AITKEN BERLIN LLP & AFFILIATES BECOME 99TH MEMBER
OF THE U.S.-UKRAINE BUSINESS COUNCIL (USUBC)
U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C.
Thu, Dec 11, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The international law firm of Aitken Berlin LLP has been approved as the 99th member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), according to an announcement by the USUBC executive committee on behalf of the entire USUBC membership.
Aitken Berlin LLP, along with its subsidiaries, the Homeland Security Industries Association (HSIA) and the Global Development Law & Consulting Group (Global Development), have offices in Kiev, New York and Washington, DC and an affiliated Customs/Trade consultancy in Paris. HSIA also has offices in Brussels, London and Paris.
The firm is managed by Bruce Aitken and Alan Berlin and the Paris Consultancy by Virginie Lecaillon. Mr. Aitken is the only American to have been appointed to all the major international Dispute Resolution Bodies (U.S.-Canada FTA in 1991; NAFTA in 1994; WTO in 1996; and WIPO in 1997).
He also has served as Legal Advisor on WTO accession to the State Planning & Development Committee of China and is the co-author of a book published in China in 2003 entitled "Antidumping."Mr. Berlin is the former President of the International Division of Belco Petroleum Corporation and has served on the Boards of Belco Oil and Gas Corp and Chaparral Resources, Inc.
Mr. Berlin also served as a special consultant to the United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development and the Center for Transnational Corporations, which is now part of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in connection with various petroleum projects. Ms. Lecaillon is a Consultant to such multinationals as Colgate-Palmolive (Paris).
INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTION AND TRADE REGULATION WORK
The firm has focused on international transaction and trade regulation work. Its successful defense of Ukranian exporters in trade cases has been exemplary for over a decade. It resurrected a defunct quota agreement on Silicomanganese from Ukraine in 1996 and has won a series of court appeals that followed this success.
It also negotiated a quota agreement on Carbon Steel Plate from Ukraine in 1997, which was 20% larger than a quota given to China and more than double the quota given to Russia in the same case. In the late 1990s, it actually killed off two long standing AD Orders, against Titanium Sponge from Ukraine and Ferrosilicon from Ukraine.
More recently, it successfully represented the Ukraine apparel and textile industry, the only Ukraine sector to avoid 100% punitive import duties as a result of the 2001-2 Sec. 301 case vs. Ukraine for intellectual property violations. And then it also helped Ukraine achieve "Western" or "Market-Economy" treatment in trade cases as a result of its representation of Ukraine steel interests.. And it has helped a number of Ukraine firms establish operations in the United States.
HOMELAND SECURITY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION (HSIA)
HSIA is the preeminent advocacy group representing the interests of U.S. and international homeland security firms seeking government procurement and grant opportunities with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its overseas counterparts. Former Congressman Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) and former senior Defense Department official Bruce deGrazia are among HSIA's officers.
Mr. Aitken since 2004 has appeared internationally on television with Gens. Alexander Haig and Norman Schwarzkoph, as co-anchor for homeland security shows on World Business Review (now called 21st Century Business). And he has been a featured speaker at the Bespeka Homeland Security Expo in Kiev. See www.hsianet.org.
Global Development is an international umbrella group under which the firm is formally affiliated with the emerging Kiev law firm of LegalART, managed by Irina Grischenko and Gleb Bialyi. See www.legalart.com.ua. Among its other members are the over 100-lawyer L&A law firm with five offices in China, and the Darfur Peace & Development Foundation, among others.
Mr. Aitken and USUBC President Morgan Williams met over 25 years ago in Washington. Mr. Aitken at that time won a major export promotion grant for an organization where Mr. Williams was President. The firm looks forward to renewed and even closer cooperation within the scope of USUBC's activities in Kyiv and Washington, D.C.
For more information about the firm and its affiliates, please contact Bruce Aitken at beaitken@aitkenberlin.com or beaitken@aol.com or call 202-468-0968; and Alan Berlin at adberlin@aitkenberlin.com or adberlin@aibvlaw.com or call 914-694-5717.
"USUBC is very pleased to have Aitken Berlin/HSIA, as a new member" said Morgan Williams, SigmaBleyzer, who serves as president of USUBC. "USUBC has grown very rapidly during the past 22 months and now has a membership base which allows USUBC to provide its members such as Aitken Berlin/HSIA with a full-time operation and a significantly expanded program of work," according to president Williams.
USUBC MEMBERSHIP WILL TOP 100 NEXT WEEK
Aitken Berlin LLP/HSIA is the 49th new member for 2008, and the 79th new member since January of 2007. USUBC membership has quadrupled in the past 24 months, going from 22 members in January of 2007 to 99 members in December of 2008. Membership is expected to top 100 this year.
The new USUBC members in 2008 include MaxWell USA, Baker and McKenzie law firm, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, Dipol Chemical International, MJA Asset Management, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, DLA Piper law firm, EPAM Systems, DHL International Ukraine, Air Tractor, Inc., Magisters law firm, Ernst & Young, Umbra LLC., US PolyTech LLC, Vision TV LLC, Crumpton Group, Standard Chartered Bank, TNK-BP Commerce LLC, Rakotis, American Councils for International Education, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP, International Commerce Corporation, and IMTC-MEI.
