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Borys Dackiw

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Borys Dackiw has been a partner of Baker McKenzie since 1995. In 2008 Mr. Dackiw was appointed managing partner of the Gulf offices (including Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Bahrain), coordinating the opening of the Abu Dhabi and Doha offices and the merger in the UAE with Habib Al Mulla in July 2013. Mr. Dackiw is head of the Compliance practice in the Gulf and also advises on mergers & acquisitions (including privatizations), private equity and general corporate and commercial law. Borys regularly advises clients across various industries on their compliance and anti-bribery policies and programs and has participated in whistleblower interviews relating to allegations of bribery and other bribery-related investigations. He also works with in house legal teams of multi-national clients to deliver tailored trainings on anti-corruption issues, including legal developments and enforcement trends in the UAE. Prior to this appointment Borys, held the position of managing partner in the Prague (Czech Republic) and Kyiv (Ukraine) offices of Baker McKenzie.

On 5 January 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, along with Egypt, signed the “Al-Ula Declaration” at the 41st GCC Summit held in the city of Al-Ula. This marks the end of a three and a half year boycott against the State of Qatar, which was put in place in June 2017, paving the way for the re-establishment of political and economic ties with Qatar.

On April 8, 2021, the US Treasury Department published an updated List of Countries Requiring Cooperation With An International Boycott (the “Treasury List”). Significantly, Treasury announced that it had removed the UAE from the Treasury List following the UAE’s repeal of its law requiring participation with the Arab League Boycott of Israel and subsequent implementation of the new policy.

Signing of the “Al-Ula Declaration” ending trade and other restrictions against Qatar

As reported in our previous client update, on 5 January 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, along with Egypt, signed the “Al-Ula Declaration” at the 41st GCC Summit held in the city of Al-Ula. This marks the end of a three-and-a-half-year boycott against the State of Qatar, which was put in place in June 2017. Although the formal text of the “Al-Ula Declaration” has not been made public, it is clear from public statements made by senior Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, Bahraini and Kuwaiti officials that the instrument paves the way for the reestablishment of political and economic ties between Qatar and the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt (the Quartet).

On 5 January 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, along with Egypt, signed the “Al-Ula Declaration” at the 41st GCC Summit held in the city of Al-Ula, paving the way for the re-establishment of political and economic ties with the State of Qatar. This marks the end of a three-year dispute which began on 5 June 2017, and reinforces the commitment of the GCC member states to the political and economic stability of the region.

On 29 August 2020, the United Arab Emirates (“UAE“) Government’s Emirates New Agency (Wakalat Anba’a al Emarat, or ‘WAM’) publicly announced that H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, issued Federal Decree Law No. 4 of 2020, abolishing Federal Decree Law No. 15 of 1972 Concerning the Arab League Boycott of Israel (the “UAE Israeli Boycott Law“) (the “UAE Israeli Boycott Repeal Law“).  The UAE Israeli Boycott Repeal Law follows the announcement of the historic peace agreement between the UAE and Israel (known as the “UAE-Israel Abraham Accords” – Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization between the UAE and the State of Israel) on 13 August 2020 issued jointly by H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Officially signed on 15 September 2020 , the UAE-Israel Abraham Accords (available in full here) outlines a number of areas of intended cooperation, and the establishment of full diplomatic ties in exchange for Israel’s suspension of further annexation of Palestinian territories, between the two states under Article 5 and supplemented in its Annex.  This includes: (1) finance and investment; (2) civil aviation; (3) visas and consular services; (4) innovation, trade and economic relations; (5) healthcare; (6) science, technology and peaceful uses of outer-space; (7) tourism, culture and sport; (8) energy; (9) environment; (10) education; (11) maritime arrangements; (12) telecommunications and post; (13) agriculture and food security; (14) water; and (15) legal cooperation.

In brief On 29 August 2020, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Government’s Emirates New Agency (Wakalat Anba’a al Emarat, or ‘WAM’) publicly announced that H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, issued Federal Decree Law No. 4 of 2020 (the UAE Israeli Boycott Repeal Law), abolishing Federal Decree Law…

On 29 August 2020, the UAE Government’s Emirates New Agency (Wakalat Anba’a al Emarat, or ‘WAM’) publicly announced that H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), issued Federal Decree Law No. 4 of 2020 (the UAE Israeli Boycott Repeal Law), abolishing Federal Decree Law No. 15 of 1972 Concerning the Arab League Boycott of Israel (the Israel Boycott Law). The UAE Israeli Boycott Repeal Law follows the announcement of the historic peace agreement between the UAE and Israel (also known as the UAE-Israel Abraham Accord) on 13 August 2020, issued jointly by H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under the UAE-Israel Abraham Accord, the two states agreed to establish full diplomatic relations in exchange for Israel’s suspension of further annexation of Palestinian territories.

On 15 July 2020, the U.S. and Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”)-led Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (“TFTC”) designated six targets affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (“ISIS”), including an entity allegedly posing as a charity (and its director) based in Afghanistan that allegedly provided support to ISIS’ branch…

On 15 July 2020, the U.S. and Gulf Cooperation Council (“GCC”)-led Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (“TFTC”) designated six targets affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (“ISIS”), including an entity allegedly posing as a charity (and its director) based in Afghanistan that allegedly provided support to ISIS’ branch…