Yuliya Chumachenko specializes in civil, contract, labor, antitrust, pharmaceutical and investment law. Before joining AEQUITAS in 1997, she worked as a civil law counselor to a number of companies.

According to the Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal, she is among Kazakhstan's best lawyers in the sphere of labor law.

Ms. Chumachenko possesses extensive expertise in the field of corporate and contractual relations, healthcare, securing of obligations, and personal data protection.

She is currently focusing on contract and labor law issues, deal structuring, and various matters related to the legal support of business in Kazakhstan.

Ms. Chumachenko is a respondent for the World Bank's Doing Business and Women, Business and the Law legislation monitoring programs.

Kazakhstan Bar Association

Ius Laboris

SIPAC

International Arbitration Court (IAC)

International Arbitration “IUS”

Atameken Arbitration Center

1997-present AEQUITAS Law Firm – Partner

1991-1997 Number of private companies – Civil law counselor

1991 Kazakh State University, LLB, Kazakhstan

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT. DATA PROTECTION AND CYBERSECURITY

• Advice to and representation of a large foreign company in a labor dispute against the head of its structural subdivision in Kazakhstan.
• Comprehensive advice to an international educational organization in the course of an individual labor dispute with one of its foreign employees with respect to discrimination when paying labor remuneration, compensating the employee’s costs associated with treatment and voluntary health insurance, flights to the country of residence and back, residence in Kazakhstan, and claims in connection with the employer’s failure to ensure appropriate occupational health and safety conditions in the company, including in terms giving the required instructions to the employees; analysis of the situation and documents relating to the dispute, substantiation of the employee’s claims and evaluation of the prospects of considering the dispute in court; drafting of the set of documents for appointment of the elective representatives of employees, setting up and functioning of the conciliation board (including an agreement on setting up and operating procedure of the conciliation board, minutes, powers of attorney, registration forms, orders, application registration log, etc.); legal support of the process of training the conciliation board members to the fundamentals of the labor legislation of Kazakhstan, preparation to consideration of the employee’s application by the conciliation board, holding of a meeting of the conciliation board and execution of its results in the form of the minutes of the meeting and resolution of the conciliation board; legal support at the stage of judicial proceedings, protection of the company’s interests on all above issues, including challenging of the statement of claim for recovery of the employee’s costs incurred in connection with legal support as a result of absence of any documented confirmation of such costs; legal support of the process of challenging the inspection initiated by the employee of the company’s activities by the labor inspection in connection with absence of the substantive law violations committed by the employer and, consequently, unlawfulness of claims filed by the employee against the company, including drafting of all required procedural documents in the course of inspection; formation of the body of evidence to refute the employee’s and labor inspector’s arguments; analysis of the law-application practice (including judicial) on disputable issues of the case.
• Advising a major trading company on different aspects of labor relations in Kazakhstan, including assessment of risks (i) relating to the company’s long-term use of the employee’s labor on the conditions of outsourcing and outstaffing; (ii) arising in connection with the employee work time accounting system applied in the company on the basis of quarterly reports on the employee work time; (iii) arising if the company falls under the legislation requirement of the Republic of Kazakhstan with respect to employment of physically challenged (disabled) employees, and development of recommendations on mitigation of such risks. Analysis of the company’s internal procedures for engagement of outsourced employees, work time accounting, ensuring of conditions for the work of physically challenged employees as to compliance with requirements of the Kazakhstan legislation.
• Comprehensive advice to a major US company implementing the USAID projects in Kazakhstan, on the key requirements of the Kazakhstan legislation applicable to its activities, including, among other things, issues of corporate, tax and labor law; elaboration of recommendations on transition from one project to another from the viewpoint of execution of labor relations and amendment of employment contracts already concluded with employees; drafting of relevant labor documents.
• Advising a global creative producing company regarding legal implications and risks applicable to labor relations arising in connection with changes in the composition of participants in its Kazakhstan subsidiary, restructuring of its management bodies, hiring of managing employees, including drafting and adaptation of the required documents (corporate, labor, etc.) to the client’s wishes; holding of negotiations for and on behalf of the client with the head and his/her deputy regarding the hiring conditions; drafting of labor documents reflecting specific corporate management structure in the company.
• Advising a number of companies regarding the risks arising in connection with engagement of external personnel, including analysis of the considered contractual structures for hire of individuals for the provision of services, performance of work without executing labor relations with them (contract directly with contractor, through an outstaffing agency, etc.) from the viewpoint of potential risks (tax, labor, civil), and the ways to mitigate them.
