The economic relations between Russia and Luxembourg have strongly developed in the recent past with Luxembourg ranking as first foreign investor in Russia for the year 2009. Luxembourg companies now rank in a prominent position as foreign investors into Russia and a number of them have a large client base or production facilities in Russia. Many major Russian companies already have a presence in Luxembourg, being active in various sectors such as information technology, life sciences, and import/export and use Luxembourg as a hub for their international and in particular European Union activities and investments.

The Allen & Overy Luxembourg-Russia Desk’s aim is to better service clients with business connections in both countries and to offer them a unique combination of Luxembourg and Russian legal expertise. The members of the Luxembourg-Russia Desk have in-depth knowledge of the legal and cultural aspects of doing business in both countries. According to Marc Feider, Senior Partner of Allen & Overy Luxembourg: "Creating a special dedicated desk is an innovative step for a Luxembourg law firm in order to address optimally growing inbound and outbound client demand into Russia and from Russia. Bringing our combined Russian-Luxembourg expertise on-site will enable a perfect match between client expectations and the provision of seamless legal services".

Nicolas Fermaud, banking and capital markets associate, previously in Luxembourg and based in Moscow since spring 2009, currently manages the desk. The other members of the desk are: from Luxembourg, Marc Feider, Jean-Luc Fisch, tax partner, Patrick Goebel, investment management counsel and from Moscow, Konstantin Kroll, ICM partner, Elena Tchoubykina, banking partner and Edwin Tham, corporate partner.

This autumn was the perfect moment for Allen & Overy to officially launch the desk through a special event. For this occasion, on Thursday 18 November 2010, Allen & Overy co-organised a conference with the Luxembourg Embassy in Moscow followed by a reception. The conference comprised two panels where senior officials from the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the CSSF, and the Russian financial regulator, FSFM could exchange views on challenges faced by regulators and on opportunities and difficulties of cross-border investment structures involving Luxembourg and Russia.

More than 150 attendees gathered at the State Museum of A.S. Pushkin including guests from major Russian companies such as Gazprombank, Sberbank, Mechel, Renaissance Capital, Troika, Absolut Bank, VTB, MDM Bank, Mirax Group, HSBC, Rusnano Capital, UBI Banca, Skolkovo, representatives of the State Duma and others.

HE Gaston Stronck, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Moscow, generally commented on the desk: "Initiatives from the private sector such as the setting-up of this Luxembourg-Russia Desk by Allen & Overy are clear materialisations of the common public will to strengthen the ties between both countries. I welcome this initiative that will, I am certain, benefit the Russian and Luxembourg business communities."