KIAP and SOVA are launching a joint legal practice.

KIAP and SOVA ADVISORS are launching a joint legal practice with headquarters in Dubai in response to substantially increased demand for legal and related services in the United Arab Emirates, Gulf countries, the Middle East and Africa.

Our teams' combined experience and expertise will significantly expand access to the region's best advisory services for our clients. In addition to the UAE, we provide legal support in Oman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Lebanon, Israel, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco.

Alexey Myagchenkov, the founder of SOVA ADVISORS, has over 20 years of private practice and in-house counsel experience in the largest international corporations. For five years, he has provided private advisory services to clients in the UAE and Gulf countries. SOVA is focused on e-commerce, retail, banking, web3, IP/IT/Telecommunications, corporate and commercial law, and corporate compliance.

Konstantin Astafiev, a co-founder of KIAP, will lead the joint practice in Dubai with Alexey Myagchenkov. Konstantin has over 18 years of advisory experience in retail, construction, investment, and telecommunications.

Denis Primakov, the Head of Sanctions and Compliance Practice at KIAP, will strengthen the team. In addition to considerable compliance, sanctions and trade controls expertise, Denis brings a solid 10-year legal practice in the Middle East. Denis is fluent in Arabic and Hebrew.

The advisory practice in African countries will be supervised by a KIAP partner, James Friedlander, a US-qualified lawyer with over 55 years of international experience advising on major investment projects and financial transactions worldwide. James was an advisor of the World Bank and IFC for over 32 years and assisted governments willing to attract foreign investment to Africa. He has been a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a senior manager at Citibank and a non-executive director of NMBZ Holdings (Zimbabwe), Franconia Minerals Corp (Canada), and the International Eye Foundation. James has advised the governments of over 30 countries on direct foreign investments and major global corporations on cooperation with local partners in emerging markets.