April 2026 – Kinstellar is pleased to announce the promotions to Partner of Pavel Kornilov (Almaty), Yerlan Akhmetov (Almaty), Olga Šipka (Belgrade), Dominika Bajzáthová (Bratislava), Theodor Artenie (Bucharest), Maksym Tesliar (Kyiv), Mladen Minev (Sofia), and Svilen Issaev (Sofia), and to Counsel of Katarina }ivković (Belgrade), Lukáš Mrázik (Bratislava), Lidia Zarnescu (Bucharest), Razvan Constantinescu (Bucharest), Dániel Péter (Budapest), Adam Němec (Prague), and Radim Kotrba (Prague).
Partners
Pavel Kornilov, Astana/Almaty
Pavel is recognised as a top-tier lawyer with extensive experience in capital markets, debt finance, banking, and M&A matters. He advises clients on equity and debt capital markets transactions, a broad range of financing matters, and complex corporate transactions. Pavel also has significant expertise in structured products, liability management, synthetic securitisations, credit and equity derivatives, financial regulation, and corporate advisory matters. His practice combines strong technical capability with broad transactional experience across both domestic and cross-border mandates.
Pavel is regularly recognised in leading international directories. In the most recent edition of Chambers Asia, he is described as “a highly skilled” lawyer who is “precise, commercially minded, and very responsive, with strong expertise in cross-border corporate, financing and regulatory matters”.
Yerlan Akhmetov, Almaty
Yerlan focuses on banking and finance, M&A and capital markets matters. Having been with Kinstellar for ten years, Yerlan has earned a reputation for cultivating strong client relationships, demonstrating leadership qualities and making significant contributions to the local practice. He has also played a key role in advising on the establishment of banking and financial institutions, showcasing a deep understanding of complex regulatory frameworks and financial transactions.
Yerlan has been consistently recognised in legal directories as a leading lawyer for Banking & Finance matters in Kazakhstan.
Olga Šipka, Belgrade
Olga focuses on competition and antitrust, regulatory and compliance, and serves as the Co-head of both the firm-wide Competition & State Aid service line and Western Balkans Hub. Olga boasts significant, broad-based experience advising and representing leading Serbian and international companies on numerous competition, data protection, corporate, and regulatory projects covering Serbia and the Western Balkans. Her experience extends across a wide range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, insurance, banking, consumer goods, telecommunications, IT, and healthcare.
Olga is regularly recognised in legal directories. Most recently, she was recognised as a Next Generation Partner in Legal 500 EMEA, with clients highlighting that she is a “highly attentive and responsive” lawyer who “combines deep legal knowledge with a practical, solution-oriented mindset”. She was also singled out for her “ability to handle complex and high-value matters with precision”.
Dominika Bajzáthová, Bratislava
Dominika has more than 15 years of experience in M&A and corporate, real estate, and banking and finance. She advises clients on corporate structure changes, mergers, and spin-offs and has extensive experience in project financing—including loan arrangements, amendments, repayments, and the release of securities—as well as in banking regulatory matters. Her experience includes leading teams of lawyers involved in various buy-side insurance-related mandates (insurance companies, intermediaries, pension funds), as well as various real estate mandates.
Dominika is consistently recognised by legal directories as one of the leading lawyers in her field in Slovakia, with clients describing her as “truly deal-leading, business-savvy, pragmatic and client-focused” and noting that ‘’she gets things done quickly’’.
Theodor Artenie, Bucharest
Theodor is a Tax Advisor and Co-Head of the firm-wide Tax service line. He is a well-known and highly ranked tax professional who draws on extensive experience and expertise gained over the last 22 years in key management positions at reputable consulting firms in Romania. Theodor’s primary focus is VAT, having acquired deep knowledge of the subject in Romania and abroad throughout his career. He also assists clients in most areas of taxation in various sectors including IT&C, real estate, industrial products, FMCG, and automotive.
A recent client comment in The Legal 500 EMEA describes him as “a great explainer, focusing on the important and key aspects of the topic.” Clients also value his “excellent collaboration” and appreciate his ability to ‘’translate that knowledge into the business environment’’.
Maksym Tesliar, Kyiv
Maksym focuses on employment matters, military law, immigration, and other regulatory matters and is Head of the Employment and Labour Law service line in our Kyiv office. Maksymworks on complex employment reorganisations, relocation of business and personnel, mass layoffs, as well as market-entry solutions. His experience includes handling personnel crisis measures, resolving conflict terminations, and assisting clients with labour law audits, workforce restructuring, and other employment-related issues.
He has been recognised as a Leading Associate in Employment in the most recent edition of Legal 500 and is regularly recognised as a leading lawyer in his field.
Mladen Minev, Sofia
Mladen focuses on energy and natural resources and dispute resolution. He has more than 20 years of experience advising local and international clients, including in the energy sector, on the development of complex projects, spatial planning and construction, real estate investments, corporate and cross-border commercial matters, as well as energy regulatory, policy, and compliance issues. Mladen also represents companies in commercial, civil, and administrative litigation, as well as in domestic and international arbitration.
According to clients, he is a “true expert in the energy field” with “extensive expertise”, “meticulous attention to detail” and “strategic thinking”. He is also praised in legal directories for his “always very kind and sophisticated” approach.
