Dear SPBILF Participants and Guests,

I sincerely wish you all a Happy New Year! The past year was eventful and productive. I am positive that the coming year, too, will be packed with vibrant events and new success stories! Let your most cherished dreams come true in the New Year! I wish you and your loved ones happiness, good health and prosperity!

Sergey Arakelov

Deputy Head of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation

Dear Participants and Hosts of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, Friends,

New Year’s Greetings to you on behalf of the Federal Antimonopoly Service and from myself!

Collaboration between the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum and the Federal Antimonopoly Service is now a good tradition.

In the past year, we discussed issues of utmost importance pertaining to antitrust and tariff regulation in Russia, and we shared ideas on the most topical matters of concern for the international community with our partners, representing international competition regulators, the business community, the legal profession, government authorities and NGOs.

I am positive that the SPBILF will continue to promote beneficial networking between authorities, legal services professionals, entrepreneurs and academics.

Let the New Year 2018 bring you many joyous moments, professional achievements and success in all your undertakings!

Igor Artemiev

Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Russian Federation

Dear Friends,

Let me wish a Happy New Year to all lawyers on behalf of the online medium PRAVO.ru! Let the year 2018 bring you more interesting projects, professional acclaim and new discoveries! I wish you all success in business, fair court rulings, inspiration and lots of good luck! It is difficult to overestimate the role of lawyers in the life of human society. You are like sentinels guarding the lawful interests of businesses and citizens. Let all your ideas take flesh, and let success crown your every undertaking!

Boris Boltyansky

Editor-in-Chief, PRAVO.ru

Dear colleagues,

We live in a country ruled by lawyers. Our President is a lawyer, the Prime Minister is a lawyer and the future president is also likely to be a lawyer. There are generally fewer and fewer people without higher legal education in the authorities.

But not by lawyers alone is Russia strong but by the so-called “people with Petersburg background”. Today the share of St. Petersburg natives in all branches and levels of power, in the management of large corporations, institutions of culture and sport is as high as never before in our millennium-old history.

It is already somehow strange to recall the wild times when Russia was baptized by the leader not born in the North Capital and not related to the legal community. Therefore, it would be appropriate to bring the process of juridification and peterization of Russia to the logical intermediate conclusion and to delegate the functions and powers of the Parliament of the Russian Federation to St. Petersburg international legal forum. The more so since despite the abundance of legal experts the quality of the laws in our country leaves a great deal to be desired. I say this with all responsibility as a former parliamentarian and acting law expert. I hope that such decisions will be already made by you in 2018: there is no point in putting off obvious measures.

I wish you to bear the burden of the lawmaker with the same creativity and dignity that have been typical of the work of your (our) forum all these years.

Konstantin Dobrynin

Advocate, Senior Partner, Pen&Paper

Lawyers will remember the year 2017 by its many new trendy coinages: bitcoin, blockchain, ICO, mining and Legal Tech, to name only a few. Although most of what is touted as “new technology in action” in the field of law is only so much hype, 2018 may bring a breakthrough in this respect. While covering the pertinent developments in Russia and beyond, the Legal Insight team, joining forces with our partners, IIDF, PRAVO.ru and Skolkovo, will actively contribute to the process.

We wish that more lawyers benefit from the opportunities accorded by new technology, and more lawyers dare to make them their own. These new opportunities can help lawyers get rid of tedious routines, making their work more meaningful and more fun. No wonder 90% of the in-house lawyers polled are ready to quit their jobs, according to a survey we have conducted jointly with PwС Legal in 2017. They feel that their professional excellence and personal achievements, to a great extent, go unappreciated by the management. Let the year 2018 bring more opportunities of fulfilment to lawyers, more opportunities to feel appreciated and to know that their work really matters.

Margarita Gaskarova

Editor-in-Chief, Legal Insight Journal

It was a pleasure attending this year's Forum. It was my first trip to St. Petersburg. The city is so beautiful. I wish to visit again and again!

St. Petersburg International Legal Forum has been on the fore front of challenges facing our Internet age. It was a pleasure to be a part of the e-commerce and data privacy discussion. It was even bigger pleasure to learn from everyone involved. Your forward-looking, open and inclusive atmosphere is admirable. Many congratulations for your 2017 achievements and I wish the Forum a bigger success in 2018!

