Winston & Strawn LLP announced today that its Moscow and London offices have been significantly strengthened with the addition of internationally prominent corporate finance attorney Andrei Yakovlev. The firm’s newest partner will share his time between the two cities. Qualified to practice in the United States, as well as in Russia and the United Kingdom, Yakovlev’s practice will focus on international debt and equity capital markets, M&A and sovereign finance matters, with a particular emphasis on the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He joins the firm from Norton Rose LLP.

The Moscow office of Gide Loyrette Nouel (GLN) acted as an advisor to Rusmolco, a Russian dairy company, on a major investment project between Rusmolco and the Singapore company Olam International, the largest in the field of dairy cattle husbandry and plant growing. The project involves Olam International investing in the share capital of Rusmolco. It is planned that before 2015, the aggregate investments will amount to about USD 400 million and will be used for forming a herd of 20,000 head and increasing the area of farmland to 106,000 ha. During the following three or four years, it is planned to double the production volume by way of increasing the herd to 50,000 head, and the area of farmland to 130,000 ha.

International law firm Salans has appointed Marat Mouradov as a Partner and Head of its Russian Competition Law Practice Group. Mouradov is based in Salans’ Moscow office.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Ruspetro plc on its US$250 million initial public offering (IPO) and admission to the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

A team from Dechert LLP advised Dufry, the global travel retailer with operations in 46 countries, on its acquisition of 51% of a local travel retail operator at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport.

International legal practice Norton Rose Group today confirmed that leading Canadian law firm Macleod Dixon joined the Group on 1 January 2012.

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) today announced that it has hired Projects specialist Andrei Baev to further strengthen the firm’s project finance offer to clients, particularly those investing into and out of the Russian and CIS region.

Herbert Smith Moscow has advised Barclays Bank as agent and a syndicate of 12 other leading banks on a multi-currency facility to the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

Dewey & LeBoeuf has represented Russian banking client Sberbank on a US$1 billion loan to Belaruskali, made in collaboration with the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).