Valeria Chernova is a Partner at E L W I’s corporate and M&A practice. Her expertise includes advising on Russian and cross-border M&A transactions, joint ventures and private equity deals, complex corporate restructurings, regulatory issues including receipt of regulatory clearances in accordance with merger control, FDI and special economic measures regulations, sanctions matters and special situations.

Education

• Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (diploma with honors)

Experience

• Representing a major Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund in its acquisition of a stake in the holding company of the concessionaire of a toll highway in St. Petersburg and related shareholder arrangements;
• Representing an international banking investment group in connection with complex sanctions-related divestiture of investments in cloud storage, retail, real estate and online education companies;
• Advising Bermuda trusts in connection with multi-stage proceedings in the US, Bermuda and several European jurisdictions aimed to unfreeze and facilitate maintenance of personal assets (including a yacht, airplanes, real estate and portfolio investments);
• Representing a key UAE sovereign investment fund in connection with acquisition from Morgan Stanley of a stake in a company that owns one of the largest shopping centers in Russia;
• Advising a former senior executive of one of the largest state-owned Russian banks in connection with administrative reconsideration request to OFAC;
• Advising a JV between a China-based marketplace and a Russian retailer on various regulatory issues arising from the creation of an operational JV with a FMCG chain.