• Advising a major transport and trading company on the issues of personal data protection, their collection and storage procedure, database localization issues, cross-border transfer of personal data, including preparation of practical recommendations on obtainment of consents from subjects to collection and processing of their personal data; drafting of a set of documents in the sphere of personal data protection subject to the latest legislation amendments and law-application practice existing in Kazakhstan and best practices of the firm’s lawyers to protect the company’s interests to the maximum extent possible and, whenever appropriate, prevent from occurrence of any disputes with the personal data subjects.
• Advising a number of foreign companies on topical issues of collection, processing and protection of personal data in accordance with legislation requirements and the law-application practice existing in Kazakhstan, including the issues of using computer systems for collection of personal data, localization of databases and cross-border transfer of personal data, sphere of application of the Kazakhstan legislation on personal data protection, procedure for checking whether companies comply with legislation requirements, detection of violations in this sphere, applicable sanctions, and review of judicial practice.
• Advising a major perfume and cosmetics company registered in the AIFC and holding a store chain in the territory of Kazakhstan on the issues of mandatory insurance of employees against accidents in the course of performing their labor (official) duties by the employer's entering into a relevant contract with an insurance company, including requirements set to the content of such contract, amount of the insurance premium and insurance coverage, algorithm of actions of the company in case of an insurance event, and sanctions in case of violating legislation requirements in the sphere of insurance.
• Advising local subsidiaries of major foreign manufacturers of various goods on the issues of the labor legislation of Kazakhstan; legal due diligence of labor documents of companies, including preparation of responses to a wide range of questions on different aspects of labor relations; bringing the documents used by companies to execute labor relations with employees in line with the current legislation of Kazakhstan and existing law-application practice; drafting of labor documents, including various forms of employment contracts with different options of work regimes and other labor conditions subject to different categories of employees, including foreign, remote, temporary, and other employees; commitment by an employee not to disclose confidential information; set of documents on full material liability of employees; non-compete agreement and documents required to enter into such agreement with an employee, including with a view to the company's internal approaches to building of relations on restriction of employment of employees with competing organizations during the period of their work for the companies and after termination of labor relations with them, and financial consideration for the employee's compliance with such restrictions.
• Advice to a number of major companies regarding migration law issues and foreign labor engagement procedure in Kazakhstan.
• All-round support to a world's top 10 pharmaceutical company, which involved the process of changing the local subsidiary management, including settlement of a conflict and disputable issues with former executive officers; drafting of labor documentation customized for each specific case and with a view to all potential procedural nuances and reached arrangements; preparation of a package of documents to conduct a closed auction for the company employees to purchase the corporate cars; legal support in appointment of the company's temporary chief executive officer; notifications to governmental agencies; advice on a wide range of issues, including provision of different benefits, bonus plans, employee repatriation, housing, etc.
• Advice to service and pharmaceutical companies and international organizations on a wide range of staff-related and production issues in connection with the introduction in Kazakhstan of the state of emergency and the self-isolation regime in light of the COVID-19 spread, including drafting of documents required for proper execution and regulation within organization of the transfer of employees to remote work under the conditions of a complicated legal and production situation emerging in the country for the first time.
• Advice to a major pharmaceutical company concerning the legitimacy of applying the telemetry means by the employer to track location of the company car transferred to an employee for use; elaboration of recommendations on how to mitigate the risks associated with qualification of such employer's actions as the collection of information about the employee's personal life and violation of his/her constitutional right to privacy, and as a method to collect and process the employee's personal data.
• Conducted a seminar for major refining companies concerning the introduction of a new accounting system for employment contracts on the website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elaboration of practical recommendations (step-by-step instructions) on introduction of data on labor relations with each employee into the unified system, and conclusion of employment contracts in the electronic form.
• Conducted a seminar for a Kazakh subdivision of a large US company on topical issues of the labor legislation of Kazakhstan, including the issues of substitution of employees, existing risks and ways to regulate (settle) them, and drafting of template labor documents required for these purposes.
• Regular advice to a major US food products trading company on employment agreements execution and adoption of different employer's acts; advised and represented the company in litigation over a labor dispute against its sales manager.
