Hammonds has entered into a joint venture with the leading Moscow based law firm Zhigachov & Christophoroff with the establishment of a company in Moscow under the name of Hammonds Zhigachov Christophoroff which started trading in May 2003.

Founded in 1993, Zhigachov & Christophoroff has lawyers and tax advisers based at its offices in Moscow and St Petersburg. Led by partners Igor Zhigachov and Alexander Christophoroff, the firm has been particularly noted for its strong Corporate, Banking, Tax and Intellectual Property practices. Hammonds Zhigachov Christophoroff aims to build on that strong reputation in combining it with the European wide integrated presence of Hammonds offices.

Hammonds has developed a strong reputation in Russia through the work of a specialist team of international trade lawyers based in our Brussels office. The team has acted for many of Russia's leading industrial firms on EU anti-dumping investigations, customs and technical/environmental protection standards. Independently Hammonds has already advised the Russian Government in relation to its accession to the WTO. The firm has also just been jointly appointed by the European Commission and Russian Government to advise Russia on alterations to its trade laws and policies and upon the drafting and implementation of new legislation in preparation for WTO accession. This in turn required an office presence in Moscow, staffed by Hammonds international trade lawyers.