News date: 24 July 2025
Twenty-two practices of Ilyashev & Partners Law Firm and eighteen key specialists were recommended by a national study Ukrainian Law Firms 2025. A Handbook for Foreign Clients, published July 23, 2025.
Ilyashev & Partners received the highest rating status of Leading Firm in 9 practice areas: Aviation, Bankruptcy, Cross-Border Litigation, Domestic Litigation, International Arbitration, International Trade: Trade Remedies and Regulatory Compliance, Labor and Employment, Immigration, Maritime & Shipping, Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare.
A new category – Advanced Practices – featured five of the firm’s practices: Antitrust and Competition; Energy & Natural Resources; Intellectual Property; Real Estate, Construction, Land; Tax Litigation.
Firm’s practice areas Agribusiness; Telecommunications; Military Law and Defense Industry were listed among Established Practices.
The Firm’s projects have also been included into the tables with major transactions of 2025 in Banking & Finance, Debt Restructuring; Mergers & Acquisitions, Joint Ventures.
Transport: Aviation, Maritime & Shipping
Aviation: Leading Firm
Notable Practitioners: Roman Marchenko
Maritime & Shipping: Leading Firm
Notable Practitioners: Sergey Nedelko
Ilyashev & Partners holds a strong position in the aviation and defense sectors, representing aircraft manufacturers and repairers, airlines, and airports in high-profile disputes and complex regulatory matters. The firm is recognized for handling cases involving competition protection, aircraft safety, and international sanctions. Senior partner, Roman Marchenko, head of the aviation practice, represents interests in international arbitrations and acts as an independent expert on Ukrainian law in foreign courts.
The firm’s Odesa office engaged in high-stake maritime disputes involving vessel arrests, environmental incidents, and crew compensation claims. The firm successfully represents shipowners, insurers, and shipping companies in Ukrainian courts and advised clients in cross-border matters, achieving favorable outcomes in cases related to wartime ship losses, pollution liability, and crew injuries. The firm has a busy pipeline of maritime injury claims, and secured settlements in multiple international insurance disputes. Sergey Nedelko, head of the Odesa office, is consistently recognized as one of Ukraine’s leading experts in maritime law.
Bankruptcy: Leading Firm
Leading Individuals: Vadym Kizlenko
Other Notable Practitioners: Roman Marchenko, Andrii Konoplia
Ilyashev & Partners has a strong, independent bankruptcy practice that advises debtors, creditors, and insolvency professionals. Backed by one of the largest teams on the market, the firm is a go-to advisor for high-profile, complex bankruptcy cases — especially those involving numerous foreign creditors — and is recognized for its extensive experience representing distressed industrial companies and state-owned enterprises.
Senior partner Roman Marchenko provides strategic leadership and handles high-stakes, large-scale cases. Vadym Kizlenko, co-head of the insolvency and financial restructuring practice, plays a central role in managing complex, multi-creditor proceedings. Fellow co-head Andrii Konoplia is a longstanding contributor to the firm’s bankruptcy expertise, while Yaroslav Mudryi and Sergiy Kliestov form part of the core executive team.
Litigation: Domestic and Cross-Border
Domestic Litigation: Leading Firm
Leading Individuals: Mikhail Ilyashev, Roman Marchenko
Other Notable Practitioners: Valeriia Gudiy, Oleh Trokhymchuk, Oleksandr Denysenko
Cross-Border Litigation: Leading Firm
Notable Practitioners: Roman Marchenko, Roman Protsyshyn
Dispute resolution is a core and long-standing strength of Ilyashev & Partners, which commands a strong reputation in both domestic and cross-border litigation, regularly representing clients in multi-jurisdictional disputes across commercial, tax, insurance, IP, and insolvency matters. In addition, the firm is particularly active in high-stakes cases involving government authorities, including anti-dumping, export control, and sanctions-related proceedings. The strategic network of regional offices in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa enables overall presence and robust enforcement capabilities. Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the firm has expanded its international dispute resolution work, preparing claims in international courts related to wartime losses and building significant expertise in war risk insurance disputes in maritime and aviation sectors.