• Advice to a number of large foreign companies regarding management change procedure at local subsidiaries and structural subdivisions (branches/representative offices) complicated by conflicts with the executives whose powers were being terminated; comprehensive legal support in the management change process, including drafting and customization of the required (corporate, employment, etc.) documents, notification to the authorized state agencies and organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan regarding the change of management; negotiations for and on behalf of the client with the former head regarding the terms and conditions of termination of labor relations with him/her.
• Advising major pharmaceutical companies regarding employment relations regulation in Kazakhstan, including issues of appointment and competence of employee representatives; additional payments to employees residing in environmental disaster areas; hiring of a foreign employee; employment of disabled persons; limitations on ex-government officials employment at commercial organizations; specifics of labor relations termination for special categories of employees, including employees bringing up children without a mother and employees forfeiting the Republic of Kazakhstan citizenship; application to employers of the regional agreements among trade unions, the executive authority and the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs; employee occupational safety and other training; adaptation of the standard employment agreements and various employer’s acts globally used by the corporate clients’ subdivisions to meet the local peremptory legislative requirements; and drafting of a set of documents mandatory for presence in an organization to comply with the personal data protection requirements.
• Advice to a number of major companies located in Almaty on the matters involving social partnership at a regional level, including via signing the memorandum of understanding among the Akim's office, the employer and the association of trade unions concerning cooperation to stabilize manufacturing processes and ensure employees' labor rights and employment.
• Advice to a service company on diverse labor law issues, including cumulative work time accounting, work on rotation, powers of employee representatives, procedure for making withholdings from employee salaries in connection with alimony payments subject to the existing contradictions in the regulatory legal acts of different levels and the current law-application practice, drafting of employment agreements for different categories of employees, and analysis of the company's HR documents.
• All-round legal support to a major UK company providing independent expert review and certification services in the course of staff reduction at its representative office in the Republic of Kazakhstan, including company representation in court to settle labor disputes with employees.
• Advice on a range of matters and legal support in the process of staff reduction and termination of labor relations with employees by agreement of the parties for a representative office of a large transnational pharmaceutical company located in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
• Preparation of a special corporate pension plan for the employees of the local representative office of a major foreign company.
• Legal support in the process of setting up at a number of companies a standing body for pre-trial review of labor disputes (conciliation commission), including drafting of the documents required for the conciliation commission to be set up and function properly.
• Advising foreign law firms and a large service company on labor matters relating to global reorganization of its business affecting subdivisions in Kazakhstan, including legal implications and risks applicable to labor relations and arising due to the change of the employer company name, reissue of the powers of attorney confirming the employee official powers and amendment of labor documents, transfer of employees to another employer, coordination of the reorganization process with the trade union organization and other representative bodies of the labor collective, and other matters.
• Conducting seminars dedicated to topical issues of legal regulation over labor and labor-related relations arising in connection with the adoption of the 2015 Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the 2017 revisions to the legislation on foreign labor engagement and migration legislation, including: review of the Kazakh labor legislation and the law-application practice (including judicial practice) relevant to problem issues; analysis of client-simulated disputable situations; review of material problems and risks and the methods to resolve the problems associated with the application of the revised Kazakh labor legislation.
• Regular advice to Ius Laboris, an alliance of world's leading HR law firms, on various local law matters, including issues of introduction of incentivizing programs at local subdivisions of foreign companies and partner company's employee training programs (X-Sell Partner Programme) and adaptation of such programs to the Kazakh legislation accompanied by pertinent risks evaluation; corporate officer liability in cases of advertising information dissemination at a private event in violation of the relevant statutory requirements; different aspects of applying flexible work time regime introduced by an electronic payment systems company, taking into account the peculiarities of Kazakhstan legislation; personal data protection in the context of a UK company's joint project with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education to establish in Kazakhstan an educational center for auditor professional skills improvement, and formalization of labor relations with the company representatives; various aspects of labor relations as part of appointment of a company employee to the position of a member of the management body in accordance with the Kazakh legislation; office vehicles provision to employees and compensation for costs to employees using personal vehicles for official purposes; termination of labor relations; use of leased labor in the forms allowed in Kazakhstan; drafting of all required documents for execution of the above processes.

