MOSCOW · MARIUPOL
Commercial litigation, insolvency, tax audits and transactions. Since 2015, from Moscow and Mariupol.
The consultation is free when an engagement is signed. We will tell you plainly whether your situation has prospects in court.
01 / WHO WE HELP
01 / BUSINESS
A dispute with a partner, a tax audit, debt recovery, a transaction, the insolvency of a counterparty.
We assemble the team for the task: litigators, valuers, auditors and, where needed, advocates of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association.
02 / PRIVATE CLIENTS
Division of assets, inheritance, a dispute with a bank or an insurer, protection of your good name, a challenge to a decision of a public authority.
We run the matter end to end: from the pre-action correspondence to enforcement proceedings.
03 / PERSONAL INSOLVENCY
Debts under loans, payday loans, utilities and taxes. We review the situation, explain the risks and run the procedure end to end.
Only the arbitrazh court can declare a person insolvent. We say honestly whether the grounds exist in your case.
02 / THE FIRM IN BRIEF
The team at work: a case review in the meeting room of the Moscow office.
11years
in practice: Kovalev & Partners LLC has been working since 2015
10
people on the team: 4 at the firm and 6 advocates of the Bar Association
2offices
Moscow and Mariupol
1000+
clients whose matters we have handled since 2015
We do not publish a percentage of cases won: every dispute has its own value and its own risk. What we can show is specific matters — they are below. Commercial disputes in Russia are heard by the arbitrazh courts — the state commercial courts, not private arbitration tribunals; disputes involving individuals go to the courts of general jurisdiction.
03 / PRACTICES
01 / BUSINESS
Shareholder disputes, exit and exclusion from an LLC, challenging resolutions, director liability, takeover defence, shareholders agreements and M&A.
02 / BUSINESS
Debtor company insolvency and creditor representation, challenges to transactions, defence of directors and beneficial owners against subsidiary liability.
03 / BUSINESS
Field and desk audits, responses to requests, appeals, business splitting claims, VAT refunds and currency control.
04 / BUSINESS
Legal due diligence, counterparty checks, due diligence for private investors, valuation of businesses and property, audit.
05 / PRACTICE
Property checks and transactions, leases, land and cadastral value disputes, unauthorised construction, managing companies, flooding, eviction and privatisation.
06 / PRIVATE CLIENTS
Divorce and division of property, child support, where children live, prenuptial agreements, inheritance and challenging a will.
04 / HOW WE WORK
We give the forecast before the engagement, we count the client's money and we write in plain language
Our principle is an honest relationship with the client. We aim to bring every matter to a successful close, we take on large projects and we treat the work responsibly
If the prospects are weak, or settling is cheaper, we say so at the first meeting rather than after the retainer is paid.
A litigator, a tax specialist, a valuer and, where needed, an advocate. The client deals with one partner, not with five contractors.
Before every procedural step we weigh what it costs against what it adds to the case.
Opinions, reports and letters in human language, without the boilerplate.
05 / CASES
Part of our work is covered by confidentiality undertakings. What follows is what we are entitled to show.
49,000sq m within the transaction perimeter
We advised on X5 Group's acquisition of the Amba supermarket chain in Khabarovsk Territory: long-term lease rights over sites totalling more than 49,000 sq m, and their relaunch under the Pyaterochka brand in Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and 14 district centres. The territory became the chain's 69th region of operation.
Read the case
RUB 93.5million of tax assessment overturned
Following a field audit, VK-I was assessed RUB 93.5 million of arrears and RUB 26.4 million of interest, with administrative proceedings opened under art. 122(3) of the Tax Code: the tax authority treated loans from a foreign company as artificial. We proved the economic purpose of the loans, that they were actually serviced, and that the audit itself was procedurally flawed. The decision was quashed and the proceedings discontinued.
Read the case
2 of 3clients released from the claims
The bankruptcy trustee applied to hold three of our clients subsidiarily liable. We obtained an order splitting the claims into separate proceedings and prepared an individual position for each. The Arbitrazh Court of the City of Moscow refused the trustee's application in respect of two of them; work for the third continues.
