Aydin S. Jebrailov
Aydin, who joined Macleod Dixon’s Moscow practice in 1998, has acquired a wealth of experience practising law in his chosen fields of mining, energy and project finance. Prior to joining Macleod Dixon, Aydin worked as an associate with another internationally acclaimed law firm. Aydin has represented clients as lenders and borrowers in the financing of major mining projects. He has hands-on experience in leading transactions from a legal perspective covering all aspects of negotiating, structuring and financing subsoil operations in Russia. His legal expertise also includes assistance to clients on regulatory compliance issues such as land, environmental, technical standard and health and safety-related matters. Aydin’s clients extend beyond the borders of Russia, and he has overseen oil and gas legal assignments in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
In the energy sector, Aydin has advised on the acquisition of subsoil properties at auctions and tenders, direct and indirect acquisition and sale of interest in existing natural resource projects, net smelter royalty and profit sharing agreements, and advising parties on energy production sharing agreements. Clients seek Aydin’s assistance on providing title legal opinions on Russian subsoil licenses and the conversion of exploration licenses into production licenses. Aydin also has comprehensive experience in complex reorganizations and transfers of subsoil rights of potentially troubled companies to legally secure corporate entities. In addition, he has successfully obtained approvals on many occasions from subsoil authorities for amendments to licenses, and has successfully defended subsoil users from suspension or termination of their rights in administrative disputes and in Russian commercial courts. Recently, Aydin acted as lead lawyer on a notable transaction assisting the client in the sale of a hydrocarbon deposit with a current value in excess of US$1 billion. Another high profile transaction was the leading role he played in a large scale US$3.4 billion merger that made headlines in the world’s financial press.
Aydin is one of the most experienced and sought after legal professionals working in Moscow today. He is highly regarded by his peers for his advice on project structuring, investment strategies and handling the practical aspects of doing business in Russia. In 2007, he was recognized for his impressive track record in energy law in Russia by being included in the International Who’s Who list of preeminent oil and gas lawyers. Aydin has since 2003 been recognized by Who’s Who Legal as being one of the top two lawyers in Russia for mining.
Aydin has spoken at high profile mining conferences. In 2006 and 2007, he presented papers at the Adam Smith Precious Metals Summit, most recently a paper analyzing new legal challenges facing foreign investors in the exploration of hard minerals in Russia. He has also contributed numerous articles to industry specific publications on Russian subsoil legislation.
- Baku State University School of Law, Law Diploma
- Academy of Sciences (Moscow), Doctor of Philosophy
- Russian
- English
- Azeri
- Turkish
- Speaker, "What Proposed Amendments to Russian Subsoil Law May Bring to Subsoil Users", CERBA International Mining Conference, March 2008
- Co-Author, "Russian law on Production Sharing Agreements," Russian and Commonwealth Business Report, January 1998; East European Business Law, January 1998, London
- Author, "Project finance in mining industry: legal aspects of security transactions"; Materials of International Seminar "Metals Financing in Russia from the XXI century", October 30-31, 2000, Moscow
- Author, "Investors’ choice in Russia: National regime vis-à-vis Production Sharing Agreements regime," 6-th Annual Third Millenium Petroleum 2001, May 21-22, 2001, London
- Co-Author, "A right for defence: legal aspects of subsoil use in light of explanations of the Presidium of Higher Arbitration Court of Russian Federation", Oil & Gas Vertical, № 9 (58), May 2001, Moscow
- Speaker, "New developments in the Russian Subsoil law: a way to receive a production license" International Conference "Oil, gas and law", November 2001, Moscow
- Speaker, "How to Transfer Geological License into a Production License", 5th Annual Oil & Gas Conference, Euroforum, 26-27 February 2002, Moscow
- Speaker "Russian Subsoil Legislation on the Crossroads: Draft Subsoil Law and What It May Bring to Subsoil Community", Conference of the International Bar Association, September 2005, Prague
- International Who’s Who Legal, Mining Lawyers, 2008
- International Who’s Who Legal, Business Lawyers, 2008
- Chambers Global 2008 Band 1 ranking, Energy & Natural Resources
- International Who's Who of Oil and Gas Lawyers, 2007