HEALTHCARE, MEDICINE & PHARMACEUTICALS

• Advising a number of foreign pharmaceutical companies regarding the tax risks arising in connection with labeling of medicines by identification and traceability means due to a necessity to register in Kazakhstan as a taxpayer with obtainment of tax numbers and electronic digital signatures and subsequent participation in the system for labeling and purchasing the identification codes, including assessment and ranking of potential tax risks, depending on the form of presence of foreign pharmaceutical companies in Kazakhstan, conditions of purchasing the labeling codes and their subsequent placement on medicine packaging, including with a view to practical peculiarities of introducing the labeling system; preparing recommendations for the clients on optimal lawful scenarios of participation in the system of labeling of foreign companies to mitigate the tax risks; drafting of a proposal on amendment of the Kazakhstan legislation on these issues to mitigate or eliminate the tax risks for foreign pharmaceutical companies.
• Advising a number of pharmaceutical companies on the issues relating to compliance with requirements of the antitrust legislation on import, wholesale and retail sale of medicines in the Kazakhstan territory in the framework of tracking of the products resale prices; drafting of the required documents and instructions.
• All-round advice to a pharmaceutical company on organization of marketing campaigns / activities on promotion of the client's products in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan and related risks, including the issues of ethics of promotion and advertising of medicines, anti-corruption requirements, personal data protection, risk of recognizing contractual relations with a contractor as labor relations, setting up of a permanent establishment in Kazakhstan, and other tax risks for the company when carrying out the above activities; evaluation of the business models for activities contemplated by the company from the viewpoint of risk degree.
• Comprehensive advice on the issues of promotion of medicines in Kazakhstan by way of an Internet platform for promotional activities with potential receipt of cashback by ultimate buyers, including the aspects of tax, civil, pharmaceutical, antitrust, anti-corruption, advertising, labor legislation and regulations in the sphere of personal data protection to mitigate to the maximum extent possible the compliance, tax, civil risks, as well as the risks in the sphere of circulation of medicines subject to specifics of regulation of this type of goods.
• Advice to the large pharmaceutical companies on the issues of pharmaceutical activities regulation in Kazakhstan, including advertising, marking (labeling), certification and registration of medicines and medical devices; permitted methods and scenarios for healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals to participate in the promotion of such goods and different marketing events; lawfulness of supporting the users of medical products in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan via a foreign call-center ("telephone hotline"); forming the conditions of access to a pharmaceutical company's website and its use by the website visitors subject to the requirements of the Republic of Kazakhstan's legislation governing informatization, intellectual property protection, personal data protection and healthcare; building contractual relations with pharmacy chains (on a merchandising-like basis); criminal and administrative liability and the current practice of sanctions against statutory violations; destruction of medicines, pharmacovigilance, and local compliance review of standard operating procedures.
• Advising a large pharmaceutical company on the protection of intellectual property rights (patent rights) to medicines in the Republic of Kazakhstan; conducting clinical trials in Kazakhstan with a focus on the specifics of such trials under the national legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, supranational legislation of the EAEU and applicable international rules of appropriate pharmaceutical practices, including comparative analysis of clinical trials against observational studies; charitable-and-trial use of medicines intended for the prevention and treatment of the socially significant and orphan diseases; procedure for collecting and exporting genetic samples; procedure for the collection and storage of personal and other data during clinical trials; peculiarities of agreement between the parties to clinical trials (clinical base, investigator, sponsor, subject and customer) existent in practice in Kazakhstan.

