The Firm

Case Overview:

The Japanese corporation Komatsu LTD made large-scale investments in the Russian market (2008–2014) to build its largest assembly plant in the world in the city of Yaroslavl, as well as a product technical support center in the city of Polysaevo, Kemerovo Region. These projects required highly qualified legal support.

Scope of Services

The attorneys who are now part of our law firm’s team independently provided full legal support for the construction of the Yaroslavl plant – from selecting and formalizing the land rights for construction to preparing and negotiating the contract for the development of design documentation. They also provided complete legal support from the ground up through the commissioning phase of the Komatsu technical support center in the Kemerovo Region.

The work included: participation together with Japanese top management in multiple negotiations with the highest authorities of the Yaroslavl and Kemerovo Regions and with local self-government bodies; handling land-related matters with municipal authorities; legal support in obtaining construction permits; preparation and negotiation of all contractual documentation with contractors, design companies, engineering supervision organizations, and suppliers of equipment and materials; resolving disputes with design organizations to eliminate deficiencies in their work.

Additionally, to secure investment from Komatsu LTD for the construction projects, legal support was repeatedly provided for increasing the charter capital of Komatsu CIS LLC by several hundred million rubles.

Significance and Results for the Client

Thanks to high-quality legal support, the construction of Komatsu’s large-scale industrial facilities in Russia was fully successful and completed on schedule, with no litigation related to investment activities or construction.

As a result, hundreds of new jobs were created in Russia, regional tax revenues increased substantially, and production localization began, as Russian manufacturers started producing certain components for the assembled construction machinery (in particular, excavator buckets were supplied by Kraneks mechanical engineering group from Ivanovo).

The construction of the Yaroslavl plant was a project of federal significance, and the facility was visited by Vladimir Putin, who at the time served as the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.