Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, has strengthened its Energy practice in Russia and CIS with the recruitment of partner Louis Skyner.

He joins from Clifford Chance, where as Head of the Russia and CIS Oil and Gas practice, he advised major energy players such as Lukoil, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Shell, and Mubadala Petroleum. Prior to that, he served as Leading Legal Counsel at Statoil and as Senior Legal Counsel at Petroleum Geo-Services.

“I am excited to be joining Dentons, which I see as a great fit for my practice at this point in my career,” said Louis Skyner. “Not only does Dentons have a very well respected full service Energy practice, but it also has best coverage of CIS and Central Asia of any global law firm. This will be very attractive to my clients, many of which have operations across the region.”

Skyner is an English-qualified solicitor with 12 years’ experience in the energy sector, including upstream and midstream oil and gas, liquefied natural gas, solar, hydro and bio-fuel. He advises energy clients across a broad range of legal issues, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, project development, structuring and financing. He is also experienced in energy regulatory matters and has served as a legal adviser to the Russian government in areas of public policy.

Arkadiusz Krasnodębski, Head of the Europe Energy practice, commented, “With his extensive experience in project structuring and financing, Louis will make an excellent addition to our Energy practice. He also brings unique insight into the needs of energy clients, having served as legal counsel for two major oil and gas companies.”

Florian Schneider, Russia Managing Partner, commented, “Louis brings more than a decade of experience in Russia and CIS and an extensive client portfolio, including many of the top energy companies in the region. We are delighted to welcome him onboard.”

Dentons’ Energy practice includes more than 1000 energy lawyers globally and more than 140 in Europe. In addition to the recruitment of Louis Skyner, the firm also recently bolstered its Energy practice in CIS with the opening of a new office in Tbilisi, Georgia.

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