Partner

Kateryna Chechulina

(English-qualified)

Languages

Ukrainian
English

Social media

Kateryna Chechulina is an English and Ukrainian qualified Partner in the Banking & Finance practice at CMS Ukraine. Having extensive experience in international banking and finance, Kateryna works on high-profile cross-border financings in the CEE and Central Asia regions. She advises on all aspects of financings, including complex transaction structuring, and acts both for lenders and borrowers. Kateryna focuses on trade & commodity finance, acquisition, corporate and project finance in various sectors, including agribusiness, energy, infrastructure, TMT. Kateryna also covers sustainable and green finance and investments and ESG compliance. Kateryna advises on banking regulatory issues, cross-border debt restructuring & insolvency, NPLs, M&A in the financial sector, PPP, insurance, all types of financial services, as well as municipal finance.

Kateryna has unparalleled experience in capital markets, having advised on unique capital market transactions, including between global financial institutions and central banks. Not only does Kateryna support clients in entering Ukrainian capital markets and starting trading in Ukrainian fixed income and structured products, but she also contributes to the development of the model of a sustainable and profitable trade and post-trade infrastructure in Ukraine, working on its feasibility study in the NEXT-UA project. She also advises clients on trading in derivatives (including based on standard documentation such as ISDA and GMRA) and has worked on developing licensing terms for the CCPs, regulations on clearing activities and requirements for contractual arrangements between CCPs and trading venues.

Kateryna Chechulina is a Co-Chair of the Sustainability Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and a member of Association of Sustainable Development Experts.

Kateryna is a recommended lawyer by Chambers Europe, Legal 500 and Best Lawyers. Clients report: “She is focused on a result and is available at any time necessary. She remains resilient, working under stress or against time to meet the client’s deadlines”. Kateryna’s strong communicative skills and successful management of all parties involved in a project are highly appreciated. Clients praise her as knowledgeable, responsive, client oriented, well-organised and timely in her work.

Awards & Recognitions

01 –

Quote

"Overall, the CMS Banking Team is great. Kateryna Chechulina is a seasoned professional with a solid track record, possessing expertise in a wide range of legal areas, and having a strong client-oriented focus."

Legal 500, 2024
Quote

"Kateryna Chechulina is recommended for cross-border financing deals."

