Kinstellar, Emerging Europe and Central Asia’s leading independent law firm, is pleased to announce the opening of a new office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Tashkent office will boost our reach across Central Asian markets, further enhancing our firm’s strength and reputation throughout the region.
Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s largest country and once an important commercial hub of the famous Silk Road, has experienced rapid changes making it increasingly attractive to foreign investment. Recent reforms are leading to investment opportunities that make the country a renewed 21st century regional player.
The team in Tashkent is comprised lawyers with a solid track record on the ground and will be coordinated by Joel Benjamin, the Managing Partner of Kinstellar’s Almaty office, who has been living and working in the region since the early 1990s. The core team will initially include Muborak Kambarova, as Counsel. Muborak previously was with the Tashkent office of a major international law firm and has more than 20 years of experience advising international clients investing in Uzbekistan. Soon, Mubarak will be joined by Akmaljon Abdisamatov, an experienced finance lawyer, who has spent most of his career as a senior counsel at the local subsidiary of a leading international bank.
We view Uzbekistan as a market for growth and are in the process of hiring additional lawyers and staff to further strengthen our Tashkent office. We are confident that with the current team under Joel’s leadership, Kinstellar will rapidly achieve a top-tier position in the market and enhance the regional appeal that the firm has already achieved.
Joel Benjamin, Managing Partner of Kinstellar’s Almaty office, has worked on various matters in Uzbekistan since 1996, which gives him a solid understanding of the market. He has extensive experience handling major mergers and acquisitions, banking, finance and capital markets transactions and regularly advises clients from various industries—including oil and gas, mining, banking, telecommunications and media — on a range of general corporate and business issues. Joel is recommended by Chambers Global, The Legal 500 and IFLR 1000.
He is admitted to practice law in California, holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Muborak Kambarova has 20 years of experience advising international clients investing in Uzbekistan, guiding them in matters of local law and business practice and assisting them in negotiations with government agencies and institutions. She enjoys a solid reputation among clients and peers and has extensive experience handling cross-border transactions and a wide variety of corporate matters including mergers and acquisitions. Her expertise covers banking and finance, as well as mining and the oil and gas sectors. Muborak has advised clients on the full investment cycle, from initial legal feasibility studies, project structuring, and negotiations to the drafting of commercial agreements and financing, licensing, permitting, and other regulatory matters. Her experience in the area of finance includes advising banks, multilateral lending agencies and corporations, in particular regarding asset finance, financial services regulation and compliance, project finance, restructurings, privatisation, securitisations and trade finance.
Before joining Kinstellar, Muborak was a counsel in the Tashkent office of an international law firm and previously worked for the Supreme Economic Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Muborak is listed as one of the country’s top lawyers by the leading legal international directories Chambers Global, Legal 500 and IFLR 1000.
Akmaljon Abdisamatov is an experienced banking and finance lawyer with ten years of experience. He has worked for the local subsidiary of a leading international bank and before that for a local Uzbek bank. His expertise covers a wide spectrum of finance issues including capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, lending, structured finance, financial supervision and regulation. Akmaljon holds an LL.M. degree in International and European Union law from Riga Graduate School of Law.
Joel Benjamin comments: ‘‘We are excited to open in Tashkent. There are tremendous investment opportunities in Uzbekistan, particularly given recent changes, which signal the opening of the country to foreign investment. We look forward to helping companies tap into the country’s potential. As one of the few international law firms in Uzbekistan, we are confident that our clients will benefit from our long-standing experience in Central Asia.’’