LEGAL SUPPORT OF BUSINESS. INDUSTRY AND TRADE

• Comprehensive audit (inventory-taking) of all contracts of a major pharmaceutical company, including preparation of the contracts spreadsheet and their classification; work with current contracts; drafting of distributor agreements and model agreement drafting recommendations, review and adjustment of agreements with a view to execute and/or extend them; preparation of letters to counterparties and drafting of supplementary agreements to contracts in connection with their termination, renegotiation or withdrawal therefrom; legal support in the process of contracts and supplementary agreements approval and signing; meetings, telephone conversations and correspondence with counterparties.
• Advice to a trading company regarding legislation requirements of the Republic of Kazakhstan on advertising, specifically, language of advertising materials and advertising on online platforms, and liability for violating such requirements subject to the latest legislation amendments in this sphere and the law-application practice existing in Kazakhstan (including judicial practice); analysis of sample advertising materials of the company in the form of video clips, audio advertisements and images with text (banners).
• Drafting of a review on the issues of the Kazakhstan and EAEU legislation and law-application practice existing in Kazakhstan regarding parallel import of different categories of goods, including transport vehicles, as well as analysis of the possibility to apply the principle of exhaustion of an exclusive right to a trademark with respect to goods, which were lawfully introduced into civil circulation in the territory of any EAEU member state directly by a right holder to the trademark or other persons with the right holder's consent, description of the procedure for importing transport vehicles to the territory of Kazakhstan, requirements to the imported goods and introduction of goods into civil circulation in the territory of Kazakhstan.
• Advising a foreign company producing paper on the issues of its inclusion in the Kazakhstan register of domestic producers of goods so as to be prepared for withdrawal from the national regime for public procurement of copy paper subject to the current legislation and contemplated revision of the legislation rules on the issues of confirmation of the status of Kazakhstan/domestic producers.
• Advising a company producing sugar regarding the key tax obligations and risks when importing, storing and selling sugar in the Republic of Kazakhstan by a non-resident from the standpoint of the Kazakhstan legislation and applicable international agreements; lawfulness of the scenarios considered by the company for doing its business; other scenarios to effect the transaction, which would be the most advantageous for the company from the standpoint of mitigation of its tax and civil risks.
• Advising an international company on the issues of requirements of the Kazakhstan legislation on trading activities, including language requirements, and of technical regulations of the EAEU to products labeling, including assessment of the company's risks in case of absence of the required labeling on the product packaging, as well as in case of presence of labeling containing outdated information on the products; mandatory confirmation of products conformity (in the form of certification or declaration, depending on the type of products), without which products cannot be released into circulation on the EAEU market, including in Kazakhstan.
• Legal support to a major oil company in the course of judicial proceedings conducted without due regard to an arbitration clause under a contract between the parties to the dispute and in a simplified form without participation of the defendant that became aware of the issued judgment only at the stage of enforcement and attachment of the defendant's bank account, including successful challenging of procedural actions of the judge and claimant, turn of judgment and, consequently, its revocation.
• Advising a private company registered in the AIFC on the issues of return of perfume and cosmetics products and expert examination of quality of such products, guarantee terms applicable to such type of products from the viewpoint of legislation on trade, technical regulation and consumer protection, distribution of costs related to expert examination between the seller and the buyer; drafting of the form of the seller's letter of response to the buyer's claim on return of products and expert examination of quality.
• Advising a local company, a member of the network of the world famous supplier of foodstuff, drinks and other everyday goods on the issues of settling of disputes arising with distributors; support of the procedure for termination of distribution agreements, pre-trial dispute settlement, and company representation in court.
• Advising a major company on the issues of collection, storage, processing of personal data of potential Kazakhstan customers in the course of e-commerce, distance selling subject to different business models (via a call center located in Kazakhstan and abroad), organization of advertising of goods on television, price formation, tax aspects of such activities, legislation applicable to such activities, potential scenarios of returning the distantly bought goods, and other consumer protection aspects.
• Comprehensive advice to a client on the issues of statutory regulation of work of an Internet shop and takeaway outlets in Kazakhstan, including comparative analysis of potential corporate forms of presence in the Republic of Kazakhstan; licensing and obtainment of other permitting documents; versions of contractual structures and electronic document flow; tax structuring of business; legislation requirements to specifics of circulation of different types of goods in terms of labeling, stock movement, certain categories of goods (excisable goods, animal products, tobacco products, etc.), which fall under special requirements to sale, movement, storage, and goods that are subject to mandatory labeling/traceability; sanitary and epidemiologic and fire safety requirements to shopping premises; general legislation requirements on consumer protection and trade, including with respect to return of goods, documentation of stock movement, other aspects of work of an Internet shop; existing restrictions on the list of goods (including foodstuff), which may be implemented remotely using the Internet; formation of labor relations; collection, processing and protection of personal data in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
• Ongoing advice to a leading US oil company on contract execution matters.
• Advising a foreign company on general requirements of the Kazakhstan legislation with respect to possible forms of business organization and doing business (including hire of employees without forming a structural subdivision or setting up a subsidiary, execution of agency agreements with individuals, personnel lease contracts with recruiting agencies, etc.) at the initial preparatory stage (marketing studies, meetings with potential clients, negotiations, etc.) for the purposes of promoting the company's equipment in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, identifying the appropriate measures to mitigate the legal risks.
• Advice to a major foreign company on the issues of movable and immovable property transfer in the framework of the company's business restructuring project in Kazakhstan.

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. M&A

• Due diligence of a number of Kazakh companies (subsoil users and "resource-related" companies providing oil transportation by sea, a large pharmaceutical company, a large transportation company, and companies active in the restaurant business) in connection with alienation of participation interests/shares in favor of foreign companies; due diligence of a local subdivision of a generic manufacturer as part of its merger with a major international pharmaceutical company.
• Due diligence of a large pharmaceutical company for the purposes of obtaining a loan from an international financial organization.
• Due diligence of activities of a major foreign company as to compliance of its activities with antitrust legislation, including checking of model forms of the company's commercial contracts, internal documentation regulating the company's activities, interview with managing and other employees of the company.
• Comprehensive advice to a major foreign manufacturer of specialized fats, mayonnaise, vegetable oil and ketchup in a project involving renovation of a foodstuff (vegetable oils) production plant in Almaty regarding permits and approvals necessary for the plant to amply and legally function from the standpoint of environmental legislation, industrial safety, nature management, occupational health and safety, sanitary-and-epidemiological wellbeing, phytosanitary control, safety, marking, packaging and storage of food products, power saving, fire safety, equipment modernization, transportation, cryptography, and other aspects of production activities.