The firm’s dispute resolution practice is co-led by Oleh Trokhymchuk, who focuses on banking and energy disputes, and Andrii Konoplia, who specializes in bankruptcy proceedings and major loan-related cases. Key litigators include Valeriia Gudiy (labor disputes), Sergey Nedelko (maritime claims), and Oleksandr Denysenko (contractual and shareholder conflicts). Roman Marchenko leads the cross-border litigation efforts and frequently provides expert opinions on Ukrainian law for proceedings in the US, UK, and BVI. Managing partner Mikhail Ilyashev also handles high-profile disputes and has been engaged as a legal expert in cases at courts in the UK and EU. Counsel Roman Protsyshyn received market praise for his performance in arbitration and cross-border disputes.
International Arbitration: Leading Firm
Celebrated Practitioners: Roman Marchenko
Leading Individuals: Roman Protsyshyn
Other Notable Practitioners: Marina Riashchenko
Recognized dispute resolution heavyweight Ilyashev & Partners has extensive experience of international commercial and investment arbitrations, with the primary focus on military, commodities, oil and gas, aviation, shipping, shareholders and banking disputes. The team handles the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards within Ukraine.
The firm is expanding in the field of sports arbitration, and provides full legal support to the Ukrainian Fencing Federation. The firm continues to act in a series of arbitration proceedings involving the defense sector.
The team was led by Roman Marchenko, senior partner, who has regularly served as an arbitrator and prepared expert reports for arbitration proceedings. Mikhail Ilyashev, managing partner, represents clients in Ukrainian arbitration-related litigation matters and provides expert legal opinions for international arbitration proceedings. Roman Protsyshyn, counsel, gained market praise for efficient performance. Marina Riashchenko, counsel, is a highly visible arbitration practitioner.
International Trade: Trade Remedies and Regulatory Compliance, Commodities, Cross-Border Contracts and Customs
Trade Remedies and Regulatory Compliance: Leading Firm
Leading Individuals: Olena Omelchenko
Ilyashev & Partners has a strong international trade practice, and is recognized for its expertise in representing domestic applicants in trade investigations and handling a wide spectrum of regulatory, trade policy, and customs matters. The team recently advised on landmark anti-circumvention cases. Notably, the team initiated Ukraine’s first-ever anti-circumvention investigation, leading to the extension of anti-dumping duties on prepainted galvanized steel coils from China to include imports from Malaysia — marking a legal precedent in the enforcement of trade defense measures.
The team is also enlisted to represent clients in external investigations and to advise on regulatory and legal developments related to Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Among other areas of focus are trade restrictions, sanctions, and export compliance, particularly regarding product labelling requirements.
Partner Olena Omelchenko is highly regarded for her expertise in trade remedies and international trade policy, and is especially recognized for her proactive and strategic approach. The key contributions are provided by Karine Altunian.
Labor and Employment, Immigration: Leading Firm
Leading Individuals: Valeriia Gudiy
Ilyashev & Partners is a go-to legal counsel for the Ukrainian branches of multinational corporations and leading local companies, providing ongoing advisory on labor and employment, subsequent transactional aspects, and litigation, which is the firm’s calling card. Since the onset of the war, the firm’s employment practice has been consistently approached to advise on new wartime labor regulations, as well on staff relocation, and compliance policies.
The firm has notable experience advising on trade union relations, collective bargaining negotiations, and resolving conflicts with unions. Its labor disputes practice stands out due to its strong track record of representing employers across a wide range of cases. Dedicated partner Valeriia Gudiy is recognized for her extensive experience in handling complex employment matters.
Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare: Leading Firm
Notable Practitioners: Alla Tsymanovska
Ilyashev & Partners demonstrated a diverse and active presence in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, providing legal support across regulatory, IP, public procurement, antitrust, and litigation matters. The team is boosted with assignments for representation of both private individuals in high-profile medical disputes and handles multiple patient rights cases before Ukraine’s health authorities and law-enforcement agencies.
