Maxima Legal has taken part in the first roadwork concession project in Russia; the project is implementing under the model of a "private concession initiative" (type of unsolicited proposal in Russia). Our work in this matter was led by Vladimir Kilinkarov, Partner and Head of the Public-Private Partnership department at Maxima Legal. The toll road is to be located in Naro-Fominsk (in the Moscow region) joining a motorway linking Kubinka to Naro-Fominsk and a motorway from Naro-Fominsk to Novonikolskoye and then Vasilchinovo. The drafting and finalising of the concession agreement completed all the steps prescribed by the law and OOO Naro-Fominsk Platnaya Doroga was the only bidder for the construction of the motorway. The Concession Agreement was signed on 14 September 2016.

Platnaya Doroga is widely known for its active role in the development of infrastructure in the regions of Russian under public-private partnerships. ML and Platnaya Doroga are working closely together on a number of other PPP projects in the central part of Russia.

Maxima Legal’s Private Wealth department has signed an agreement to work together with one of Russia’s leading private banks, Bank VTB-24. Together with Bank VTB-24, we aim to develop a long and mutually beneficial relationship.

Maxima Legal, providing pro bono legal assistance to the “Alexandr” Foundation, acted a legal representative in the creation of a film, titled ‘The restoration of park facilities in the Krasnaya valley around Pavlovsk Park’, to be shown at an upcoming expo.

The Foundation supports culture, art and education and was founded under the patronage of Russian director, screenwriter and renowned personality, Aleksandr Sokurov (whose films include Russian Ark and Faust). The Foundation provides help for budding filmmakers, directors, curators, artists, designers, writers, bloggers, journalists, photographers and those aspiring to work in other creative professions.

The opportunity to provide charitable organisations with legal assistance on a reduced-fee or pro bono basis is an important part of our firm’s ethics and social responsibility.

We are pleased to introduce our new colleague, a qualified solicitor of English and Wales, Robert Houchill. Robert will head a new area of immigration services provided by our firm’s Private Wealth department. In addition, Robert will assist clients with various matters concerning English and International law, including commercial, contract and corporate law.

Robert completed a law degree at Essex University before completing the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in Bloomsbury, London. Before moving to St Petersburg in September 2015, Robert worked at a number of law firms in London for five years, including at leading Legal 500-ranked firms Gherson and Bates Wells Braithwaite.

On 24 to 25 August, Vladimir Kilinkarov, Partner and head of the firm’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) department, took part in a forum in Tula about PPP in the Central Federal District (one of the eight federal districts of Russia and the most populous). The forum was organised jointly by the regional government of Tula, the Centre for the Development of PPP and the Tula Region Development Corporation.

The objective of the forum was to discuss and share best practices and exchanged experiences in the implementation of PPP projects in the Central Federal District. Representatives of various regions of the Central Federal District, representatives of federal governmental departments (including the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Health), investors and private partners, leading experts in the field and members of the media all took part in the forum.

Official site of the forum: http://forum.invest-tula.com/