Sayenko Kharenko significantly strengthens its export control and defence procurement practice as Serhii Riabov joins the firm
Sayenko Kharenko significantly strengthens its export control and defence procurement expertise as Serhii Riabov joins the firm
Sayenko Kharenko is pleased to announce that Serhii Riabov has joined the firm as Special Adviser, Defence and Export Control. Serhii brings expertise that few on the market can match: for over 20 years, he helped shape Ukraine’s state export control system from within.
Serhii spent much of his career at the State Service of Export Control of Ukraine (SSECU), where he rose from a leading specialist to Head of the Enforcement and Stakeholder Relations Directorate and is today one of the field’s foremost experts. He was responsible for the legal review of authorisation documents, risk analysis of the illicit transfer of military and dual-use goods, and the coordination of enforcement investigations. Serhii oversaw the Service’s engagement with its Public Council and the operation of its hotline, and conducted audits of companies’ internal compliance programmes (ICP).
Serhii was among the co-authors of four Cabinet of Ministers resolutions that, in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion, streamlined the import of goods for Ukraine’s defence forces and for the production of weapons and military equipment. He also served on the working group drafting legislation on state control over international transfers of strategic goods – legislation designed to harmonise Ukrainian law with the relevant EU regulations.
In early 2026, Serhii completed a train-the-trainer programme in export control under the EU Partner-to-Partner (P2P) Export Control Programme, implemented by Germany’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA), earning certified trainer status in the field. He has already put this into practice: during an educational programme for industry launched this year by the SSECU with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program. This enables the firm to help clients’ teams build their own export control systems and to reinforce that knowledge with hands-on skills.
“The defence market and trade in military and dual-use goods are now among the most dynamic areas for Ukrainian business, and clients need systemic rather than fragmented expertise. Serhii is a rare generalist in a field of narrow specialists: he understands the system from the regulator’s perspective and can guide a company through the entire process – from product identification to entering international markets,” said Nazar Chernyavsky, partner at Sayenko Kharenko.
Serhii Riabov commented: “Earlier in my career I helped bring the first Ukrainian private manufacturers to international markets; today they are prominent players in the industry. I then decided to change the system from within. Obtaining a licence is not the hardest part – many can help with that. What is harder, and more valuable, is building the strategy and structure that make market entry predictable and allow a company to operate abroad with confidence, fully within the law.”
Serhii Riabov’s experience further strengthens the Sayenko Kharenko team’s ability to provide comprehensive advice on export control, defence procurement, compliance in international transfers of military and dual-use goods, and the design of internal compliance programmes.
