Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Belarus

Tim Theroux

DOINGBUSINESSWITHBELARUS:agriculture,foodprocessing,greentechnologies,and

machinery

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•  Minimizing risks if problems arise •  Complying with Belorussia legal requirements

Legal Structuring Objectives

DOINGBUSINESSWITHBELARUS:

agriculture,foodprocessing,greentechnologies,andmachinery

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Holding Company Structure JVPartner1 JVPartner2

ImmediateHoldingCompany(Offshore)

OperatingCompany(Belarus

Shareholders Agreement

50% 50%

100%

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•  Foreign investors unfamiliar with local law •  Local law less developed via case law •  Foreign governing law: England, New York, others

Governing Law

DOINGBUSINESSWITHBELARUS:

agriculture,foodprocessing,greentechnologies,andmachinery

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•  Belarus party to numerous bilateral/multilateral treaties on enforcement of foreign judgments

•  No treaty with Canada, UK, US, etc. •  Foreign judgements often not enforceable in Belorussian courts

Jurisdiction (Dispute Resolution)

Foreign Courts

DOINGBUSINESSWITHBELARUS:

agriculture,foodprocessing,greentechnologies,andmachinery

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•  Belarus is a party to the New York Convention on enforceability of arbitral awards

•  Foreign arbitral awards enforceable in Belorussian courts •  Specific exceptions set out in New York Convention

Jurisdiction (Dispute Resolution)

Arbitration

DOINGBUSINESSWITHBELARUS:

agriculture,foodprocessing,greentechnologies,andmachinery