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Olga Belyakova

Partner
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang

Portrait of Olga Belyakova

Olga Belyakova

Partner
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang

Contact
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang
6th Floor, 38 Volodymyrska Street
01054 Kyiv
Ukraine
Languages Ukrainian, Russian, English, German

Olga Belyakova is a Partner in the Commercial practice group in Kyiv office of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and a Co-head of the Technology, Media and Communications (TMC) sector group in Central and Eastern Europe. With over 20 years of focus in these sectors, Olga is best-placed to deliver innovative solutions and pragmatic advice on IT outsourcing, data protection, cybersecurity, cloud technology, IP and employment issues, as well as operational issues regarding data centres, AI, fintech and social media platforms.

Specifically, Olga is constantly involved in the structuring of employment relations between the companies and software developers, including suggesting and creating proper equity incentive schemes at various management levels, non-solicitation and confidentiality commitments of IT staff and tax structuring of the IT businesses with the use of appropriate foreign jurisdictions for purposes of creation of enforceable shareholders relations. Importantly, as a highly-acclaimed specialist in data protection, Olga constantly advises clients on legal issues in relation to the processing and protection of personal data, including with the help of cloud-based technology. In particular, Olga’s expertise includes drafting data protection policies and data transfer agreements, different types of consents in various sectors. Olga also assists leading IT outsourcing and product companies on the transfer and protection of IP rights, as well as software development services agreements.

Olga is a recommended lawyer for IT and a lawyer of the year for Telecommunications law by Best Lawyers. Chambers Europe and Legal 500 directories highly regarded Olga in the field of competition law in Ukraine, which describes her as “knowledgeable, service-minded and extremely impressive."

Olga is an invited professor of law at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine, works a lot with students and start-ups and helps them enhance their knowledge on legal issues in the IT sector.

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Olga is recognised as a Lawyer of the Year for Telecommunications law and recommended lawyer for IT law.

Best Lawyers, 2020

Olga is described as “knowledgeable, service-minded and extremely impressive.”

Chambers Europe 2012-2021

Olga is recognised as a Lawyer of the Year for Telecommunications law and recommended lawyer for IT law.

Best Lawyers, 2020

Olga is described as “knowledgeable, service-minded and extremely impressive.”

Chambers Europe 2012-2021

Relevant experience

  • An AI/Machine Learning technology company on the establishment of a Ukrainian IT company for the client with its further potential registration in Diia City
  • An international financial institution on a contract to create the software to assist the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine regarding energy shutdowns and energy critical infrastructure
  • An American multinational technology company on providing legal advice and support for Ukrainian tech start-ups and entrepreneurs, covering how to set up and scale their business within Ukraine but with a focus on access to and learning from foreign markets
  • An American technology and media services provider and production company on procedures, requirements and the contents of cash rebates granted to foreign film producers in Ukraine in the context of shooting a new series in Ukraine, as well as on the VAT treatment of production services, taxation of foreign cast and crew, etc
  • Broadcasting services provider on reviewing the client’s stock option plan subject to Ukrainian law requirements
  • UK’s fastest growing provider of telemarketing and lead generation services on various HR matters related to the client’s operations in Ukraine, including implementation of incentive plan for Ukrainian employees; various models of engagement of Ukrainian personnel to minimize the reclassification and tax risks, aspects related to wartime (mobilisation to army, protections and benefits provided to the personnel in this case, etc.)
  • World’s innovative gaming company on a complex analysis of the current structure of relations with Ukrainian team, and IP and employment law advice regarding restructuring employment relations
  • A major international telecom company on due diligence of a group of companies in the IT and Fintech sectors
  • Microsoft on multijurisdictional legal support to the client's audit team responsible for compliance with licensing conditions in Central and Eastern Europe, CIS countries and Israel
  • Uber on preparing a comprehensive risk analysis in terms of the legal aspects of competition, regarding certain exclusivity arrangements, tax and currency control rules for the introduction and implementation of a new payment option and functions in the special application Uber Eats in Ukraine
  • American multinational technology and social media company on various employment, tax, IP, and commercial matters related to the acquisition of an AI startup
  • Comcast on specialised media, telecommunications and competition law regulation aspects of its aborted bid for Fox
  • Comcast on competition law aspects of its bid for Sky
  • ViaSat on procuring all necessary authorisations for purposes of it providing satellite broadband Internet connection services to passengers of aircraft flying through the Ukrainian air space plus adjusting the applicable Ukrainian regulations to the EU standards in that respect
  • A multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology, Fortune 500 corporation on the possibility of creating and using their own fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) for remote monitoring of crops and field administration
  • American multinational technology and social media company on various corporate and commercial matters (including drafting/negotiating of various commercial contracts) in connection with launching and running of its Ukrainian business; on various employment matters, including structuring of the relations with its local employees and independent contractors; developed template contractual framework in connection with the same; advised on complex outsourcing project involving several jurisdictions; on implementation of RSU incentive plan to Ukrainian personnel; and day-to-day legal support on various HR matters
  • American electronic commerce and cloud computing company on various issues related to potential operations in Ukraine (owning/leasing and operating equipment in Ukraine), including advising on a wide variety of IP issues, on data transfer relations, copyright issues, etc
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Memberships & Roles

