Senior Associate

Mariana Saienko

Languages

English
Ukrainian
Russian

Mariana Saienko is a Senior Associate in the Corporate/M&A Transactions practice group at CMS Ukraine and also a member of the wider CMS International Private Equity team. With over 10 years of experience, Mariana specialises in high-profile projects across infrastructure, energy, life sciences & healthcare, private equity, telecom, and IT sectors. She provides expert advice on complex joint ventures, corporate restructurings, private equity, and M&A transactions in Ukraine, CEE/CIS, Europe, and beyond.

Most recently, Mariana has acted as a client contact for several multi-national companies across various sectors, including SALIC, NEFCO, Amazon, AECOM, Coca-Cola Beverages, ED&F Man, and Emerson Electric. She has coordinated teams of lawyers working for these clients across Europe and the UK.

Mariana is also dedicated to pro bono legal work and fundraising initiatives. She was instrumental in the development and launch of the Superhumans project, the largest state-of-the-art rehabilitation and prosthetics centre in Ukraine.

Relevant experience

Dutch Good Growth Fund on its equity investment in Joint-Stock Company Joint Stock “Bank Lviv” and Bank Lviv on certain transactional documents in the acquisition (the first international equity investment into a Ukrainian bank during the war in Ukraine) transaction
Arise, a Swedish onshore wind farms developer, on its acquisition of a 70% stake in Norway and Ukraine-focused renewables developer Fenix Repower AS in a bid to diversify its business and gain a foothold in the Ukrainian market
EBRD on its acquisition of 35% of the shares in a modern multi-phase multi-tenant Lviv M10 industrial park project in Western Ukraine, developed by Dragon Capital
Goldbeck Solar Investment on the acquisition of a portfolio of RES projects in Ukraine and on establishing a joint venture with EBRD owning a portfolio of RES projects in Ukraine
MND a.s., a Czech energy group, on its acquisition of a 50% share in the 54.6 MWh Oriv wind power plant in Ukraine
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
Vodafone Ukraine, a leading mobile operator, and its parent company Neqsol Holding on Vodafone Ukraine’s landmark acquisition of Vega Telecom from SCM Group
Air Products, a leading industrial gases company, on the establishment of a bespoke joint venture with ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, for the construction of a new modern air separation unit at the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih steel plant in Ukraine
NAFTA International B.V., a Slovak oil and gas exploration, production and storage company, on the buyout of its joint venture partner, Cub Energy Inc., to become the sole owner of the Ukrainian company which holds a licence for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons near Uzhhorod, Ukraine
SUW South Ukraine Windplant Holdings Limited on sell side transactional support and advice on complex purchase price mechanics, including by way of a complex intra-group debt restructuring and complex tax issues
TIS Group (the owners of the largest private port in Ukraine) on a major joint venture transaction which brings DP World, one of the worlds’ largest port operators, directly to Ukraine for the first time
MV Cargo on the USD 100m joint venture with Cargill for the construction of a new grain terminal in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Yuzhni
Acciona Energy on establishment of a joint venture with UDP Renewables, a leading investment and development company in the Ukrainian renewable energy industry, in relation to three solar power plants with the total capacity of 33.3 MW in the Odesa region of Ukraine
FAS Energy on the acquisition of a solar power plant in the Kyiv region, with an expected capacity of 112MW, effected during martial law
NEFCO (Nordic Environment Finance Corporation) on the acquisition of a stake in Joint-Stock Commercial Bank Lviv, including complex issues of putting in place a foreign-law shareholders’ agreement and conducting a debt-to-equity swap
A multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence on a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, including structuring a business in Ukraine and opening new fulfilment centres across Europe and the Middle East
A world’s leading agricultural commodities merchant in connection with the sale of its sugar and crop production business in Ukraine, involving a complex debt restructuring with the use of a debt-to-equity swap
A leading building material company in connection with the potential acquisition of the largest Ukrainian companies operating in the industry of building materials; assisting the client in relation to the potential establishment of a joint venture with other investors for further expansion on the Ukrainian market
A leading automotive technology corporation on the potential acquisition of an automotive wiring harnesses business in more than ten jurisdictions, involving the transactional support and a legal due diligence of production facilities in Ukraine
A global technology and engineering company on corporate and commercial matters, including the supply of automation solutions for the critical infrastructure of Ukraine during martial law

Publications

2024

March 2024 – Management of state-owned companies: on the verge of change
May 2024 – Ukraine improves corporate governance in SOEs
August 2024 – Ukraine launches large-scale privatisation

2023

February 2023 - Ukraine announces privatisation of Bilhorod-Dnistrovsk Seaport LinkedIn
January 2023 - Ukraine announces privatisation of Ust-Dunaisk Seaport Ukraine announces privatisation of Ust-Dunaisk Seaport | LinkedIn

2022

September 2022 - Ukraine further simplifies privatisation procedures and announces new privatisation auctions Ukraine further simplifies privatisation procedures and announces new privatisation auctions (cms-lawnow.com)
August 2022 - Ukraine lifts capital and commodity markets restrictions Ukraine lifts capital and commodity markets restrictions (cms-lawnow.com)
August 2022 - Ukraine resumes and simplifies privatisation procedures Ukraine resumes and simplifies privatisation procedures (cms-lawnow.com)
May 2022 - Ukraine further simplifies notarial and state registration procedures Ukraine further simplifies notarial and state registration procedures (cms-lawnow.com)
April 2022 - Ukraine further simplifies state registration procedures for legal entities during martial law (update) Ukraine further simplifies state registration procedures for legal entities during martial law (update) (cms-lawnow.com)
March 2022 - Ukraine modifies state registration procedures for legal entities during martial law Ukraine modifies state registration procedures for legal entities during martial law (cms-lawnow.com)

Memberships & Roles

Ukrainian Bar Association

Education

2014 - Master’s Degree in Law with Honours, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University

Practice Areas

Corporate / M&A

sectors

Private Equity Infrastructure & Projects

Insights

Global Reach

Insights

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Mariana Saienko

Languages

Relevant experience

Publications

Memberships & Roles

Education

Practice Areas

sectors

Insights by Mariana

Commercial Code to be abolished in Ukraine

Ukraine launches large-scale privatisation

Ukraine improves corporate governance in SOEs

Ukraine introduces methodology for determining beneficial ownership