Commercial law

Comprehensive legal advice on preparing commercial agreements and full-scale commercial law support.

SCHNEIDER GROUP's multinational legal team helps international businesses in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus to structure and optimise all types of commercial agreements with customers, suppliers, partners and distributors. We take the specifics of your business and internal processes into account to provide:

Advice on legal aspects of commercial activities in the relevant country
Analysis of your current commercial agreements, recommendations for optimisation and agreement templates
Support in negotiations with business partners

SCHNEIDER GROUP’s commercial law services include:

Legal assessment of business models
Risk assessment at deal conclusion
Structuring of contractual relationships and assistance in negotiations
Drafting of agreements relating to negotiation procedures and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
Assessment of contractual relationships from the point of view of anti-monopoly legislation
Legal analysis and drafting of all types of commercial agreements (supply, services provisioning, contracting, loan provisioning, agent agreements, etc.)
Advice on structuring of distribution agreements
Advice on franchising arrangements

What you get

EXPERTISE UNDER ONE ROOF

We take into account your business objectives, industry specifics, business model and typical problem-solving approach. The project team includes a legal expert in commercial law, as well as consultants from related legal areas and representatives from other departments (accounting, tax, finance) if required to ensure the best possible outcome.

OPTIMISATION AND STANDARDISATION

We rely on industry best practices and our professional experience to analyse and optimise your commercial agreements or draw up agreement templates for further use. We can help you to standardise the process of preparing routine commercial agreements.

SUPPORT IN NEGOTIATIONS

We will support your business in negotiations with business partners, answering questions and providing necessary clarification and legal assessment of options discussed. We help to establish a productive dialogue between your international head office and local counterparties.

Natalia Wilke

Partner, Legal, General Director, St. Petersburg, Russia

Natalia is SCHNEIDER GROUP Partner and General Director of the St. Petersburg office. She is a lawyer with more than 20 years of practical experience in legal consulting. Natalia provides tailored-made, practically-oriented legal solutions in establishing and managing subsidiaries of international businesses in Russia, manufacturing localisation, compliance, acquisition of real estate, as well as corporate and labour law. Natalia speaks Russian, German and English, and has a basic knowledge of French.

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Dr. Thomas Mundry

Partner, Legal, Tax, Moscow, Russia

Thomas joined the company in 2019 as Partner for legal and tax. Thomas is a German lawyer, ranked among top lawyers in franchising and is regularly included into the “Best Lawyers in Russia” rating. He specializes in manufacturing localization (greenfield & brownfield), joint ventures, M&A, franchising & distribution, bankruptcy and restructuring. Thomas advises businesses from a wide range of industries, including machinery, construction and engineering, automotive, logistics, chemicals, mining, energy and utilities, pharmaceuticals, food, real estate, agriculture, fashion, and IT. Prior to joining SCHNEIDER GROUP, he was Partner in the international law firm Noerr. He holds a doctorate in Law from Freie Universität Berlin. Thomas speaks German, English and Russian.

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Anna Afanasyeva

Associate Director, Legal & Tax, St. Petersburg, Russia

Anna joined SCHNEIDER GROUP St. Petersburg office in 2020. She has more than 10 years of professional experience at the international law firms. Anna is a leading legal advisor in St. Petersburg. She specialises in financial and tax planning and provides legal support in manufacturing and real estate investment projects, manufacturing localisation, and infrastructure projects. She advises SCHNEIDER GROUP’s customers on customs law, IT regulations, foreign trade and financing, M&A, and international legal agreements. For many years, Anna has been heading the legal & tax committee of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) in St. Petersburg. She participates in the tax and financial reporting committee of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce (AHK). Anna graduated with a degree in Law from St. Petersburg University.

