Cross-Border
Legal Counsel in Belarus

Cross-border recovery and asset tracing involving Belarus-connected parties and structures — coordinated through our CIS Region desk.

Since 2011
boutique international counsel

Partner-led
one partner owns your matter

35+
jurisdictions covered

Belarus-connected matters in VLO's practice concern cross-border recovery against assets typically structured through holding vehicles in other jurisdictions. Our CIS Region desk focuses on tracing, enforcement coordination, and reaching assets where they actually sit.
As across the region, the recovery depends on coordinating proceedings in the jurisdictions where assets are located rather than on action within Belarus alone.

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VLO IN BELARUS

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How we work in Belarus

LEGAL SYSTEM

What foreign parties need to know about Belarus

Legal family: Civil law (Belarusian legal tradition)

Belarus is a civil-law jurisdiction with codified private and procedural law. For foreign parties, cross-border enforceability and recovery depend heavily on asset location and structuring, and given the practical and international complexities involved, our work focuses on the cross-border recovery dimension.
We coordinate the Belarus element with proceedings in the other jurisdictions a matter touches, particularly the EU and offshore holding jurisdictions where assets are commonly routed.

ENFORCEMENT & RECOGNITION

Enforcing judgments and awards in Belarus

For arbitral awards, Belarus is a party to the New York Convention, and recognition and enforcement of foreign awards proceed under the Convention's framework. In our experience, a New York Convention award is generally a more reliable basis for enforcement against assets in the region than reliance on a foreign court judgment, whose recognition depends on treaty relationships or reciprocity and can be less predictable.
For foreign court judgments, recognition in Belarus depends on applicable bilateral or multilateral treaty arrangements and on reciprocity, and is assessed against local public-policy requirements. This makes a well-structured arbitration clause, providing for a Convention award, the more enforceable choice in most cross-border contracts with a Belarus counterparty.
The practical work is choosing the enforceable route, identifying assets, and — critically for the region — coordinating the Belarus element with parallel action in the other jurisdictions, frequently EU holding jurisdictions such as Cyprus or the Baltics, where a debtor's assets are often layered. This coordination is the core of our CIS Region practice.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION FORUMS

Where Belarus disputes are resolved

Belarus is a New York Convention party, and international arbitration in neutral seats has been the typical mechanism for cross-border commercial disputes. The choice of an enforceable award and a neutral seat is central to how such matters are structured.
Our focus is the recovery strategy across the jurisdictions where assets sit, coordinating any award or foreign proceeding with action in the relevant jurisdictions.

WHEN CLIENTS COME TO US

Common Belarus scenarios

CROSS-BORDER RECOVERY

You are pursuing assets connected to a Belarus principal held through structures elsewhere. We trace and coordinate enforcement where the assets sit.

ENFORCEMENT OF AN AWARD

You hold an award against a Belarus-connected party. We coordinate enforcement where recoverable assets are located.

LAYERED STRUCTURE TRACING

Assets routed through EU or offshore holdings. We combine tracing with parallel proceedings.

ILLUSTRATIVE MATTER

What a Belarus engagement looks like

A typical engagement begins when a client with a cross-border exposure involving Belarus needs more than a local filing — they need the Belarus element coordinated with proceedings, assets, or counterparties in other jurisdictions. We scope the matter, identify every forum and jurisdiction in play, and deliver a strategy memo with a procedural map and fee structure. One partner then owns the matter end to end, coordinating any local counsel and reporting in consolidated English updates, through to settlement, award, or judgment.

Illustrative of the type of matter we handle. Specific client facts, figures, and identities are withheld for confidentiality.

OUR APPROACH

How a Belarus matter is run

Matters in the region are coordinated through our CIS Region desk, which works in Russian and understands the layered holding structures — frequently routed through EU jurisdictions such as Cyprus and the Baltics — that internationally mobile principals from the region commonly use. We treat the local element as one node in a coordinated recovery map rather than a standalone proceeding.

SCOPING

Map the Belarus issues and any other jurisdictions involved

STRATEGY MEMO

Procedural map, merits, fees — within 5 business days

EXECUTION

CIS Region desk leads; local counsel coordinated by VLO

RESOLUTION

Settlement, award, or judgment — reported in English

Sofia Duarte

Matters in Belarus are coordinated through the CIS Region desk. For a matter routed to Sofia, use the main contact form — enquiries are routed by jurisdiction and practice area.

PARTNER · CIS REGION

SD

BELARUS DESK LEAD

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WHY VLO FOR BELARUS

What we bring to a Belarus matter

Belarus-connected recovery is a cross-border exercise depending on reaching assets in accessible jurisdictions. VLO's CIS Region desk combines Russian-language capacity with familiarity with the relevant holding structures, coordinating the whole map under one partner.
For creditors, this means a recovery strategy focused on where assets can actually be reached, with appropriate discretion.

PARTNER OWNERSHIP

One named partner owns your Belarus matter from first call to resolution.

Belarus is handled as part of the wider strategy, not as an isolated engagement.

CROSS-BORDER COORDINATION