To Russia with love

Since it was founded in the early eighteenth century by the Russian tsar Peter the Great, St Petersburg has always had a distinctly international outlook. This week it will see an influx of international and local lawyers, who are in town for the third CIS Local Counsel Forum. From the booming oil markets of Russia and central Asia to the fast-growing international business community in Ukraine, the conference will cover some of the world’s most rapidly developing economies and legal markets.

Organized by RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group and hosted by Russia's Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners - the firm was the subject of a profile that featured in Legal Week last year - the forum brings together lawyers from local and international firms in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and beyond.

Egorov Puginsky has become one of a small brood of independent Russian firms with some clout in the Russian market, a standard-bearer alongside Moscow boutiques Pepeliaev Goltsblat & Partners, Liniya Prava, and Andrey Gorodissky & Partners. As such, the firm is becoming an increasingly prominent fixture on Russia's legal scene.

On Thursday (26 June) the keynote address will be delivered by the head of Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, who should provide insight into Russia’s embryonic antitrust laws. We’ll be blogging from the event, so check back regularly in the coming days for more on the leading business lawyers in the region.

rlloyd@alm.com

This blog also appears on the website of The American Lawyer, Legal Week’s US sister title.