Asters acted as a legal counsel to Sanofi Ukraine against the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMC) in a case regarding the alleged competition law violation.
On 30 May 2019, the Supreme Court rendered the final decision in the case that had been litigated for almost 1.5 years. The court found that the allegations of antitrust law violation made against Sanofi Ukraine were unfounded and therefore annulled the multi-million fine AMC decision. In the series of investigations initiated by the AMC against global pharma companies and their local distributors, Sanofi Ukraine has been the only one who managed to score a final win in its dispute with the authority.
Commenting on the judgment Asters' Partner Oleksandr Voznyuk pointed out: "Strong economic and legal arguments supported by the best EU practices and prepared with the support of Asters' office in Brussels laid the ground for success in this case. The most up-to-date tools were used for presenting our legal position and visualizing evidence in court. The defense strategy approved by the client also included use of investment arbitration tools. Such approach brought the public's attention to the quality of judicial control over the AMC decisions and made an important contribution to the overall success of our team in this case."
Asters' project team included Partners Igor Svechkar and Oleksandr Vozniuk, Counsel Tetiana Vovk, and Associate Nazar Chuchak advising on antitrust litigation aspects, and Partner Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi, and Associate Oleksandr Volkov advising on the investment arbitration issues.
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Sanofi Ukraine is a part of Sanofi, a global healthcare company, committed to prevention and treatment of diseases and to supporting populations throughout the world. The company has been operating in Ukraine for over 25 years and is among leading international pharmaceutical companies in the Ukrainian market. The company’s wide portfolio includes original and generic products to treat diabetes, cardio-vascular and oncology diseases, central nervous system disorders, rare diseases. A number of well-known consumer products and vaccines complement this portfolio.
Asters is the largest law firm in Ukraine with offices in Kyiv, Washington D.C., Brussels and London. Chambers Europe 2019 recognizes 20 lawyers of Asters – the largest number of the renowned practitioners in a single Ukrainian law firm.