Svilen Issaev, Sofia
Svilen is the Head of the Banking, Finance & Capital Markets service line in Sofia and the Co-Head of the firm-wide Restructuring & Insolvency service line. With over 20 years of experience, he advises major international and Bulgarian banking and financial institutions on transactional, regulatory, and compliance matters in Bulgaria. Svilen has led the Bulgarian team on numerous complex financing transactions, acting for both lenders and borrowers on cross-border and domestic financings and restructurings. His practice also covers licensing, insurance, investment structuring, debt restructuring, security enforcement, insolvency, and capital markets matters.
Leading international legal directories rank him as a leading lawyer for banking and finance in Bulgaria, with clients describing him as a “highly experienced and pragmatic” expert with “client-oriented approach”.
Counsels
Katarina }ivković, Belgrade
Katarina focuses on dispute resolution and arbitration. She has significant experience advising domestic and international clients on case strategy and representing them before courts and other authorities across a wide range of disputes. Her practice covers commercial and investment arbitration, as well as complex litigation, including high-profile disputes for major multinational and domestic companies. Katarina also has substantial experience in construction and real estate disputes, as well as contractual and commercial disputes. In addition, she advises leading domestic and international companies on GDPR and local data protection matters.
“Her approach is pragmatic, and she is responsive and calm under pressure,” according to a client quoted in a leading international directory. She is further characterised as a “reliable collaborator” with “profound knowledge”.
Lukáš Mrázik, Bratislava
Lukáš is the Co-Head of the firm-wide Technology sector and Data & Cybersecurity service line. He has over 12 years of experience advising clients in the technology, media and telecommunications, and life sciences and healthcare sectors, with a focus on digital regulation, data protection, intellectual property, and corporate matters. His recent experience includes advising global privacy teams on EU- wide AI implementation, incorporating cybersecurity in medical device design, guiding technology companies through strategic investor negotiations, and protecting a retail client’s brand assets in strategic disputes.
He is widely recognised by leading international directories in the field of technology, data, and cybersecurity.
Lidia Zărnescu, Bucharest
Lidia focuses on employment and labour law, social security, and dispute resolution. She serves as the Co-Head of the local Employment & Labour Law service line. Lidia has significant expertise and an established track record handling a wide spectrum of employment law issues, including TUPE, disciplinary procedures, dismissals, harassment, and whistleblowing issues. She has a Ph.D. in Labour and Social Security Law and currently holds the position of Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest. Lidia has led around 500 litigation cases, consistently delivering successful outcomes for employers in complex cases such as dismissals, harassment, and workplace accidents.
In a recent edition of Legal 500 EMEA, she was spotlighted for being “highly responsive”, with other adding: “The work product was flawless”.
Răzvan Constantinescu, Bucharest
Răzvan focuses on banking and finance, as well as a broad range of financial regulatory and capital markets matters. With several years of experience, he has played a central role in numerous significant transactions, including landmark financing mandates handled by our Bucharest office. He has also been a key contact for the Bucharest office’s project finance mandates. Răzvan has advised on cross-border financing and refinancing projects for both lenders and borrowers and has acted for leading banks, financial institutions, and international real estate companies in connection with their financing matters.
In recent legal directories, clients highlighted that he “stands out for his excellent responsiveness”, and “provides outstanding support” and that he is “highly responsive, professional, and dependable”.
Dániel Péter, Budapest
Dániel heads the local Employment & Labour Law service line and is Co-Head of the firm-wide Employment & Labour Law service line. He is highly regarded by clients and has over 14 years of experience advising on the full spectrum of employment matters, including hirings and terminations, employment aspects of M&A transactions, transfers of undertakings, internal restructurings, collective redundancies, trade union matters, and employee and management incentive schemes. Dániel also has broad experience in domestic and cross-border corporate transactions and reorganisations, commercial contracts, and general company law.
In the latest edition of Legal 500, he was recognised as a Next Generation Partner for Employment.
Adam Němec, Prague
Adam focuses on M&A, competition law, and FDI and regularly advises clients on complex domestic and cross-border transactions, joint ventures, and related regulatory matters. He also has experience with merger control and broader competition law issues and has been active in the FDI service line since its inception. During his time at Kinstellar, he completed two secondments with Linklaters, in Brussels and London, where he worked on merger clearance matters.
Adam is consistently ranked by international legal directories for his outstanding work in the fields of M&A and competition.
Radim Kotrba, Prague
Radim heads the local Dispute Resolution service line and is Co-Head of the firm-wide Dispute Resolution service line. He has significant trial experience across a broad range of areas and industries, with a focus on complex litigation and arbitration. His expertise includes high-stakes commercial disputes, damages claims, trademark litigation, and sophisticated debt enforcement strategies across sectors such as automotive and industrials, TMT, and financial institutions. Radim also has extensive experience in both domestic and international arbitration. In addition, he advises creditors, debtors, and insolvency trustees on complex insolvency matters, corporate restructurings, and bankruptcy strategy and represents clients in a wide range of administrative and regulatory proceedings.
He is described by clients in international legal directories as “experienced and efficient” and as someone who handles matters “with great care”.
Kristóf Ferenczi, Firm Managing Partner