bogdanovich's work in intellectual and industrial property law (both foreign and domestic), his expertise has broadened to include contract law, corporate law, antimonopoly legislation and court disputes. His responsibilities in these areas include drafting various commercial contracts, providing legal protection and consulting for intellectual and industrial property owners, and representing their interests before state and civic bodies. Mr. Bogdanovich is fluent in Ukrainian and Russian, and has a working knowledge of English. Mr. Bogdanovich works in Kiev. E-mail: General@ulg.kiev.ua. Back

Galina Dmitrieva has practiced and taught law for almost 30 years. In addition to private practice, she serves as Chief of the Chair of International Private Law at the Moscow State Legal Academy. Dr. Dmitrieva advises various private Russian and foreign companies in the fields of corporate law and international business transactions. She also advises various branches of the Russian government, and actively participates in the legislative drafting process. A few of the projects to which Dr. Dmitrieva has contributed include the debt renegotiation of a developing country to Russia, a multimillion dollar RULG - Ukrainian deal on wheat, and the acquisition of a detergent factory in Italy. Dr. Dmitrieva is the author of more than 50 books and professional publications. She is a member of the Russian International Law Association, the Kiev Bar, and the Advisory Counsel to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. Dr. Dmitrieva works in Moscow. Back

Professor Apollon Paliashvili, a native of Georgia, after receiving his law degree in 1950 worked in Moscow for the USSR Ministry of Justice. In 1958, he received his Ph.D. in Moscow and in 1968, a Doctorate of Law in Tbilisi. Since 1960, he has taught at the Tbilisi State University Law School's Department of Criminal Procedure and Forensic Sciences. From 1985 to 2000, he served as Chairman of the Department. Prof. Paliashvili's scholarly interests include the areas of criminal justice, criminal procedure, forensic sciences, and procuratorial oversight, about which he has published over 195 scholarly and professional works that have appeared in Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, other CIS countries, and Europe. In addition to teaching at Tbilisi State University, he frequently lectures at other universities in Georgia and abroad. Prof. Paliashvili is currently an active participant in Georgian legal reform, for which his opinions are highly regarded and sought after by the Georgian Government and Parliament. He was the Chairman of the Georgian Government's Commission on the Elaboration of a Criminal Procedure Code. He also was a member of Advisory Councils of the Georgian Prosecutor General's Office and Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1999, Prof. Paliashvili was elected Academician of the Georgian Academy of Liberal Arts and Sciences and was awarded the State Medal of Glory by President Shevardnadze. Prof. Paliashvili is fluent in Georgian and Russian. He works in Tbilisi. Back