Acting for PAO VimpelCom, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Russia) LLP has triumphed in the first instance, appeal and cassation arbitrazh (commercial) courts in a dispute between mobile operators and the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS) over changes to B2B SMS service tariffs.

The Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Russia) LLP team was led by Partner and Head of Antitrust and Competition Nikolay Voznesenskiy. The project task force included Antitrust and Competition Associates Anna Bakhaeva and Alexander Biryukov and Partner Vitaly Dianov.

Nikolay Voznesenskiy said: “We have been pleased to act for VimpelCom in this intricate dispute and are grateful for the trust they put in our firm. FAS of Russia decisions are becoming better and better in quality as time goes on, making it increasingly difficult to challenge the competition watchdog’s conclusions in court. This win was made possible by the valuable efforts of the entire team and the effective defence strategy we developed together with the client’s in-house legal function.”

The firm’s Antitrust and Competition Practice in Russia is placed among the best by all the leading rankings, particularly: Band/Tier 1 by Chambers Europe, Legal 500 and Pravo.ru and Elite Group by Global Competition Review.