Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov

What Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov does

Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov (DGKV) is a full-service business law firm headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a second office in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1994 by Georgi Gouginski and joined by co-founders Marius Velichkov and Stephan Kyutchukov in 1996, the firm was formally registered as a limited liability partnership in 2006 and is managed today by Managing Partners Nikolai Gouginski and Zdravka Ugrinova. The firm lists approximately sixty lawyers on its homepage, spanning founders, partners, counsel, senior associates, and associates, with bar admission years ranging from 1994 to 2025. DGKV operates across 26 practice areas and 24 industry sectors — including Banking & Finance, M&A, Competition & Antitrust, Real Estate & Construction, Energy & Utilities, Intellectual Property, Privacy & Data Protection, ESG & Sustainability, Employment & Mobility, Dispute Resolution, Tax, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and TMT — and serves multinational corporates, financial institutions, real estate developers, energy companies, pharmaceutical and life sciences firms, governments, and private equity sponsors active in Bulgaria and the wider CEE region.

The firm derives revenue from legal advisory services via per-matter fee arrangements, including hourly fees for general advisory work, fixed fees for defined mandates such as due diligence and transaction completion, and success or conditional fees on landmark litigation and arbitration matters. Its client base features marquee international names — EBRD, EIG, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Citi, BNP Paribas, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Equinix, Digital Realty, Booking.com, NEPI Rockcastle, AES, CEZ, OMV, Renalfa IPP, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Bayer, HBO, Netflix, Disney, Telenor, Deutsche Telekom, Purcari, Carlsberg — alongside Bulgarian state and EU institutional clients. Recent mandates disclosed in the input include a EUR 210 million Hungarian solar-plus-storage financing (2026), a EUR 315 million HoldCo financing for Renalfa IPP (2024-2025), a EUR 420 million multi-tranche acquisition loan to Benefit Systems advised for Santander and BGK, and the EUR 500 million Eurohold ICSID arbitration against the Government of Romania.

DGKV has no proprietary technology product; its competitive position rests on talent (including dual-qualified partners admitted in both Bulgaria and New York or as European Trade Mark Attorneys), sustained directory recognition (top-tier rankings in Chambers Europe across 10 practice areas, Legal 500 EMEA Top-Tier, IFLR 1000, and IP Stars since at least 2021), and deep institutional relationships with Bulgarian regulators and courts — most recently evidenced by instructions in Case C-310/2024 before the Court of Justice of the EU and partner Omourtag Petkov's founding and co-chairing of the AmCham Bulgaria Rule of Law and Legislative Reform Committee. The firm is a member of TerraLex and INSOL Europe, embedding it in two cross-border legal referral networks, and has expanded into Germany via its Berlin office. DGKV does not publicly disclose revenue and is privately held by its partners with no institutional investors or parent company.

Name

Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov

Legal name

Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov Law Firm

Website

https://dgkv.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

DGKV is a top-tier full-service business law firm headquartered in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a Berlin office, advising multinational corporates, financial institutions, and CEE-focused investors on cross-border M&A, banking and finance, dispute resolution, energy, and regulatory mandates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sofia

