Legal support on competition issues arising from an acquisition of oil assets

FBK Legal supported a purchase of four oil deposits in the Caucasus.

The value of the acquired assets exceeded the limit and the purchase was to be approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service. In addition, one of our client’s owners had dual (Russian and foreign) citizenship. The companies being acquired included an entity which carried out a strategic type of activity important for the national safety as stipulated in the Russian law on foreign investments. Foreign investments in such companies need to be approved by a special government commission that checks foreign influence on strategic assets. It is much more difficult and time-consuming to obtain approval from the government commission than file documents usually required for economic concentration transactions. It is necessary to prepare additional documents and obtain favourable conclusions from the Federal Security Service and the Ministry of Defence. The approval process may take over six months.