The 8th CIS Local Counsel Forum to be held on 26-28 June 2013 in Kiev at Hyatt Regency Hotel and on 28-29 June 2013 in Odessa at Bristol Hotel

We are pleased to announce opening of registration at www.rulg.com/cisforum for the 8^th CIS Forum to be held on 26-29 June 2013. After our grand tour of Central Asia and the Caucuses, CIS Forum is returning to Ukraine, but this time with a twist: our Program will start in Ukraine’s splendid capital, Kiev, and will finish in the “Pearl of the Black Sea”, Odessa. The Forum Program is posted at www.rulg.com/cisforum/forum_program.asp, and it will be conducted in English and Russian with the simultaneous Russian-English translation.

The Forum will start in Kiev on 26 June at 3 PM with the traditional CIS law firms meeting, followed by the Welcome Reception at the spectacular terrace overlooking the golden domes of Kiev. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the leading CIS law firm Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners - the long-term supporter and Host Firm of the CIS Forum in St Petersburg in 2008 – which invites the Forum Delegates to celebrate this happy occasion at the Welcome Reception. We hope that all Delegates will join us in congratulating our friends from Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners with 20 years of right decisions and success!

On 27 June we will spend a full working day in Kiev followed by Gala Dinner. On 28 June we will spend a morning in Kiev and then will take a flight to Odessa. We will organize the Kiev-Odessa flight and all transfers. In Odessa, the official Forum Program is scheduled for 28-29 June, and on 30 June we will offer an optional half-day tour to a beautiful vineyard with lunch on location.

We have secured excellent deals with best hotels for you: elegant Hyatt Regency in Kiev and festive Bristol Hotel in Odessa. The special hotel reservation forms for our Delegates are at www.rulg.com/cisforum/index2.asp

Last year we started a social initiative of the Forum supporting one of the leading ocean conservation organizations, the Sylvia Earle Alliance (SEA) / Mission Blue: http://mission-blue.org and had a special feature in honor of the World Oceans Day (8 June). We are very grateful to the Delegates who supported this cause, and we honored them by creating a special page on Forum’s Web site, the Forum’s Social Initiatives Hall of Fame: www.rulg.com/cisforum/hall_of_fame.asp. This year our social initiative is the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in Kiev and the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, and we hope for your support of these wonderful musicians!

The Forum is the main platform in the CIS economic region for wide-scale gathering of the leading business lawyers. It is held annually in the different cities of the region chosen by the Delegates. From the first Forum in Kiev in June 2006, the CIS Forum has evolved into an informal network of managing and senior partners of national law firms from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, bringing them together with partners from international law firms from around the world.

We look forward to seeing you in Kiev and Odessa!

Co-Chairs of the CIS Local Counsel Forum:

Irina Paliashvili
RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A.

John Whittaker
Clyde & Co LLP

Dimitry Afanasiev
Chairman of Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners