Mariya Nizhnik Re-joins Aequo as Partner, Head of Antitrust & Competition

Mariya Nizhnik, one of Aequo’s founding partners, has returned to the firm as a partner to head up its Antitrust and Competition practice from December 1, 2020, following four years of service at the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU).

In 2015 Mariya was appointed as the First Deputy Chair of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

In her role at the AMCU, Mariya focused on improving the efficiency of competition regulations and enforcement mechanisms to make the Ukrainian market more competitive.

Mariya drove all the major reforms in this sector between 2015-2019, including the introduction of a state aid system in Ukraine, developing standards of proof in antitrust investigations, and assessments in merger control proceedings.

Mariya was a member of Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade of Ukraine (ICIT).

Denis Lysenko, Aequo’s managing partner, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Mariya once again as our partner. She is an outstanding antitrust and competition expert with an excellent track record in the market. I strongly believe that her depth of experience will provide invaluable insights to Aequo’s clients and further strengthen Aequo’s antitrust and competition team.”

“I’m thrilled to re-join the partnership at Aequo, a firm with strong leadership and innovation culture. I am looking forward to working alongside talented professionals on ambitious projects”, said Mariya Nizhnik.

Mariya is a well-renowned expert in the area of antitrust and competition law, with extensive experience at leading Ukrainian law firms advising national and international clients on competition and international trade matters.

She has primarily focused on antitrust investigations (abuse of dominance and cartel cases, in particular on anticompetitive distribution arrangements, price fixing, market allocations, exclusionary behaviour), and other competition matters, including merger control and state aid.

Mariya has deep knowledge of EU competition law, which allows her to work effectively with multinational clients.

Mariya graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (LLM), and King’s College London (PG Diploma - EU Competition Law).