Alla Tsymanovska boosted her visibility with performance in high-profile medical cases. Yana Trynova, a doctor in law and an attorney specializing in criminal defense and medical malpractice cases, joined the team.
Antitrust and Competition: Advanced Practices
Other Notable Practitioners: Oleksandr Fefelov
Ilyashev & Partners commands expertise in merger and concerted clearances, abuse of dominance cases, and competition investigations, with notable strength in antitrust litigation, competition issues in commercial agreements, and public procurement.
The practice is headed by market long-timer and partner Oleksandr Fefelov. Valeriia Gudiy leads cases on unfair competition and appealing against anti-competitive decisions, including cases heard in the Supreme Court of Ukraine.
Energy & Natural Resources: Advanced Practices
Ilyashev & Partners is renowned for its expertise in handling substantial multi-stage energy disputes, including challenges to government decisions, contractual conflicts, arbitration and the enforcement of foreign awards. The firm represents clients from the oil and gas industry, mining and natural resources, electricity, renewable energy, and waste-to-energy sectors.
The head of the energy practice Oleh Trokhymchuk, counsel, leads highly complex disputes in the sector. Managing partner Mikhail Ilyashev provides overall practice guidance and is also appointed as an expert in Ukrainian law for high-profile arbitration cases. Roman Marchenko, senior partner, specializes in arbitration cases related to power station projects and oil and gas processing plants.
Intellectual Property: Advanced Practices
Renowned for its strong IP litigation and enforcement capabilities, Ilyashev & Partners rapidly expands the scope of its IP offering by being assigned to handle trademark prosecution, copyright, IP due diligence, and commercial arrangements. The firm has demonstrated strong performance in trademark registration. The firm possesses historically strong positions in the pharmaceutical sector, with the recent rapidly growing client portfolio from the IT sector. Andriy Lytvyn, head of the Kharkiv office, is involved in IP practice workload. Mikhail Ilyashev, managing partner, supervises the practice.
Real Estate, Construction, Land: Advanced Practices
Other Notable Practitioners: Dmytro Hrybov
Ukrainian law firm Ilyashev & Partners is renowned for its expertise in high-value property rights and regulatory disputes, including those involving state-owned assets, foreign investments in agricultural land, and cross-border construction deals. The team also manages a broad portfolio of complex regulatory tasks, transactional mandates, comprehensive repair and reconstruction projects, production facility relocations, and advises on public-private partnerships.
Dmytro Hrybov, counsel, head of real estate and construction, received market praise for his competences. Dmytro Hruba is another important team member.
Tax and Transfer Pricing
Tax Litigation: Firms: Advanced Practices
Other Notable Practitioners: Dmytro Lazebnyi
Tax Consulting: Other Established Practices
Other Notable Practitioners: Ivan Maryniuk
Ilyashev & Partners’ tax practice offers dedicated advisory services on complex tax matters, a robust litigation team handling high-stakes disputes, and comprehensive corporate tax support. The firm is particularly effective in representing large taxpayers, especially in challenging tax assessments, recovering VAT credits and refunds, and appealing fines. Its expertise also spans domestic and international tax issues linked to white-collar crime.
Throughout the research period the firm had a strong track record of advising on market entry strategies and tax structuring solutions. Ivan Maryniuk, who specializes in general corporate tax, leads the tax practice. Dmytro Lazebnyi, attorney, focuses on tax litigation.
Agribusiness: Established Practices
Renowned dispute resolution powerhouse Ilyashev & Partners is highly sought-after in the agricultural sector for litigation, regulatory and transactional support. The firm is praised for its well-established track record of default cases and enforcement in Ukraine and abroad. Another area of the firm’s focus is support of construction and/or sale and purchase of elevators, land plots, production facilities, and other real estate objects.
Valeriia Gudiy is recognized for her strategic counsel in default-related disputes and land easement matters. The firm’s Odesa office, led by Sergey Nedelko, offers strong expertise in maritime and shipping law. Olena Omelchenko heads the firm’s international trade practice.
