Nomination for the prestigious British Legal Awards reflects the outstanding professional level of the CIS Leading Counsel Network (CIS LCN), a pan-CIS network of the leading law firms that demonstrated their excellence advising on the Danone-Unimilk merger.

The British Legal Awards, hosted by a leading British publication Legal Week, set out to recognise the achievements of those law firms, teams and individuals who have performed most successfully during the last year. The shortlist and eventual winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges made up of in-house lawyers, managing and senior partners and other senior business figures.

EPAM (Russia), Vlasova, Mikhel & Partners (Belarus), Aequitas (Kazakhstan), RULG (Ukraine) and FINA (Azerbaijan) provided cross-border legal advice in the course of the Danone - Unimilk merger. Other members of the CIS LCN, namely Kalikova & Associates (Kyrgyzstan), Turcan Cazac (Moldova) and Ameria (Armenia) were also involved in the transaction providing merger control and compliance check in the respective jurisdictions.

«Shortlist for this prominent award is an evident result of our excellent team work which demonstrates highly effective cooperation between the CIS LCN alliance members sharing the same philosophy of professional standards both on a local and international level», said Dimitry Afanasiev, Co-Chair of the CIS LCN, the member of the Partners' Committee of EPAM.