Additional new USUBC members in 2008 are: Nationwide Equipment Company, First International Resources, the Doheny Global Group, Foyil Securities, KPMG, Asters law firm, Solid Team LLC, R & J Trading International, Vasil Kisil & Partners law firm, AeroSvit Ukrainian Airlines, Anemone Green Capital Limited, ContourGlobal, Winner Imports LLC (Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Porsche), 3M, Edelman, CEC Government Relations RZB Finance LLC (Raiffeisen), IBM Ukraine, SoftServe Inc., The Washington Group (TWG), SE Raelin/Cajo, Inc., AnaCom, Inc., Pratt & Whitney - Paton, Mars Ukraine and Aitken Berlin LLP/HSIA.
The complete USUBC membership list and additional information about USUBC can be found at: http://www.usubc.org.
U.S.-UKRAINE BUSINESS COUNCIL (USUBC)
Ninety-Nine Members, December, 2008
Membership in January of 2007 was 22.
LINK: http://www.usubc.org/members.php
1. 3M Ukraine
2. AeroSvit Ukrainian Airlines
3. AES Corporation
4. AGCO Corporation
5. Air Tractor, Inc.
6. Aitken-Berlin, LLP/HSIA
7. ALICO/AIG
8. American Continental Group
9. American Councils for International Education
10. AnaCom
11. Anemone Green Capital Limited
12. Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)
13. Asters law firm
14. Atlantic Group
15. Baker & McKenzie law firm
16. The Boeing Company
17. Bracewell & Giuliani LLP law firm
18. Bunge North America
19. Cardinal Resources
20. Cargill
21. Case New Holland
22. CEC Government Relations
23. Chadbourne & Parke LLP law firm
24. Cisco Systems, Inc.
25. The Coca-Cola Company
26. ContourGlobal Ukraine
27. Crumpton Group
28. Deere & Company
29. DHL International Ukraine
30. Dipol Chemical International Inc.
31. DLA Piper LLC law firm
32. Doheny Global Group
33. ECdata, Inc.
34. Edelman
35. EPAM Systems
36. Ernst & Young
37. The Eurasia Foundation
38. First International Resources
39. Foyil Securities
40. General Dynamics
41. Halliburton
42. Heller & Rosenblatt law firm
43. Holtec International
44. Horizon Capital Advisors,
LLC-Emerging Europe Growth Fund
45. IBM Ukraine
46. IMTC-MEI
47. Intercontinental Commerce Corporation (ICC)
48. International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC)
49. Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars
50. KPMG-Ukraine
51. Kraft Foods Ukraina
52. Kyiv Atlantic Group of Companies
53. Lockheed Martin
54. Magisters law firm
55. Marathon Oil Corporation
56. Marks, Sokolov & Burd, LLC law firm
57. Mars Ukraine
59. MaxWell USA
60. MJA Asset Management LLC
61. Nationwide Equipment Company
62. Northrop Grumman
63. Och-Ziff Capital Management Group
64. Open World Leadership Center,
U.S. Library of Congress
65. The PBN Company
66. Procter & Gamble (P&G)
67. R & J Trading International Inc.
68. RULG - Ukrainian Legal Group, PA law firm
69. RZB Finance
70. Salans law firm
71. SE Raelin
72. Shell Oil Company
73. SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group
74. Siguler Guff & Co, LLC
75. Softline Company
76. SoftServe
77. Solid Team LLC
78. Squire, Sanders and Dempsey LLP law firm
79. Standard Chartered Bank
80. Sweet Analysis Services, Inc. (SASI)
81. TD International, LLC
82. The State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine
83. The U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation
84. The Washington Group (TWG)
85. TNK-BP Commerce LLC
86. U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF)
87. Ukrainian American Bar Association (UABA)
88. Ukrainian-American Environmental Association (UAEA)
89. Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA)
90. Ukrainian Development Company (UDC)
91. Umbra, LLC
92. UPS International Ukraine
93. Vanco Energy Company
94. Vasil Kisil & Partners law firm
95. Vision TV LLC
96. Westinghouse
97. Winner Imports Ukraine (Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Porsche)
98. WJ Agricultural Group
99. Zurich Financial Services
SENIOR ADVISORS TO USUBC- 2008
Anders Aslund, Senior Fellow
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Washington, D.C.
Andy Bihun, President
Global Trade Development, Inc.
Director, Business Development Forum
The Washington Group
Washington, D.C.
Ariel Cohen, Ph.D, Senior Research Fellow
Allison Center for International Studies,
Davis Institute for International Studies,
The Heritage Foundation
Washington, D.C.
Keith Crane, Senior Economist
Rand Corporation
Washington, D.C.
Leonid Kozachenko, President
Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC)
Kyiv, Ukraine
Steven Pifer, Visiting Fellow
The Brookings Institution
Senior Advisor, Russia & Eurasia Program, CSIS
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Washington, D.C.
Dr. Edilberto Segura, Partner, Chief Economist
SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group
Chair of the Advisory Board of The Bleyzer Foundation
Kyiv, Ukraine
Keith Smith, Senior Associate
Europe Program, CSIS
Former U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania
Washington, D.C.
USUBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD
OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
For 2008
Paula Freer, Marathon
Michael Kirst, Westinghouse
Paul Nathanson, The PBN Company
Irina Paliashvili, Ukrainian Legal Group
Andrew Pidgirsky, Ukrainian American Bar Association
Mara Sovey, Deere & Co.
Samir Sahgal, The Boeing Company
USUBC Treasurer
Patrick Sweet, Analysis Services, Inc. (SASI)
Arnold Wellman, UPS
Morgan Williams, SigmaBleyzer,
USUBC Chairman Ex. Comm. & President
Van Yeutter, Cargill
Jack Heller, & Rosenblatt,
USUBC Legal Counsel