Partner
Igor Arakelov
Tax law ■ compliance ■ dispute resolution ■ real estate and construction ■ retail
Igor is a partner at White Square Moscow office.
Igor specializes in advising large companies and private clients on a wide range of tax issues, including tax restructurings, M&A transactions, structuring personal asset ownership, representing clients before tax authorities, and supporting tax audits and reviews. He also has deep expertise in legal and tax consulting for companies operating in the IT, oil&gas, retail, and services aggregation sectors.
Before joining the White Square team, Igor worked at leading international and Russian law firms, as well as in a Big 4 firm.
Selected experience and clients
Smart Service in connection with the tax support of the transaction for the acquisition of the entire KFC business in Russia from the American company Yum! Brands and the Russian franchisee
Gett taxi in connection with significant legal disputes for the aggregation industry with MADI, Rospotrebnadzor and consumers, as well as tax disputes regarding the self-employed
Oil Company in connection with a tax dispute won in all three instances of the court
Largest Fast Fashion Retailer in connection with a tax dispute stemming from an onsite tax audit, which resulted in a reduction of the claim amount by 1 billion rubles
American Investment Fund in connection with tax audits of the fund's subsidiaries regarding taxation of payments to the parent company and the financial companies in the group, as well as disputes concerning the cadastral value of the fund’s properties
American Investment Bank in connection with the restructuring of intra-group obligations under sanctions and counter-sanctions, as well as disputes regarding the cadastral value of the bank’s properties
Largest Developer in connection with a two-year tax dispute regarding profit distribution and the repayment of intra-group loans
Major distributor of alcoholic beverages in connection with a tax dispute over business fragmentation
Top-10 Russian bank in connection with a tax dispute and the restructuring of its foreign asset ownership
Several large companies with foreign participation in connection with obtaining permits from the Russian Ministry of Finance to distribute profits to foreign participants
Market Recognition
Pravo-300: Leading lawyer in Tax Consulting, Tax Disputes and Retail, FMCG and Catering
The Legal 500: Leading lawyer in Tax Law
Education
Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
All-Russian State University of Justice
Languages
Russian — Native
English — Fluent
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