Polina

I see opportunity in the gaps. I was a key leader in building and establishing the firm from the ground up by identifying a market niche for legal and compliance advisory services focused on ESG matters and developing the firm into a leading niche market advisory in the energy sector in Bolivia, followed by a strategical expansion to France with focus on finance matters.

I build client relationships that last by taking the time to understand client (mid-size to Global 500) needs and designed solutions from the General Counsel's perspective to assist with the initial incorporation of companies, reinforcing corporate governance processes, M&A transaction structuring and JV formation.

I partnered with clients to assist them in making and executing key decisions amidst ambiguity: I broke down the details and manufactured building blocks for the clients to develop and implement sound strategies to achieve financial planning and operational performance goals under volatile and hostile economic conditions in South America.

With a keen analytical mindset, I bridged the gap between data analysis and business perspective: I provided detailed market entry advice for the energy sector to mid-size to Global 500 companies covering regulatory guidance, licensing, and followed by drafting, conducting a strategic and legal risk analysis and negotiating various types of commercial agreements.

Throughout my career, I've always had a pioneering spirit: after getting Exec. MBA from HEC Paris I have expanded the firm's practice into assisting early-stage companies and start-ups by acting as an advisor to founder/CEO in solving complex issues relating to growth strategy development, valuation, investment and fundraising.

▧▧▧▧▧▧▧▧▧▧

The ESPCS is a niche market firm providing integrated legal, technical, financial and risk management advice to clients seeking better management and expansion of their operations.

I was born with an unquenchable curiosity and feel compelled to participate in a continuous cycle of inquiry and learning. During Exec. MBA at HEC Paris I delivered a Capstone project from a perspective of a Transformation Strategy Advisor: architecting internal strategical transformation for a medium-size law firm’s operation to leverage individual partner’s experience in GDPR and data protection and present client-centric service offering from firm’s standpoint, contributing to overall firm’s growth.

To grow, you must stay outside your comfort zone. I moved to Bolivia lured by the energy sector opening to investment after years of stagnation. One of my most impactful projects in this role was advising a sell-side (forced nationalisation of several energy assets) from an early stage in the M&A lifecycle (divestment viability, strategy, comprehensive commercial and operational due diligence, assessment of regulatory compliance and red flag risks) to post-deal separation planning, implementation and transaction closing.

As an analytical and results-driven Senior Legal Counsel, I successfully drove profits, expanded the services portfolio of the energy practice exponentially and focused on strengthening relationships with clients. I accomplished this by being relentless in delivering solid financial objectives, even though the country and language were new to me, with foreign laws and a sophomoric ambiguous legal system.

Leveraging a depth and breadth of experience as a former in-house counsel, I brought an insider’s view of clients’ key legal concerns and what they want and expect from their outside counsel. These insights helped me advise international clients (mid-size to Fortune 500) on a structure of corporate entities suitable for the investment, corporate governance, operating licenses, financial regulations, transactional risks coupled with mitigating commercial and practical workarounds.

Gap analysis and due diligence are imperative drivers in the investment and operational decision making of C-level executives. By exploiting my technical savvy, I accelerated the performance of legal and operational due diligence and identified operational and legal compliance gaps of several Fortune 500 clients.

▧▧▧▧▧▧▧▧▧▧

The BRD&A is a mid-size law firm focused on rendering a full range of legal services in the principal areas of corporate affairs, energy investment projects, administrative and regulatory practice as well as arbitration and litigation.

o Assessed legal and commercial risks and negotiated contracts with turnkey companies for oil & gas field production development projects (1- 7 bil. USD)
o Developed standard call for tender documentation covering contractual and commercial requirements for global multibillion oil & gas field development projects
o Developed contract and procurement compliance audit methodology that reduced audit time by 20% and created quantifiable performance metrics and frameworks for management and reporting
o Designed and directed short, medium- and long-term strategic plans to improve the performance of ICCS Category
o Directed legal and commercial operational matters pertaining to the business relationship between EP’s subsidiaries and ICSS companies. Translated HQ’s strategic themes into specific prioritised projects and workstreams, KPIs, risk management regime and schedule for negotiation of global FRAME

o Conducted commercial evaluations of investment opportunities for a range of oil/gas field development projects in the Asia-Pacific region (500k – 10 bil. USD)
o Led benchmarking studies assessing market trends and project’s commercial risks
o Developed commercial and operational risk mitigating strategies to manage costs and relationships with contractors
o Developed and implemented a standardised methodology evaluating Total EP’s assets’ present-day worth and risks exposure. Managed team of 9 conducting asset valuations and risk assessments

o Conducted back-to-back contractual and commercial negotiations with 4 turnkey tenderers (4 bil. USD contract) on a tight schedule – 96% of contractual qualifications closed during the negotiation phase
o Presented commercial and legal evaluation of the turnkey tenders and preferred bidder recommendation to the tender committee
o Provided legal opinion and prepared responses to the contractual clarifications sought by turnkey tenderers
o Moderated engineering studies (7 disciplines, 50 engineers) while based at Technip’s offices (during the call for tender stage) to ensure compliance with Total’s technical standards and contractual requirements

o Defined comprehensive coordination protocol with the operations team for HSE compliance and ensuring no unscheduled shutdowns of the existing facilities (offshore integration phase)
o Resolved unexpected personnel shortage by taking on the additional responsibility of commissioning activities of various mechanical equipment (offshore integration phase)
o Designed and managed work permit system warranting smooth project integration with no disturbances to the operations of existing offshore facilities
o Supervised a team of 3 inspectors during the construction phase
o Prepared, negotiated and managed maintenance and inspection contract with a Malaysian sub-contractor (250k USD)