Doungbai Guo

Chief Technology Officer, AliExpress

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Arbitration Centre of the Modern Arbitration Institute and on my own behalf, if wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I know that 2017 was a very busy year for each of us. I hope that the coming year proves as abundant in good news and great events, opening new opportunities and new horizons. Let your ascent towards new professional highs be assisted by the sincere support and loyalty of your loved ones, their love and care.

I wish you success and prosperity! See you at the SPBILF in the New Year!

Andrey Gorlenko

Executive Administrator, Arbitration Center at the Institute of Modern Arbitration

SPBILF has been great opportunities for Japanese delegates like me to understand the globe from somewhat different angles. I was only one Japanese at the first SPBILF, but now, I am just one of very large number of Japanese delegates. Last year, we established Russia Japan Lawyers Council under the auspices of SPBILF, which is now growing at the both sides. SPBILF is now an important global forum for the global legal profession and the rule of law.

Happy New Year!

Akira Kawamura

Counselor, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Former President, International Bar Association

Esteemed Colleagues, Dear Friends,

As the year 2017 draws to a close, it is a pleasure to note that the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum once again proved an immensely important highlight for members of the legal profession.

We know from experience that any regulatory initiative can only benefit, in terms of quality, from being exposed to the scrutiny of the professional community concerned. That is why in-house lawyers are no longer merely administrators of law; they are, in fact, contributors to the law-making process. It is a commendable fact that the meaningful debates and knowledge-sharing at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum are conducive to the improvement of professional competencies.

Some crucial regulations, enacted in 2017, have proximate bearing upon the business of Inter RAO Group companies. Among those regulations are the Russian Government’s directives on sales mark-up formulas for guaranteed suppliers and on electric power consumption caps. In the coming year, we anticipate a switch to direct contracting with users in the household sector and a pricing change for heat suppliers, and we count on a carefully planned, balanced transition to the use of smart gauging systems to begin.

I thank the participants of this unique project for their meaningful and beneficial cooperation! I wish you all a successful New Year 2018! May all your plans and projects be realized! And I hope to see you again at the next St. Petersburg International Legal Forum!

Mikhail Konstantinov

Board Member – Head of Legal Work Department, Inter RAO Group

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Russian Association of Restoration Artists and on my own behalf, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018!

The year we are leaving behind was truly eventful and productive. The St. Petersburg International Legal Forum provided an excellent platform for debating some serious and extremely important matters of legal regulation in the field of cultural heritage conservation. It is a perfect platform for building dialogue between the state, the business community, legal professionals, restoration artists, NGOs and trade associations.

I wish you all great achievements, professional excellence, successful work, happiness and prosperity in the New Year 2018!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, dear colleagues!

Yulia Loginova

Deputy President of the Union of Restorers of Russia, Head Advisor, Department of Cultural Heritage of the City of Moscow

Dear Colleagues,

Like no other year, the year 2017 presented us with most formidable challenges, and we have tackled them successfully. It put our professional skills and human qualities to a test, and I trust that we were up to it. The past year gave us a lot to think about, and inspired us to think in a philosophical vein.

Progress did not come easy, but we have made it, we have either achieved the goals we had aimed for, or we have travelled much of the distance towards them. We have made new friends, in St. Petersburg and elsewhere. It is this that I consider to be our best achievement.

I wish you a Happy New Year 2018!

Good health and good luck in the New Year!

See you at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum 2018!

Vitaliy Melgunov

Director, Institute of Mining and Energy Law, Professor, Gubkin Russian State Oil and Gas University

New Year’s Greetings to the esteemed members of the Russian Corporate Counsel Association and all our colleagues! We are proud of our achievements in 2017!

The RCCA has admitted some new members in 2017, and has come up with some new initiatives. We’ve set up a task force to work on the automation of legal work processes. The RCCA was the first to bring up robotic automation of the legal profession at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum. Earlier in 2017, we discussed Futurology in Jurisprudence and the challenges faced by in-house lawyers in an era of technological breakthrough at a conference with the judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

Keeping up its effort in perfecting the administration of competition protection laws, the RCCA teamed up with the FAS of Russia to draft an Explanation of Article 10 of the Competition Protection Act, which was ratified by the FAS Presidium in June.