Military Law and Defense Industry: Established Practices
Ilyashev & Partners provides legal support related to Ukraine’s martial law, including representation in military administrative cases, labor issues, and employee reservation procedures. It also assists families of fallen soldiers in securing financial support, with all services for military personnel and their families offered pro bono. The team also advises on cross-cutting areas such as public procurement, cybersecurity, export control compliance, representation in administrative investigations, and intellectual property within the defense context.
The international arbitration team has a busy pipeline of disputes involving debt recovery under military goods sale contracts, non-performance of supply agreements, and the enforcement of arbitration awards in foreign jurisdictions. Roman Marchenko, senior partner, oversees the practice.
IT and Telecommunications
Telecommunications: Established Practices
IT: Other Established Practices
Ilyashev & Partners offers expertise across regulatory, operational, IP, tax, and compliance matters, with a particular strength in addressing software copyright violations and advising on the regulation of satellite communication services in Ukraine. The client base includes leading global and Ukrainian software developers, fintech companies, IT service consumers, system integrators, computer equipment and software distributors, as well as satellite and telecom service providers.
The team also advises on licensing for satellite communication services in Ukraine, and was mandated to challenge public procurement in the telecom sector. Andriy Lytvyn, head of Kharkiv office, fronts IP work and extends its focus on IT clients.
Corporate and M&A: Other Established Practices
Other Notable Practitioners: Yevgen Solovyov
Ilyashev & Partners advises leading Ukrainian companies and business owners, foreign corporates and private investors on corporate matters, managing a steady portfolio of corporate structuring, restructuring, share and asset transactions, shareholder relations, and corporate dispute resolution. In 2024, the firm demonstrates its stable presence in strategic industries – energy, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, real estate, defense, and is also hired to support outbound expansion of Ukrainian businesses.
The firm advises on state sanctions policy, including appeals against sanctions involving the collection of corporate rights into state income or the seizure of authorized capital, restricting alienation, disposal, and use within criminal proceedings.
Managing partner Mikhail Ilyashev provides strategic guidance, while partner Yevgen Solovyov oversees general corporate advisory and anti-raiding matters, and Vyacheslav Sytyi, counsel, specializes in ownership structuring in foreign jurisdictions, and acts regularly as corporate law expert within shareholder disputes.
Criminal Law (including White-Collar Crime, Anticorruption, War and Military Crimes): Other Established Practices
Other Notable Practitioners: Kostiantyn Kryvenko
Ilyashev & Partners’ criminal law practice is known for its deep involvement in high-value cases involving public officials, business leaders, and large corporations. The team operates across key regional offices and advises on a broad range of criminal matters, including treason, fraud, money laundering, and regulatory offenses. The practice has notably expanded its scope, handling cases related to collaborationism, defense procurement fraud, and sanctions. It is experienced in defending the accused and protecting victims, while also managing complex cross-border investigations, extradition, and asset recovery matters.
In February 2025 counsel Kostiantyn Kryvenko was promoted to head of the firm’s criminal law practice. Volodymyr Adonin is another key practice team member.
Infrastructure: Other Established Practices
Notable Practitioners: Sergey Nedelko
Ilyashev & Partners is assigned to advise across transportation, energy, utilities, and social sectors. The firm traditionally handles high-profile disputes, and is increasingly active in public-private partnerships and reconstruction-focused investment. The team advises the Estonian Centre for International Development on rebuilding a school in Malyn, guiding regulatory, contractual, and compliance aspects in line with international donor requirements. The firm’s other recent workload covered advising on PPP, as well as reconstruction of industrial infrastructure assets.
Sergey Nedelko, counsel and head of the Odesa office, has earned market recognition for his expertise in ports and terminals sector. Mikhail Ilyashev is lead partner.
Ukrainian Law Firms. A Handbook for Foreign Clients (ULF) is a leading source of benchmarking information for Ukraine, published in the English language by Yurydychna Praktyka Publishing since 2002.
Firms’ rankings are based on a combination of a set of criteria, in particular, list of projects for the research period, complexity and significance of matters, client profiles, practice diversity, team capacity, reputation.