We present results of an open multicentral prospective non-comparative clinical study on the efficacy and tolerability of depakine-chrono in patients with newly or recently diagnosed partial epilepsy (VIPe-1) that has been carried out in the Russian Federation. The study included 299 patients. It's duration was 6 months. Efficacy and tolerability of the drug used in mean dose 1479.0±448.7 mg/day were evaluated. After 6 month of treatment, 65.9% (95% CI 60.2 -71.2%) of patients were seizure-free. There was no significant difference in seizure-free rate in patients with different types of focal seizures. The improvement assessed with the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) was seen in 73.3% of patients. Adverse events (mild or moderate) were recorded in 8% of patients. The most common adverse events were weight gain in (1.7%), hair loss (1.7%) and gastrointestinal disorders (1.3%). A serious adverse event (thrombocytopenia) occurred only in one case (0.3%). The results confirmed the high efficacy and good tolerability of depakine-chrono as first line monotherapy in adult patients with partial epilepsy.