We have assisted the Justice Ministry of Russia in the reform of professional legal advising, instrumentally contributed to the work of the Council on the Improvement of Arbitration Proceedings, and are currently working on the control and supervision reform.

We have joined the Association of Lawyers of Russia at Moscow State University to debate the initiatives, proposed by the Association for the Amendment of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in order to eliminate the contradictions between a special section of contract law and the main body of liability law.

The RCCA team has made further steps to promote the implementation of electronic document flow.

The RCCA’s Success Award, or In-House Lawyer of the Year Award, is 10 years old this year. We are proud of our laureates, and it’s good to know that they appreciate their award as a token of recognition from their colleagues.

So, Happy New Year! Let the 15th anniversary year of our Association bring us all more success stories!

Alexandra Nesterenko

President of the Russian Corporate Counsel Association

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Heart-felt greetings on the approaching New Year!

I sincerely wish you success in your creative work, new friendships and new beginnings! May all your wishes come true!

For PravoTEK School, the year 2017 was filled with activities dedicated to Russian Environment Year and the 25th anniversary of the Mining Act. Some of the related events successfully took place on the platform of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

I wish to thank the SPBILF Organizing Committee, and the administrators and specialists of the Natural Resources Ministry of Russia, Rosnedra, Rosprirodnadzor and our other partners for their support and participation in our initiatives!

We look forward to seeing you all again at the next SPBILF in May 2018!

Let professional growth and new projects strengthen your confidence in yourselves and in our common better future in the New Year!

Viktor Nesterenko

President, RusEnergyLaw School, Chairman of the Board of Guardians, EnergyLaw&Economy Fund

“It is an unenviable lot to live in times of change”, said a Chinese wizard a long time ago.

What are we to do in our time? Headlong change is the essence of our life. Only the chase remains stable. The chase for new technology, more favourable business climate, better political realities, better laws, you name it…

Let us not feel sorry for ourselves. Instead, let us wish each other higher speeds in our sensible chases, and due caution at the bends!

Sergey Pepeliaev

Managing Partner, Pepeliaev Group

Dear Colleagues,

The St. Petersburg International Legal Forum is among the world’s premier platforms where lawyers from every part of the world can meet to discuss legal agendas and communicate in an informal setting. Our purpose in getting together in St. Petersburg every year is to pool our efforts in order to strengthen law as the foundation of a fair world order and social progress. We are also committed to working together in a bid to promote better ties between our respective nations.

The global community of attorneys, to which I am honoured to belong, is ex officio in the service of the principle of supremacy of law, which must be applied equally in relation to every human being and every state. With the legal profession being independent by nature, political disagreements are no obstacle for lawyers when they seek ways to keep up dialogue and work together, contributing to conflict resolution, paving the way for equitable, partnering relations between nations, and helping them to perfect their legal systems in alignment with the fundamental principles and standards of international law. Further evidence of this is offered by the annual International Bar Conference, hosted by the Federal Bar Chamber of the Russian Federation as part of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

As I extend my New Year’s greetings to the hosts and participants of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, all readers of the SPBILF Digest and all lawyers of the world, I wish them, above all, strength and confidence in our steadfast progress towards our overriding objectives: justice and peace.

I wish you all great health, prosperity, optimism and lots of creative energy!

Yury Pilipenko

President, Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation

Dear Participants and Guests of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, Dear Friends and Esteemed Colleagues,

I wish you a Happy New Year 2018!

At this time, as in all stressful moments of our history, only consolidation of our society will help us cope with external and internal challenges. The St. Petersburg International Legal Forum offers a platform for consolidation, for the unveiling of ideas and opinions, and for productive dialogue on the topical legal issues at hand.

Law is like a mirror, reflecting the political system, the economy, and the social mindset of a nation.

We wish to see the ideas pitched at the Forum by the professional community, academics and statesmen take flesh, and we want the implementation of those ideas to lead to palpable improvements in the life of the Russian people. For the principal value of every state are its citizens – all of them together and every citizen individually.

Gulnara Ruchkina

Head of the Department of Legal Regulation of Economic Operations, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

I am happy to greet all Forum participants and subscribers of SPBILF Digest on behalf of Philip Morris International affiliates in Russia and on my own behalf and would like to wish you a happy New Year and a Merry Christmas!

