News

Influential international publication Managing Intellectual Property has rated Pepeliaev Group's Intellectual Property and Trademarks Practice highly, with the firm placed in Tier 3 in the Trademarks and Copyright category. 

Once more, World Trademark Review-1000 has hailed Valentina Orlova, Head of Pepeliaev Group's Intellectual Property and Trademarks Practice, as one of Russia's premier IP lawyers. She was placed in the 'gold' category for 2016 in the 'Individuals: prosecution and strategy' section. 

The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry commissioned Pepeliaev Group to analyse various payments which are similar to taxes and levies but are not included in the Russian Tax Code. These payments are collected in the most diverse industries and increase the real burden for businesses to finance their public commitments. It actually means that a parallel tax system is created. The amount of such payments already exceeds RUB 700 billion (1% of GDP). One of the most recent examples is the charge on 12-ton trucks, which sparked a massive public outcry. 

Pepeliaev Group has contributed to the republishing of Siberia's Book of Business Records (Okladnaya Kniga) - a project launched by the State Historical Museum. Siberia's Book of Business Records is a handwritten heritage document dating back to the end of the seventeenth century. It contains exhaustive data on Siberia's business, financial and political life. 

At the end of November 2015, a tax authority handed down a decision based on the results of a field tax audit of a foreign bank. The authority went back on a point that had previously been demonstrated in terms of expenses relating to futures transactions being legitimately deducted from the tax base for profit tax. Including fines, the amount claimed was more than RUB 300 million. 

On 8 December 2015 at the office of mobile operator MTS, a presentation was held dedicated to the system of antimonopoly compliance. This system was devised specially for MTS by Pepeliaev Group's lawyers and their colleagues from the company, in conjunction with audit firm Ernst & Young.