  • American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, Co-Chair of IT Committee
  • Admitted to the Bar of Ukraine 
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Publications

2023

2022

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Lectures list

  • January 2021 – ongoing - "Legal writing course" for students of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; the course includes 15 practical lessons and focuses on how to properly and competently draft the most commonly used legal documents, how to work on documents individually and in groups, how to correctly assess client’s assignments and prepare legal advice
  • October 2020 – ongoing - “IT law course” for IT specialist at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; comprising 15 practical lessons based on simulation exercise on setting up and growing a start-up, covering only topics relevant for IT people, including intellectual property rights, service agreements, tax structuring of IT business, building relations with shareholders, compliance matters, employees’ stock options and other benefits
  • 26 April 2020 – Cybersecurity issues for students of the Certification Program on Information Technology Law: KMA & IT Ukraine organised by the Kyiv Mohyla Law Faculty and the IT Association of Ukraine, Kyiv
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Education

2011 – Postgraduate Diploma in EU Competition Law, King's College London, London
2003 – Admitted to Attorney at Law practice
2001 – Master of Law, National Economic University, Kyiv

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Expertise

12/05/2022
10 key as­pects of the re­vised EU com­pet­i­tion law in the field of dis­tri­bu­tion...
The new Ver­tic­al Block Ex­emp­tion Reg­u­la­tion (VBER) and the new ac­com­pa­ny­ing Ver­tic­al Guidelines (VGL) were pub­lished on 10 May 2022. The new VBER will enter in­to force on 1 June 2022 and ap­ply for the next twelve years. The new VBER/VGL in­tro­duce sev
Law-Now Commercial
14/07/2014
Olga Belyakova pro­moted to Coun­sel at CMS Camer­on McK­enna
The part­ners of CMS Camer­on McK­enna are pleased to an­nounce that Olga Belyakova has been pro­moted to the po­s­i­tion of Coun­sel at the in­ter­na­tion­al law firm`s Ky­iv of­fice. Olga ad­vises cli­ents on M&A, cor­por­ate...
News
29/01/2013
World Data Pro­tec­tion Re­port: Ukraine's new Data Pro­tec­tion Law Amend­ments
Olga Belyakova writes an art­icle for the World Data Pro­tec­tion Re­port.To read the full art­icle, please down­load the PDF
Guide

