Asters Law Firm acts as a legal counsel to ED&F Man, a leading transnational company operating in 60 countries worldwide, in connection with issuing of UAH 195 million customs guarantee by Ukrgasbank, one of the largest Ukrainian banks, in favor of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine for ED&F Man. This project was the first in Ukraine to involve customs guarantee issued by a Ukrainian bank.

"The Customs Code of Ukraine provides for use of a customs guarantee. Such tool allows importing or exporting goods for processing via tolling scheme (including repair or upgrade), as well as to import goods temporarily into the customs territory of Ukraine or to move goods through the territory of Ukraine in transit regime without customs payments. The main advantage of this inexpensive financial vehicle is that there is no need to use the company's current assets or obtain expensive loan facilities to secure relevant customs taxes and duties when putting the goods at the relevant customs regime in Ukraine", – says Yurii Khramov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Ukrgasbank.

"This innovative project will support one of the leading agriculture producers in Ukraine, fostering economic activity and securing jobs in our country. We are happy to be a part of the project aimed at the further strengthening of the economic development of Ukraine", – comments Oleksiy Khomyakov,partner at Asters law firm.

Asters' team advising on the project consisted of partner Oleksiy Khomyakov and associate Oksana Legka.

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PJSC Joint Stock Bank "Ukrgasbank" was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine. A controlling stake of the Bank’s equity belongs to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. Ukrgasbank is among top 10 banks of Ukraine in terms of total assets, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.

ED&F Man is a leading transnational company represented in 60 countries worldwide. ED&F Man has maintained its presence in Ukraine for 11 years. Ukrainian Sugar Company LLC, ED&F Man's subsidiary in Ukraine, operates the sugar plant near Mykolaiv and has 10.000 ha of land under cultivation in Mykolaiv region.

Asters is a full-service independent national law firm that has maintained a strong presence in Ukraine since 1995. Asters has been acknowledged as the Law Firm of the Decade by Ukraine's Legal Awards 2016. The Firm is a two-time winner of the Law Firm of the Year: Ukraine and the CIS award (The Lawyer European Awards 2014 and 2015), Law Firm of the Year (Ukraine) award (Who's Who Legal Awards 2014), Law Firm of the Year award (Ukrainian Legal Awards 2014) and is also named No.1 law firm in Ukraine according to the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Top 50 Law Firms Annual National Ranking.