HQ country

Bulgaria

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Advisory Services: DGKV generates revenue through billing for legal advisory services across its practice areas. Fee structures include hourly rates for general advisory, fixed fees for defined matters (e.g., due diligence, transaction completion), and success/conditional fees on landmark litigation and arbitration matters. The firm also advises on high-value transactions (e.g., EUR 210 million financing, EUR 252.9 million M&A) where fees are typically structured as fixed transaction-based retainers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DGKV is a full-service Bulgarian business law firm providing legal advisory services across 26 practice areas including Banking & Finance, M&A, Competition & Antitrust, Real Estate & Construction, Energy & Utilities, Intellectual Property, Privacy & Data Protection, ESG & Sustainability, Employment & Mobility, Dispute Resolution, Tax, and Healthcare & Life Sciences. The firm serves multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector clients from its Sofia headquarters and Berlin office, with a partner-led engagement model focused on cross-border transactions and high-stakes matters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Banking & Finance Legal Services Legal advisory on project finance, syndicated lending, acquisition finance, capital markets, regulatory matters, and restructuring for banks, multilateral institutions, and corporate borrowers in Bulgaria and the CEE region.
• Corporate & M&A Legal Services Advisory on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity transactions, corporate restructurings, and commercial contracts for multinational corporates, financial investors, and Bulgarian companies.
• Competition & Antitrust Legal Services Advisory on merger control filings, antitrust investigations, dawn raid response, abuse of dominance proceedings, and competition litigation before the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition and EU courts.
• Real Estate & Construction Legal Services Legal advisory on real estate acquisitions, greenfield investments, construction contracts, leasing, development financing, zoning, permitting, and title verification for residential, commercial, industrial, and hospitality developers.
• Dispute Resolution & Arbitration Legal Services Representation in commercial disputes, international arbitration, insolvency proceedings, cyber fraud matters, ICSID investment arbitration, and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards before Bulgarian courts and international tribunals.
• Energy & Utilities Legal Services Advisory on energy regulatory compliance, licensing, concessions, power purchase agreements, renewable energy project financing, oil and gas matters, and electricity billing regulations before the Court of Justice of the EU.
• Intellectual Property Legal Services Trademark protection and enforcement, patent and design prosecution, IP litigation, oppositions, anti-counterfeiting, and copyright advisory for international brand owners and technology companies.
• Employment & Mobility Legal Services Advisory on employment contracts, executive compensation, workplace policies, collective redundancies, labor disputes, immigration and global mobility matters for international and domestic employers.
• TMT Legal Services Advisory on telecommunications regulation, media and broadcasting law, data protection, cybersecurity, AI regulation, digital services, and technology M&A transactions.
• Healthcare & Life Sciences Legal Services Advisory on pharmaceutical regulation, clinical trial compliance, IP protection, distribution agreements, product approvals, pricing and reimbursement, and healthcare M&A for pharma and life sciences companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• EUR 210 million financing for 450 MWp solar + 250 MW / 1,000 MWh BESS project in Hungary, with cross-border structure spanning Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, and the UK
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers66 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• AmCham Bulgaria – Rule of Law and Legislative Reform CommitteecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 June 2026DGKV Partner Omourtag Petkov is founder and Co-Chair of the AmCham Bulgaria Rule of Law and Legislative Reform Committee. DGKV hosted the Committee's latest meeting at its Sofia offices, contributing to legislative reform dialogue in Bulgaria.
• TerraLexcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDGKV is a member of TerraLex, a global network of law firms providing coordinated cross-border legal services. DGKV contributed the Bulgaria chapter to the TerraLex ESG & Sustainable Finance Guide, collaborating with international counterparts on sustainable finance legal analysis.
• INSOL EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDGKV is a member of INSOL Europe, an organization of over 1,250 professionals across 50 countries specializing in insolvency and business reconstruction and recovery. Membership enables DGKV to provide cross-border insolvency advice drawing on a European network of practitioners.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CMS: Top-10 global law firm with a substantial CEE presence across 6+ regional offices including Sofia. Competes with DGKV for large cross-border transactions and provides one-stop-shop coverage that can displace local firms from lead counsel roles on multi-jurisdictional deals.
• Schoenherr: Austria-headquartered full-service law firm with one of the largest CEE footprints (14+ offices across the region). Competes with DGKV for cross-border mandates where Bulgarian law is involved, and regularly coordinates with or displaces local firms on CEE-wide transactions.
• Kinstellar: CEE-focused law firm with offices in Sofia and 10 other regional jurisdictions, advising on M&A, banking & finance, and energy transactions. A direct competitor in Bulgaria with similar client roster (multinational corporates, financial institutions) and practice area coverage.
• Wolf Theiss: Austrian-headquartered law firm with 13 CEE offices and strong banking/finance and M&A practices. A direct competitor for cross-border CEE mandates involving Bulgaria, frequently appearing in the same Chambers Europe and IFLR 1000 league tables as DGKV.

Direct peers

• Boyanov & Co: Bulgarian full-service business law firm founded in 1990, headquartered in Sofia, with comparable practice areas (M&A, banking & finance, dispute resolution) and similar cross-border deal flow. Directly competes for the same multinational and financial institution mandates in the Bulgarian market.
• Penkov, Markov & Partners: One of Bulgaria's largest full-service law firms with deep banking & finance and corporate practices, often cited alongside DGKV in Chambers Europe and Legal 500 rankings. Competes head-to-head for top-tier Bulgarian mandates and multinational client relationships.

Others

• Clifford Chance: Magic Circle global law firm that often acts as lead international counsel on cross-border CEE deals where DGKV plays local-counsel role (e.g., EUR 420M Benefit Systems financing). Represents both a partner for referrals and a competitor for lead counsel mandates.
• Linklaters: Magic Circle law firm frequently engaged on multi-jurisdictional CEE M&A and financing transactions alongside local counsel. Competes with DGKV for high-end cross-border mandates and serves as both a referral partner and competitor for lead counsel roles.

Emerging players

• Bulgaria-based boutique firms (e.g., Georgiev & Petrov, Hristoff & Partners): Smaller Bulgarian law firms with narrower practice specializations competing for mid-market corporate and litigation mandates. They lack DGKV's directory rankings and cross-border transaction track record but compete on price for less complex matters.

Regional players

• Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii: Leading Romanian full-service law firm with comparable profile — top-tier Chambers Europe and Legal 500 rankings, major multinational clients, and similar practice areas. Comparable in scale and positioning but operating in a different (adjacent) CEE jurisdiction rather than directly competing in Bulgaria.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/DGKVLAWFIRM
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dgkv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov