Asters has successfully advised FC Shakhtar Donetsk in connection with its participation in the top European football competitions, the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. This season, Shakhtar played its home matches in Hamburg, Germany, invited there by Hamburger SV, one of the country's oldest clubs.
Asters tax team helped to structure and develop a financial agreement between Shakhtar and Hamburger in respect of the matches. We advised how to properly allocate the tax costs between the parties and prevent international double taxation and helped with the proper structuring of legal framework for the matches. As a result, each party paid its fair share of taxes to the relevant government, in accordance with Ukrainian and German tax laws. Asters advised in co-operation with a German counsel Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek.
Shakhtar, one of the most successful Ukrainian football clubs, has been operating as a refugee club since 2014, when Russia occupied Donetsk. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 brought a number of challenges for the club. It lost its infrastructure and almost half of its players, who were foreign legionnaires. Some of these players terminated their contracts as free agents in accordance with FIFA authorisation, causing the club significant financial losses.
The partnership with Hamburger SV was a lifeline for Shakhtar to continue playing in the Champions/Europa League and generate revenue to maintain its operations. Participation in top-level European competitions also maintain the visibility of the club's brand on a global stage, attracts fans and sponsors.
Asters’ Tax team advising on the project consisted of Partner Constantin Solyar and Senior Associate Yurii Dmytrenko.