Pavel Karpunin is a Partner at CLS. He heads the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Project Finance practice and supervises the Corporate practice.

Pavel has been practicing law for almost 30 years, 15 of which are at CLS. He passed all the stages of professional development in the firm from associate to partner. Under Pavel’s guidance, in 2008, the PPP and Project Finance practice emerged and became one of the strongest practices in Russia.

Pavel and his team represent investors, credit institutions and government authorities. He participated in large-scale projects for Russian and international companies from different sectors of the economy: road and transport infrastructure, airports and seaports, information technology, medicine, environment, production and logistics, financial sector, housing and utilities, sports and entertainment infrastructure.

Under Pavel’s guidance, first PPP projects involving multibillion-dollar private investments were implemented in Russia, namely, reconstruction of Pulkovo Airport and construction of the Western High-Speed Diameter in St. Petersburg.

Pavel actively extends his pioneering experience in PPP gained in St. Petersburg to other regions. PPP and Project Finance practice at CLS headed by Pavel provided support for projects in over 30 Russian regions.

Pavel has been recognized as a leading Russian associate specializing in public-private partnership. He is recommended by Russian and international professional ratings.

Pavel gives speeches at specialized events, writes articles and holds seminars in PPP. He gladly shares his expertise, is interested in the development of young professionals and is always open to dialogue.

Before joining CLS, Pavel was practicing as an attorney at law in the Inter-Republican Bar Association, and for over 5 years worked in the Federal Registration Service of the Russian Federation.

Legal practice areas:

• Project Finance and Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
• Corporate Law / M&A
• Contract Law
• Investment Project support
• Antitrust Law

Education:

• Moscow State University Law School (1995, graduated with highest honors)
• Russian Institute of State Registrars at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (2001)
• Academy of National Economy at the Government of the Russian Federation (2004, graduated with highest honors)

Languages:

• Russian
• English

Recent experience:

• Comprehensive legal support of a concession agreement on construction and operation of a bridge across the Chusovaya river in Perm Region on the side of the concessionaire;
• Comprehensive legal support of the St. Petersburg City Administration and Pulkovo Airport in the first successful project on developing infrastructure in Russia based on PPP;
• Legal support to the state authorities of the Khabarovsk Region on issues concerning the project on construction of a toll road, based on a concession agreement. Legal support at all stages of the project implementation, including drafting the tender documentation, organizing the tender, evaluation of bids and drafting the concession agreement, advice on issues concerning budget financing possibilities and schemes for implementing the project;
• Legal advice to the Federal Highway Agency of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation on issues concerning the project on construction of a bridge across the Lena river near Yakutsk of the Saha-Yakutiya Region, based on a concession agreement; 
• Legal support for a unique project – construction of the Western High-Speed Diameter in St. Petersburg;
• Comprehensive legal services related to implementing the project on creation of an electronic tickets fare system for public transport;
• Development of paid parking system in St. Petersburg and full-scale legal support to the potential concessioner. The project implies modernizing a paid parking system in St. Petersburg using the concession model.
• Legal support for the project on construction of a waste recycling facility in Levashovo based on a PPP agreement with the St. Petersburg City Administration;
• Legal support for the project on construction of a railway between Moscow and Kazan, which included working out legal models for project implementation, advising client on Russian PPP legislation, issues tied to the procedure for attracting foreign financing and possibility of state guarantees for project implementation, obtaining permits and licenses needed to build and operate the facility;
• Comprehensive legal support for the project on construction of the regional airport, including analysis of available PPP project models in order to determine the most suitable for the project, and drafting of the key project contract – the investment contract between regional authorities, the current airport operator and the private investor;
• Comprehensive legal support for the project on reconstruction of airfield facilities of Perm International Airport based on a concession agreement.
• Comprehensive legal support for the project on construction and operation of a bridge across the Ob river in Novosibirsk based on a concession agreement which implies recovery of the concessioner’s investment costs by means of a capital grant and concession grantor payment;
• Legal support for the project on construction of a light railway line St. Petersburg-Vsevolozhsk based on PPP;
• Legal support for the project on construction and operation of a polyclinic building and a radiotherapy unit in a leading health care center in St. Petersburg based on a concession agreement through a private concession initiative scheme.