The Firm

Case Overview:

Sovcombank Leasing LLC provided leasing services for various types of industrial equipment delivered from abroad. In 2021, the company’s in-house legal department handled only leasing transactions related to motor vehicles and real estate involving Russian lessees and sellers. Comprehensive legal support for projects involving the leasing of foreign-manufactured equipment required a separate, strong team of legal professionals with substantial experience in foreign economic transactions.

Scope of Services

The attorneys who are now part of our legal team provided legal support for the leasing of industrial equipment to lessees, with supplies originating from China, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, Italy, as well as from Russian subsidiaries of several foreign corporations.

During the legal support of these leasing projects, our attorneys frequently participated in negotiations with counterparties to agree on the terms of the leasing agreements and purchase agreements for foreign equipment, including terms and procedures for payment, supervision and commissioning (installation and start-up) of industrial equipment, and the inclusion in the contracts of provisions reflecting the specific features of the equipment supplied, as well as the basic and additional terms of international delivery.
Numerous amendments were made to draft agreements, or the agreements were developed from scratch when the lessee lacked draft contracts or when the drafts provided by the lessee were unsuitable for use. In addition, we carried out legal analysis, amendments, and additions to feasibility study (FS) agreements, transportation agreements, customs broker service agreements, and other related documents.

Significance and Results for the Client

As a result of the work completed, Sovcombank Leasing LLC established an efficient system for legal coordination of contracts entered into by project managers responsible for leasing industrial equipment.

This allowed the project managers to optimize their workflow when interacting with lessees and suppliers, and to improve both the speed and efficiency of their operations.

Achieving this result became possible thanks to the knowledge project managers gained through legal support regarding the legal requirements for the contract documentation being prepared, their understanding of the key issues that require initial clarification and agreement with clients, and the practical experience they acquired through the drafting and revision of contracts by attorneys for various transactions involving different contractual terms.

As a result, these newly developed contractual provisions could be used as standardized templates for a range of situations in future projects.

All leasing and equipment supply transactions supported legally were successfully completed, and the project managers of Sovcombank Leasing LLC expressed their deep appreciation for the collaboration upon completion of the legal services.