Held from February 8th to 10th at the Radisson Hotel Rosa Khutor in Krasnaya Polyana, the event encompassed not only a professional agenda but also educational and athletic elements. Lawyers from across Russia and even abroad converged to participate.

To facilitate informal networking, attendees were invited to "Les," a glamorous camping site where they engaged in an intellectually stimulating quiz game. Teams were formed spontaneously, fostering rapid camaraderie among participants. The game, as evidenced by feedback, proved both engaging and refreshing their knowledge of cinema and music.

The following day was dedicated to the forum's professional agenda. The opening session, moderated by Yury Pustovit , Managing partner of Advocates Burea Yug, took the form of a discussion centered on "Restructuring Businesses During Global Challenges."

Yury Pustovit emphasized that the evolving business landscape necessitates innovative legal solutions, which are fortunately facilitated by legislative changes and their practical application. One of the currently sought-after mechanisms for regulating business processes is re-domiciliation, a legal method that enables companies to shift from one jurisdiction to another. While re-domiciliation is typically employed to seek jurisdictions with less burdensome tax or corporate laws, in Russia, it serves as a protective mechanism to safeguard assets and transfer them out of unfriendly countries. The number of Russian companies utilizing this method has increased tenfold since its inception.

What, then, should be done with "abandoned" companies? They can be nationalized. In Russia today, a milder approach is being taken in the form of external management, as exemplified by Danone and Baltika. It is a crucial discussion topic for the legal community, as it will facilitate striking a balance between the interests of the state and shareholders affected by government measures.

Participants in the first session also examined the challenges of opening accounts with foreign banks and the complexities involved. Certain countries require European residency or citizenship to open an account. Additionally, foreign jurisdictions subject clients to banking compliance, an internal vetting process conducted by the financial institution. Legal experts advise opening multiple accounts in different countries and banks, as financial institutions may abruptly decide to close accounts held by Russian citizens.

Amidst business turbulence, the government is extending support not only at the federal level but also regionally. Thanks to amendments in the regulatory framework, the Republic of Bashkortostan managed to implement an investment project and construct a plant for the production of post-harvest grain processing equipment in just nine months. The Russian Association of Lawyers stands ready to facilitate legislative changes and enable the government to be more responsive to business needs. The association formulates proposals received from the business community and submits them to the government commission on legislative activities. It also actively participates in the State Council's commission on small and medium-sized businesses.

In recent years, the government has emerged as a driving force in the urban development sector, embarking on a transformative journey to enhance the well-being of its citizens. In 2022, a comprehensive strategy was meticulously crafted to foster a thriving urban environment, elevate the quality of life, unlock the potential of land plots, streamline investment and construction processes, and embrace the transformative power of digitalization. This commitment was further solidified in 2023 with the enactment of several groundbreaking laws. The legislative landscape was reshaped to clearly define the scope and characteristics of auxiliary facilities, paving the way for more efficient and harmonious urban planning. The possibility of construction within protective zones of power lines was judiciously established, striking a delicate balance between development and environmental preservation. Additionally, a novel procedure was introduced to safeguard the interests of participants in shared construction projects, ensuring transparency and fairness throughout the process.

The second session of the forum, aptly named "Around the Campfire" for its profoundly resonant subject matter, ignited disputes with a foreign element, the nuances of representing foreign companies in Russian courts, and the disputes involving sanctions, specifics of issuing permits for transactions between residents and foreign companies from unfriendly countries, forecasting group lawsuits, and the liability of persons providing legal services to debtors in bankruptcy cases.

Sergey Radchenko , Partner at the Advocates Bureau Yug, shared examples of Kuban cases to illustrate how the Russian Prosecutor General's Office is filing numerous lawsuits to return assets to state ownership that were previously state-owned in the 1990s and 2000s but were later privatized and subsequently acquired by private individuals.

Radchenko's compelling examples laid bare the stark contrast between the Prosecutor General's arguments and established legal doctrine and judicial practice. The arguments in these lawsuits radically contradict both legal doctrine and judicial practice over the past 25 years, yet the courts are ruling in favor of the lawsuits. One reason for this is the initial lawsuits filed by the Prosecutor General's Office in 2018, which were aimed at combating corruption and returning criminal assets to the state treasury. Today, thanks to the accumulated case law, similar approaches are being applied not to criminal cases, but to civil law cases. This is despite the existence of civilized mechanisms and the fact that the Constitution of the Russian Federation prohibits the seizure of private property without prior market compensation.

The third session, the "Non-conference", divided into three roundtables, provided an opportunity for lawyers to share their perspectives on the development of the legal market. Many companies operating in Russia are being forced to seek other jurisdictions to grow their businesses, which means they will have to address issues related to the specific features of foreign legislation. With the departure of foreign companies, corporate lawyers must devise ways to buy out assets from foreign participants, resolve corporate conflicts, and establish new companies on the "ruins" of previous ones. As foreign companies leave, they are taking with them unique developments, software, and exclusive technologies, which has led to a redistribution of the Russian market in these areas and, consequently, created a need for state involvement in these processes through regulatory mechanisms.

The third day of the forum, dedicated to relaxation from intellectual work, was no less active. Lawyers took part in a winter slalom, divided into skiers and snowboarders. The organizers awarded prizes and gifts to the winners, and those who took third place received certificates for participation in another legal event scheduled for May 2024.

Lawyers who did not participate in the competition could spend time on the mountain slope with a glass of mulled wine while listening to a DJ set and discussing the past forum with colleagues.