The Legal 500, 2020

Relevant experience

Scatec ASA, a leading Norwegian renewable energy company, on the EUR 100m project financing provided by European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Banca Comercială Română for its 190 MW solar portfolio “Dobrun & Sadova” in Romania
ING Bank N.V. on a USD 70m working capital credit facility to Ukraine’s Kernel Group, one of the country’s largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil and the world’s leading sunflower oil producer and exporter with a share of 10% in global export
European Investment Bank on a EUR 300m loan agreement with Naftogaz Group to finance the purchase of natural gas, build long-term strategic reserves, and ensure stable winter supplies for households and businesses across Ukraine
Green for Growth Fund on equity (minority stake acquisition) and debt investment in a Ukrainian company holding the project rights essential for the development, construction, and operation of a solar power plant
A syndicate of International Finance Institutions including European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation and Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, on EUR 157m financing provided to OKKO Group for the construction and operation of a private wind power project that aims to boost Ukraine’s energy security
IFU on EUR 7m investment in Bank Lviv to support small- and medium-sized companies in Ukraine
Hansen Ukrainian Mission on the negotiation of a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan agreement of up to EUR 100m to develop a scalable and affordable housing platform in Ukraine
ING Bank N.V. on yet another pre-export finance facility provided to a leading Ukrainian agricultural group
NJJ and Horizon Capital on USD 435m financing from EBRD and IFC to acquire lifecell and Datagroup-Volia
a consortium led by NJJ Holding, the investment firm owned by Xavier Niel, founder of European telecom group Iliad and U.S. private equity firm Horizon Capital, on the landmark acquisition of Datagroup-Volia, Ukraine’s leading fixed telecom and pay TV provider, and Lifecell, the country’s third-largest and fastest-growing mobile operator
ING-led syndicate of international banks, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Crédit Agricole - Corporate Investment Bank (CACIB), and Dutch development bank FMO, on the restructuring of Nibulon’s pre-export credit facility (PXF)
Superhumans Center, a state-of-the-art prosthetics and rehabilitation medical centre in Ukraine, in receiving USD 25 million in political risk insurance from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
ING-led syndicate of international banks on an adjustment to the loan repayment terms under the USD 450m pre-export facility for Ukraine’s Kernel Group
INVL Renewable Energy Fund I, a fund investing in renewable energy projects, of INVL Asset Management, a leading alternative asset manager in the Baltic States, as English and Romanian law legal counsel, including on Romanian law tax aspects of withholding tax on interest, in relation to the EUR 24.4 mln financing (by way of notes) from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and together with Eiffel Investment Group through Paris-based Eiffel Investment Group’s Energy Infrastructure Investment Fund, for the 60 MW capacity solar power plant project in Dolj County, Romania, is the second one for the Fund
Horizon Capital, a leading private equity firm in Emerging Europe, and Datagroup, a Ukrainian fibre infrastructure and digital services provider, on all the English law aspects of it leveraged acquisition of Volia, a leading cable and broadband service provider
Advising JV (between Air Products and ArcelorMittal) on 116 financing from EBRD for the development, construction and operation of state-of-the-art Air Separation Unit
Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego in respect of project security documents and satisfaction of various conditions subsequent on two projects: (i) a EUR 41.1 million financing insured by KUKE, polish export credit agency, for the construction of the shopping mall and office centre “Retroville” in Kyiv; and (ii) on an export credit financing in relation to the development of the Nikolsky shopping mall in Kharkiv
A syndicate of banks led by ING Bank N.V. in relation to the postponement of loan payments and switch from LIBOR to a risk-free rate under the USD 450m pre-export facility for Ukraine’s Kernel Group
Acted as the legal partner to NEXT-UA, a joint project launched by the Ukrainian government, USAID, EBRD and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. CMS worked with a consortium of high-profile technical and financial advisors, including Cirway Consulting, Afi, Araliya, Barva Invest and D3 Consulting
European Investment Bank on €50mn financing for Ukraine’s on its significant investment in a landmark IT project
DAI Global (USAID) and the National Securities and the Stock Markets Commission of Ukraine on the most important element of securities infrastructure for the capital markets in Ukraine – rules for clearing transactions with securities and licensing terms for clearing institutions
Deutsche Bank and other creditors, including a group of US-based emerging markets hedge funds, on the restructuring of the bank debt of DTEK, the largest vertically integrated and privately-owned energy group in Ukraine. The total amount of restructured bank debt was USD 1.1bn, making it one of the largest restructurings to have taken place in the region
M.V. Cargo on USD 74m landmark financing from EBRD and IFC of a new grain terminal construction project in Yuzhni port
ING Bank N.V.
- as a mandated lead arranger and bookruner of EUR 100 million financing of the acquisition of Perutnina Ptuj
- as a mandated lead arranger and bookrunner on USD 80 million pre-export finance facility to Vioil and it further extension of the financing for the next three years and increase of the facility up to USD 100 million
- as lender on USD 30 million structured secured financing for export operations of Astarta, the Warsaw-listed Ukrainian agro-industrial business
- as a mandated lead arranger and bookrunner on USD 80 million pre-export finance facility for Nibulon
- on syndicated secured pre-crop and pre-export credit facility of up to USD 100 million for Kernel Group, Ukraine’s leading agribusiness
- as coordinator of a group of banks, on a EUR 416 million loan to DTEK
Meyer Bergman, the leading international investment fund, on the USD 28 million sale of Aladdin Shopping Mall in Kyiv, one of the most popular malls in Ukraine, which sale was structured through the assignment of the bank and shareholders’ loans
SD Capital on currency control and other regulatory issues regarding a joint venture with P&O Maritime for certain merit services in the Port Yuzhnyi
UniCredit and ING in relation to a USD 100m financing to agribusiness Kernel, the largest vertically-integrated agro-industrial company in Ukraine
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on its financings to municipal heating and transport companies in Zhytomyr, Lviv, Ternopil and Vinnytsia
ING, UniCredit and Raiffeisen Bank International on a USD 110 million facility to Nidera B.V. for the refinancing of the acquisition of a grain shipping terminal in the Port of Constanta, Romania
Bank of Cyprus on the sale of its Ukrainian subsidiary PJSC “Bank of Cyprus” and associated loan portfolio to Alfa Group
Donbasenergo on obtaining a loan from Bank of China, backed up by a political and commercial risks insurance of SINOSURE - a Chinese export-credit agency, for financing 85% of USD 684.30 Million EPC Contract aimed at reconstruction of the Ukrainian Power Units of Donbasenergo with total capacity of 660MW

Publications

2023

May - Comment: Кому і навіщо потрібна ESG-звітність під час війни
February - Article: Ukraine Restores Cross-Border Reinsurance Payments

2022

October - Article in Lexology: “Wait and see” period coming to an end - comprehensive restructurings are on the way
August - Article in Lexology: Benefitting From the New Opportunities Driving Ukrainian Trade
July - Article in Lexology: Ukraine Lifts Currency Control Restrictions on Import Operations
May - Article in Lexology: Ukraine Bond Redemptions for Foreign Investors
March - Article in Lexology: Business during the Martial law in Ukraine
March - Article in Lexology: Crypto Assets Legalised in Ukraine

Memberships & Roles

Ukrainian Bar Association
American Chamber of Commerce
European Business Association
Association of Sustainable Development Experts

Education

2005 – Masters of Laws, National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv
2004 – Bachelor of Laws, National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv

Practice Areas

Capital Markets Insolvency & Restructuring Banking & Finance

sectors

Hospitality, Travel & Leisure in Ukraine Infrastructure & Projects

Insights by Kateryna

See all Insights

News Ukraine

CMS advises Scatec on project financing for 190 MW solar portfolio in Romania

20 Apr 2026 3 min read

Publication Ukraine

Rebuilding Ukraine

31 Mar 2026 2 min read