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Ekaterina Kalinina

Associate Director Commercial, Real Estate & Regulatory Law Practices, Moscow, Russia

Ekaterina joined SCHNEIDER GROUP in 2020. She has over 17 years of experience in advising international and Russian companies on legal aspects of Russian market entry and investment projects, greenfield and brownfield manufacturing localisation projects, EPC-contracts, real estate, and construction. Ekaterina specialises in quality claims, certification, preparation of permissive documents for import. Companies from machinery, automotive, FMCG, pharma, renewable energies, and retail industries rely on her professional expertise. She graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University with a degree in Law, and holds a Master of Law degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

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Sergey Odintsov

Head of Legal & Tax Practice

Belarus

Sergey provides legal and tax advice to Belarusian and international businesses. He focuses on corporate and commercial law, taxation, business setup and restructuring, as well as investment projects and supports company clients in mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining SCHNEIDER GROUP, Sergey worked for one of the Big Four companies in Belarus, where he gained significant experience in legal advice for clients in various industries, including construction, oil and gas, logistics and transportation, retail, pharmaceuticals and IT. Since 2006, Sergey has been collaborating with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank on the “Doing Business in...” project. Sergey has more than 15 years of professional experience. He is a licensed lawyer and tax consultant. Sergey speaks Russian, Belarusian and English.

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Sergey Bogatyrev

Legal Counsel

Sergey joined SCHNEIDER GROUP’s St. Petersburg office in 2021 as senior associate. Previously he worked as an associate and senior associate for Beiten Burkhardt, a German law firm, for 12 years. Sergey has more than 17 years of professional experience. He specializes in corporate law, joint ventures, legal regulation of construction (including city-planning regulations) and bankruptcy law. Sergey has extensive experience in M&A and greenfield & brownfield localization projects for both domestic and international businesses. He also represents SCHNEIDER GROUP clients in Russian state courts. Sergey graduated from St Petersburg University with a degree in Law.

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Daniil Korobko

Senior Associate, Moscow

Daniil joined SCHNEIDER GROUP in 2017 as associate. He was promoted to senior associate in 2020. Daniil provides legal support for commercial activities of SCHNEIDER GROUP's customers in Russia and has over 9 years of professional experience. Daniil specialises in structuring, drafting and analysing commercial agreements, civil law, regulatory requirements, and legal aspects of manufacturing localisation. He has supported companies from various industries, including pharmaceutical, industrial equipment manufacturing, FMCG, renewable energy, and IT. Daniil graduated from Altai State University with a degree in Law. He speaks Russian and English.

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Success stories

International FMCG company

Importing and selling goods in Russia

We collaborated with the customer to carry out market research, develop a detailed product assessment and plan promotional activities. We also helped them find would-be distributors and negotiate contract terms.

Pharmaceutical manufacturer

Expanding into new markets

We assisted a German pharmaceutical company in establishing a subsidiary in Russia, including opening bank accounts, hiring four employees, subleasing fully equipped office space and providing a temporary General Director, among other tasks.

Austrian laser technology company

IP rights protection

We developed a Trade Secrets Policy along with all the necessary legal documents for a laser manufacturer, including a list of confidential and proprietary information, a non-disclosure agreement and employee contract templates.

Bogner

Preparing complex export documentation

Since 2014, we have assisted Bogner in attaining conformity declarations and certificates for a variety of products, ranging from clothes to marketing materials.

Mankenberg

From Employer of record to company incorporation

MANKENBERG aimed to expand to the Russian and CIS markets. To give MANKENBERG the opportunity to test the market without significant investment, we hired an employee on behalf of the company. The employee was provided with a fully-equipped workspace in our office with secretarial and administrative support.

All success stories

Why Schneider group

PERSONALISED APPROACH

Regardless of the task, we tailor solutions to your business processes and propose several options with a brief explanation of the pros and cons of each. We consider each commercial agreement to be a step towards your long-term success in a new market.

EFFICIENT COMMUNICATION

We provide a full range of services for new market entry and business development. This helps save time spent on communication with several partners and overall project coordination. We flexibly adapt to your needs and promptly respond to any requests.

QUALIFIED TEAM

Our legal experts boast many years of professional experience in cross-cultural environments. As well as thorough assessments during hiring process, all our employees regularly upgrade their qualifications. The professional competencies of our legal team are assessed twice a year during internal evaluations. Both the company and individual experts are often included in local and international legal ratings.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERTISE

We provide legal support in all countries where we operate and engage reliable partners in the regions where we do not have a local presence. This allows customers who work in multiple jurisdictions to benefit from consistency in the preparation of commercial agreements and minimise associated risks.