PRESS RELEASE

On April 19, 2012 in the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) held the second all-Ukrainian conference "Rules of Incoterms 2010: Practical Application in Ukraine." The conference was traditionally organized by UCCI, the Ukrainian National Committee of International Chamber of Commerce - ICC (UNC ICC) and the Association of Exporters and Importers 'ZED'. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, the State Customs Service of Ukraine and competent expert organizations, such as Vasil Kisil & Partners Law Firm, supported the event.

The conference was attended by representatives of Ukrainian enterprises engaged in foreign trade, representatives of the ICAC at UCCI, chambers of commerce and law firms, as well as government representatives.

The event focused on issues related to the application of Incoterms 2010 rules in Ukraine, the tax aspects of their use and the peculiarities of the customs declaration of goods in Ukraine, on changes to the legislation of Ukraine regarding the use of Incoterms 2010 rules, as well as the protection of interests of Ukrainian importers and exporters in the international commercial arbitration. During the conference participants had the unique opportunity to take part in the discussion of the above topics with the speakers - representatives of public authorities, experts in the field of domestic and international trade.

Pavlo Byelousov, a lawyer and senior associate with dispute resolution practice of Vasil Kisil & Partners Law Firm, gave a presentation on "Protecting the interests of Ukrainian importers and exporters in foreign and international courts of arbitration," in which, among other things, he highlighted the issues associated with the use of and interpretation of Incoterms 2010 in the arbitration proceedings.

According to Mr Byelousov, regardless of the provisions of Ukrainian legislation regarding mandatory use of Incoterms rules in buy and sell agreements or purchase orders, to date there are no other alternatives for entities engaged in foreign economic activity. "In this regard, one should avoid key mistakes typical for the Ukrainian enterprises with regard to understanding and applying the rules of Incoterms, which often lead to arbitration proceedings," – emphasised Pavlo.

"For example, there is a common misconception that the Incoterms rules relate only to transportation terms and in no way affect the other rights and obligations of the parties and the transfer of title to the goods. This is not true because, firstly, the Incoterms rules also set forth obligations of the parties with respect to insurance of the goods and shipping contracts, and secondly, they set the time and place of delivery of goods from the seller to the buyer, no matter in whose actual possession (seller, buyer, carrier, warehouse) these goods are. And the later has a direct impact on the transfer of title to the goods under the laws of Ukraine, if the parties have not provided a procedure for the transfer of title to the goods in the agreement itself", - summed up Mr Byelousov.

Mr Byelousov supported the main points of his presentation by providing case stories from arbitration practice of ICAC at UCCI, ICAC at the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arbitration Court at the Economic Chamber and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic, as well as the practice of GAFTA arbitration, which sparked considerable interest among the participants.

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For more details please contact Tatyana Efremova,
Head of PR/BD Department
Tel.: +380 44 581 7777
E-mail: pr@vkp.kiev.ua

About the Firm
Established in 1992, Vasil Kisil & Partners is a Ukrainian law firm that delivers integrated legal advice in banking & finance, mergers & acquisitions, capital markets, antitrust, competition and trade, dispute resolution, tax law, energy and natural resources law, intellectual property law, labor and employment law, real estate and construction law, as well as PPP, concessions and infrastructure law.

The firm`s clients include such world-known companies as Alpcot Agro, Africa-Israel Group, Astellas Pharma, BASF, Bayer Consumer, BNP Paribas, British American Tobacco, Central European Media Enterprises, Coca Cola, Credit Agricole Group, Danone, Dell Inc., Du Pont, Energy Standard Group, Eurosport, Google, IKB Deutsche Industriebank, LG Electronics, Leroy Merlin Ukraine, Lukoil, Metso Automation Oy, Moody’s, Mott MacDonald Limited, NCH Capital, Novacke chemicke zavody, Opel, Philips, Pioneer, Red Bull, Russian Standard Bank, St. Sophia Homes, SEB AB, SEB Group, Swedbank AB, Seven Hills, Shell, Standard Charted Bank, Tchibo, UniCredit Group, Vanco International / Vanco Energy, Volkswagen, VympelCom, YouTube.