Feed

18/05/2023
5G reg­u­la­tion and law in Ukraine
1. What is the state of 5G de­ploy­ment in your coun­try? 5G is not avail­able yet. In Novem­ber 2020, the gov­ern­ment ad­op­ted a plan to im­ple­ment 5G. In Au­gust 2021, the Cab­in­et of Min­is­ters post­poned the...
Expert Guide TMC - Technology, Media & Communications
Comparable
09/05/2023
On­line gambling law and reg­u­la­tion in Ukraine
Foot­notes and Notes NB: Only un­der li­cences is­sued by the loc­al gambling reg­u­lat­or – the Reg­u­lat­ory Com­mis­sion on Gambling and Lot­ter­ies (KRAIL).NB: Ad­vert­ise­ment of gambling re­stric­ted:on ra­dio and...
Expert Guide TMC - Technology, Media & Communications
04/05/2023
Di­git­al health apps and telemedi­cine in Ukraine
Di­git­al Health Apps/Soft­ware 1. How is the soft­ware in the form of di­git­al health apps clas­si­fied in your jur­is­dic­tion, and what reg­u­la­tion(s) ap­ply? 1.1 Is it con­sidered a “med­ic­al device,” and...
Expert Guide TMC - Technology, Media & Communications
Comparable
27/04/2023
Or­gan­isa­tion­al cul­ture: “To be, or not to be” in times of chaos, para­dox...
We are con­tinu­ing a series of free we­binars as part of the ini­ti­at­ive CMS Re­build­ing Ukraine: People.We have chosen the is­sue of or­gan­isa­tion­al cul­ture as our second top­ic for dis­cus­sion since as long...
Event Webinar
11/04/2023
Ukraine ex­pands IP rights pro­tec­tion reg­u­la­tion
On 20 March 2023, the Par­lia­ment of Ukraine has ad­op­ted the Law of Ukraine “On Amend­ments to Cer­tain Le­gis­lat­ive Acts of Ukraine on Strength­en­ing the Pro­tec­tion of In­tel­lec­tu­al Prop­erty Rights” (“Law”)...
Law-Now TMC - Technology, Media & Communications
05/04/2023
CEE Green­field Guide 2023
CEE coun­tries have at­trac­ted sig­ni­fic­ant for­eign dir­ect in­vest­ment in green­field op­er­a­tions in re­cent years. In­deed, many man­u­fac­tur­ing busi­nesses have fo­cused on ex­pand­ing ca­pa­city in CEE coun­tries...
Guide
28/03/2023
Ukraine im­poses sanc­tions on gambling com­pan­ies
On 10 March 2023, the Pres­id­ent of Ukraine en­acted the Ukrain­i­an Se­cur­ity and De­fence Coun­cil's de­cision re­gard­ing sanc­tions on 120 in­di­vidu­als and 287 leg­al en­tit­ies.Since the Rus­si­an in­va­sion in 2022...
Law-Now TMC - Technology, Media & Communications
15/03/2023
Re­build­ing Ukraine
Ukraine’s Na­tion­al Re­cov­ery Plan en­vi­sions USD 750bn ac­cu­mu­lated in­vest­ment, and for­eign gov­ern­ments and in­ter­na­tion­al fin­an­cial in­sti­tu­tions have pledged USD 1trn in sup­port.Im­port­antly, in­ter­na­tion­al sup­port is tar­get­ing more than just re­build­ing the de­struc­tion caused by the war; it is tar­get­ing Ukraine’s fu­ture eco­nom­ic re­cov­ery and growth.The private sec­tor will play a vi­tal role, and the gov­ern­ment is rap­idly im­ple­ment­ing in­vestor-friendly re­forms to en­able the ne­ces­sary scale of private in­vest­ment, in­clud­ing EU mar­ket-in­teg­ra­tion agree­ments as it fast-tracks to EU can­did­acy. Ukraine’s re­con­struc­tion and re­cov­ery rep­res­ents an un­pre­ced­en­ted op­por­tun­ity, both for Ukraine and for Europe. With law­yers qual­i­fied in Ukrain­i­an and UK law op­er­at­ing in Ky­iv since 2007, CMS can ad­vise on:Busi­ness re­lo­ca­tion­Cloud-based op­er­a­tionsDoc­u­ment­ing and en­for­cing war dam­ageIn­sur­an­ceR­isk as­sess­ment and con­tin­gency plan­ning­Mar­tial law and leg­al re­formsFin­an­cing, in­vest­ing, and re­build­ing and re­cov­ery op­por­tun­it­ies.Get in­volved no­wOur aim is to help com­pan­ies par­ti­cip­ate mean­ing­fully in the op­por­tun­it­ies be­ing cre­ated for Ukraine’s re­con­struc­tion and re­cov­ery. We of­fer spe­cif­ic ser­vices that can help your com­pany.We have de­veloped a short over­view of Re­build­ing Ukraine op­por­tun­it­ies and latest up­dates, which is avail­able for down­load­ing. However, if  you would like to re­ceive more in­form­a­tion about “Re­build­ing Ukraine” op­por­tun­it­ies fill in the form be­low and we would reach out to you. 
Publication
06/02/2023
Ukraine in­tro­duces new rules for re­ser­va­tion (ex­empt­ing) of em­ploy­ees from...
On 27 Janu­ary 2023, the Cab­in­et of Min­is­ters of Ukraine in­tro­duced new rules re­gard­ing re­ser­va­tion (tem­por­ary ex­emp­tion) of em­ploy­ees from mil­it­ary mo­bil­isa­tion through the ad­op­tion of Res­ol­u­tion No...
Law-Now
03/02/2023
Ukraine re­forms copy­right reg­u­la­tion sys­tem in line with EU stand­ards
On 1 Janu­ary 2023, a new Copy­right Law, the Law “On Copy­right and Re­lated Rights”, entered in­to force in Ukraine.The Copy­right Law re­forms the Ukrain­i­an copy­right pro­tec­tion sys­tem and brings Ukrain­i­an...
Law-Now TMC - Technology, Media & Communications
27/01/2023
Ukraine tem­por­ar­ily can­cels elec­tron­ic auc­tions in Pro­Zorro e-pro­cure­ment...
The Cab­in­et of Min­is­ters of Ukraine tem­por­ar­ily can­celled elec­tron­ic auc­tions in the Pro­Zorro sys­tem through Res­ol­u­tion No. 1495 of 30 Decem­ber 2022 be­cause of the con­stant shelling of na­tion's en­ergy...
Law-Now Public Procurement
16/01/2023
Use of out­sourced IT per­son­nel in Cent­ral and East­ern Europe
While Europe is the re­gion most im­pacted by the on­go­ing war in Ukraine, IT ser­vice mar­kets in Cent­ral and East­ern Europe (CEE) are ex­pec­ted to con­tin­ue to grow by nearly 6% and 7% in 2022 and 2023 re­spect­ively...
Law-Now Commercial
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