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Client Bulletin

ART DE LEX launches the Sanctions Group

The ART DE LEX Law Firm has organized a special practice group to advise Russian and foreign clients on the legal implications of the economic sanctions recently imposed by the United States, European Union, Canada, and other countries, as well as the responses by the Russian government.

The ART DE LEX Sanctions Group has just completed an exhaustive historical study of the development of economic sanctions regimes, which will enable ART DE LEX client to protect themselves better from the unfavorable consequences of the recent sanctions, reduce and manage the risks, and to take advantage of the business and investment opportunities that continue to emerge.

The sanctions are not illusions. They have real impact.

The economic sanctions imposed by the Western countries, beginning in March 2014, have presented serious challenges to individuals and businesses alike. Even an unintentional violation can have substantial consequences.

The sanctions and the Russian countermeasures have reached deeper into the Russian economy than just the named targets of the sanctions. These challenges have affected a wide range of foreign businesses, as well as Russian business that depend on economic activity in foreign goods and services. Sanctions have produced practical problems in everyday business activity, such as the inability to perform contractual obligations, as well as the additional expenses of finding new suppliers and market outlets. The result is an unexpected and unnecessary loss of business confidence and a stagnation of economic activity.

The responses by the Russian Federation, such as restrictions on the import of food products from the European Union, have added billions of euros of losses to Western entrepreneurs, some of their major market.

At the same time, new opportunities are emerging, notwithstanding the obstacles and uncertainties of the sanctions regime.

How ART DE LEX can help

The situation is likely to deteriorate further, but there are ways that Russian and foreign businesses and investors can obey the law, mitigate the impact of the current sanctions, and be prepared to respond positively to new ones that might appear suddenly in the future.

For clients that are already suffering legal consequences from the sanctions, ART DE LEX lawyers are ready to guide each client to a prompt, fair resolution that preserves the client’s business interests to the maximum extent possible. Specifically we are ready to:

  • Advise our client how to end or limit the negative consequences as soon as possible. 
  • Create a strategy to protect our client’s interests during the critical pre-trial phases.
  • Relentlessly advocate our client’s interests in court, or arbitration proceedings, not only in enforcement actions, but also in cases to recover losses due to non-performance because of sanctions restrictions.
  • Represent our client’s interests in regulatory and administrative actions concerning sanctions.

Beyond helping our clients to resolve current issues, we also help them to manage ongoing risks that sanctions regimes pose to their legal and financial interests. We can:

  • Conduct a prompt, efficient audit of our client’s compliance with applicable sanctions.
  • Help each client to build and manage reliable, flexible policies and practices to manage the legal risks arising from the applicable sanctions regimes.
  • Evaluate our client’s contractual relationships in order to adjust and adapt to possible future sanctions in a way that best protects the client’s ongoing business and financial interests.
  • Create a “sanctions business model” that enables each client to minimize legal risks and maximize available opportunities.

For more information

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If you have any questions about the current sanction regimes of foreign powers and the Russian government, and how they affect your business or investments, please contact Victor Fadeev, a member of the ART DE LEX Sanctions Group by telephone to +7 (495) 937-71-23, or by e-mail to v.fadeev@artdelex.ru).