Read the case
RUB 3.06billion in principal debt claimed
We act for Otkrytye Tekhnologii LLC in claims against Razrez Kiyzassky LLC and Razrez Vostochny LLC for RUB 3.06 billion and RUB 1.29 billion respectively. The customers stopped advance payments, refused to sign completion certificates and closed access to the sites, while the results of the work are in use. The cases are before the Arbitrazh Court of the Republic of Mari El.
Read the case
06 / PERSONAL INSOLVENCY
Lawful release from debts under loans, payday loans, utility bills and taxes. We run the procedure from the first conversation to the court's ruling.
We do not promise that debts will be written off “whatever happens”: the decision is the arbitrazh court's.
We look at the composition and amount of the debts, income, assets and family circumstances. We tell you whether insolvency is right for you and what it will actually achieve.
We collect the documents evidencing inability to pay: loan agreements, certificates, information on assets and income. You get the list as a single file, with no “just one more thing”.
We check transactions within the suspect period — yours and your spouse's. Gifting a flat to a relative “just in case” is the single most common source of trouble in the procedure.
07 / TEAM
Lawyer, founder and managing partner of Kovalev & Partners LLC
Responsible for strategy in large and non-standard matters — above all corporate disputes, transactions and insolvency.
Executive director of Kovalev & Partners LLC, lawyer
Responsible for dealings with public authorities and for coordinating lawyers and advocates on projects: who runs the task, to what deadline and with what result.
Advocate, partner and chairman of the Bar Association
Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association
An advocate since 2009 and chairman of the Bar Association. Handles criminal and commercial cases and the insolvency of individuals and companies.
Advocate, partner of the Bar Association
Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association
An advocate since 2019, in the profession since 2011. Civil, commercial and corporate disputes, criminal defence, real estate transactions and business support.
08 / OFFICES
The head office is in Moscow: it houses the commercial litigation and corporate practices, tax disputes and transactions. The second office is in Mariupol, open since 2026: legal practice and charitable projects. The offices share one telephone number and one mailbox, and we run matters throughout Russia, including remotely.
Head office
Head office of the firm
The firm's main site. It houses the commercial litigation and corporate practices, tax disputes, transactions, valuation and audit.
Second office
Second office, open since 2026
The Mariupol office opened in 2026. Advocates of the Bar Association work here, and we run matters in the city and the surrounding region.
09 / QUESTIONS
The consultation is free when an engagement is signed: if you entrust the matter to us, the first meeting costs nothing. At it we go through the situation and tell you whether the matter has prospects in court, what scenarios are available and roughly what running the case will cost. This information does not constitute a public offer (art. 437(1) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
No, and nobody can: the outcome of litigation is decided by the court. We are answerable for the quality of our work, for the pace and for making sure you always know what stage the matter is at. You receive our assessment of the prospects before the engagement is signed.
Every matter has a responsible partner. He assembles the team for the task — a litigator, a tax specialist, a valuer — and remains your point of contact until the end. Where the task requires the status of an advocate, advocates of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association are brought in under a cooperation agreement.
Yes. We have two offices — in Moscow and Mariupol — and we run matters throughout Russia. The engagement can be signed remotely, documents are accepted electronically, and we stay in touch by telephone, messenger and e-mail.
Legal review, transaction support, insolvency and representation in commercial and civil proceedings are carried out by the lawyers of Kovalev & Partners LLC under an engagement with the company. Tasks that require the status of an advocate — criminal defence, attendance at searches and interviews, an advocate's formal request — are carried out by advocates of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association: the company has a cooperation agreement with the Bar Association, while the agreement on the provision of legal assistance is made by the client directly with the advocate (art. 25(1) of Federal Law No. 63-FZ of 31 May 2002 “On Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation”). For you this is a single point of entry: we assemble the team.
We read your description of the situation and come back within one working day: we ask clarifying questions and tell you what we can realistically do. We do not pass your documents or your description of the situation to anyone.
NEXT STEP
Tell us what has happened
Describe the situation in two or three sentences. We will come back within one working day, ask clarifying questions and tell you what we can realistically do.