Russia and Ukraine
Skadden has a history of representing clients with ties to the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia, such as Alfa Bank, Roman Abramovich, and to Viktor F. Yanukovych's pro-Russian regime in Ukraine. In 2020, the firm paid a $4.6 million settlement for misleading U.S. authorities regarding its lobbying on behalf of a Russia-aligned Ukrainian government.
In 2012, Skadden took as a client Viktor F. Yanukovych, who was a pro-Russian president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. Paul Manafort helped arrange for the hiring of Skadden.[31] One of company's actions on Yanukovych's behalf was to produce a report justifying Yanukovych's imprisonment of former prime minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko (who was pro-European) and denying that the action had been a political prosecution, although many Western countries characterized it as such. Later that year, a team of American lawyers commissioned by the government of Ukraine concluded that Tymoshenko's trial had not been fair and her rights had been violated.[32]
After Yanukovych lost power in Euromaidan and fled to Russia, Skadden's work on his behalf led to several federal investigations. One Skadden attorney, Alex van der Zwaan, was convicted of lying to the FBI about his work on Yanukovych's behalf and served 30 days in jail.[33][34] In 2019, Skadden lawyer Gregory B. Craig was indicted on charges of lying to federal prosecutors about the work he did at Skadden on behalf of the Yanukovych, but was acquitted in a jury trial.[35]
Tymoshenko made plans to sue Skadden, and in May 2020 it was revealed that Skadden had paid at least $11 million to settle the case before a lawsuit could be filed.[36]
Skadden, along with Mercury Public Affairs and the Podesta Group, was investigated by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) for possible lobbying violations regarding former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.[37] In 2019, Skadden agreed to pay a $4.6 million settlement to the Department of Justice over the firm's failure to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registrations Act.[38]
Skadden has been involved in representing Russian groups in corporate deals worth around $90 billion.[39] Skadden has represented Alfa Bank, a Russian bank closely associated with Russian oligarchs and the Vladimir Putin regime.[40][41] After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and amid heavy sanctions against Alfa Bank, Skadden said it was "in the process of ending our representations of Alfa Bank."[40] Skadden has a long-standing relationship with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich – Skadden refused to say whether it still represented him in 2022.[40][39]