Collaboration with the SPBILF is a great honor and pleasure for us. The Forum became an excellent international platform facilitating discussions of current law matters and latest innovative solutions in the legal sphere which are very important in the era of global economic change. The Forum demonstrates an exemplary progress each year. This is particularly important for our company which embarked on the transformation journey leveraging on its portfolio of reduced risk innovative products.

We strongly believe that advanced technologies and innovations can make a difference and improve the quality of people lives.

I wish prosperity, successes, great professional achievements to all of you and the best of luck to your families in the upcoming year 2018.

Sergey Slipchenko

Vice President Corporate Affairs, Philip Morris International affiliates in Russia

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Please accept our sincere greetings on the occasion of Holy Christmas and the approaching New Year!

New Year’s Eve is the most magical and joyous holiday of the year, which always ushers in a new hope of good change. We wish you peace, health, warmth, comfort and inexhaustible life-energy in the New Year! May the New Year bring you new wonderful events that will lead to prosperity and a secure future! May your every decision be the right one, and your every idea a success!

See you at the Forum!

Maksim Stepanchuk

Attorney-at-Law, Partner, Delcredere Attorneys-at-Law

In today’s world, where everyone is talking about technology and innovation, let us not forget about universal human values: kindness, generosity, and love.

We wish you all of these in the New Year – may they stay with you, so that no matter what happens in the future, no matter what technology is invented, we all retain our common humanity. We wish you all a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year!

Sergei Voitishkin

Managing Partner, Baker & McKenzie CIS offices

Dear Lawyers and Attorneys, Colleagues, all members of the legal services community in Russia and beyond,

I wish you a Happy New Year on behalf of the Russian legal newspaper ezh-Yurist!

The Christmas Season is the time when we are kept warm by our family hearth, by the love of our kith and kin, our friendships, our childhood memories and our belief in miracles. This is the time when we look back on our life and make plans for the future.

The year that is on its way out was so diverse. It brought us challenges, success stories, the joy of achievement, and the assurance that there will be a tomorrow for us.

All our editorial staff worked hard in the passing year to make our newspaper better, more illuminating, and more useful for you. We have provided informational support for over 150 national and international events in different parts of Russia and Europe. The participants of several high-profile legal forums read our paper in Russian, English and German.

We have some new projects and ideas in store for you next year. The debut issue of the much-awaited Your Family Lawyer newspaper will come out in 2018. But most importantly, we will remain your trusty information partners!

We wish you health, joy, happiness and prosperity!

Take care of each other, love and appreciate your loved ones!

Victoria Yeremchenko

Chief of Government Relations and Educational Relations, ezh-Yurist newspaper, Ekonomika i Zhizn Publishing

I visit this forum with great pleasure every year. In addition to lots of newsworthy information and the hard work that this means for us, journalists, the SPBILF is a whole week packed with events where you get to meet and mingle with amazing people! Perhaps the greatest thing about this forum is that, in spite of the seriousness of the legal issues debated and the high profile of the event itself, the speakers and moderators, besides their outstanding legal expertise, have a great sense of humour, so that every presentation becomes a one-person show which is fun to hear and to watch. Special homage is owed to the now-traditional serial party night, Legal Street.

From all my heart, I wish a Happy New Year to the participants and guests of the SPBILF! I hope to see them all again in 2018!

Anna Zanina

Leader of Arbitration Team, Kommersant newspaper

Dear Colleagues, Friends,

We are about to leave behind the year 2017, which was so rich in landmark events in law and in other spheres of public life. Our domestic regulatory framework keeps changing at a fast pace, with more than 800 new federal pieces of legislation enacted this year alone. This effort requires the dedicated involvement of the entire community of legal professionals, as well as crucial inputs from government authorities, businesses and academia.

In this changing environment, the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum has emerged as a continually improving professional and cultural phenomenon with a plethora of illuminating and beneficial satellite events, as well as an excellent annual platform for debating the most pressing, highly relevant legal issues among learned, experienced peers. It has developed its own educational institution and established its own prize.

My New Year’s Greetings go out to all the SPBILF hosts and participants, as well as all readers of the SPBILF Digest! I wish all members of the legal profession great and productive discussions next year, and success in putting the results of those discussions to work! I also wish you all good health, professional growth and new ideas!

Alexander Zavtrik

Head of Legal Department, PJSC 'MMC 'Norilsk Nickel'