From 1 January 2021, foreign nationals will be able* to enter Russia with electronic visas at border control posts to be specified by the Russian government in a separate document.

On 14 July 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine ”On State Regulation of Activities Related to the Organization and Conduct of Gambling”.

The European Court of Justice's judgment in Schrems II case published on 16 July, 2020 founded the Privacy Shield Decision invalid. The judgement also stated that the Commission Decision on Standard Contractual Clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries remain valid.

On 30 July 2020, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted a decision on direct payments and fiscal benefits for economic entities in private sector, with a view to mitigate economic consequences of COVID-19.

On June 9, 2020, almost 3 years after the start of the public discussions procedure, the new Food Act (the “Act”) was promulgated in the State Gazette, issue no. № 52. It repeals the old law, in force since 1999, and aims to harmonize Bulgarian legislation with European legislation, introducing new concepts, new registration obligations and higher sanctions. In the text below you will find some of the more important legislative changes.

The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic recently issued an interesting decision concerning the employment of a managing director and an accident at work. It should be noted that this decision does not relate to a long-term problem with the concurrence of functions, i.e. the (im)possibility of performing the function of a managing director in an employment relationship, but reflects a situation where the managing director performs non-parallel work, i.e. work outside the function of a statutory body.

The primary legislation governing insolvency and restructuring proceedings is Law 85/2014 on preventing insolvency and insolvency proceedings (the ”Insolvency Law”).

The new Montenegrin Companies Act ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", no. 65/20) [Zakon o privrednim drustvima] ("Companies Act"), which entered into force on 11 July 2020, is an innovative and thoroughgoing codification of Montenegrin Corporate Law. The legislator opted for a comprehensive legal instrument which, compared to the previous law, contains more detailed and exhaustive rules determining the establishment, management, restructuring, termination and functioning of business entities.

The amendments to the state aid schemes governed by G.D. 807/2014 on investment in assets and by G.D. 332/2014 on creation of workplaces that were proposed on 17 July 2020 by the Romanian Ministry of Public Finances (MoF) have just become enforceable.

On 16 July 2020, Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) has rendered a landmark decision declaring the Decision 2016/1250 of the European Commission on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield (“Privacy Shield Framework”) invalid with the immediate effect. This decision has caused a major shift in the way in which personal data may be transferred to the United States of America. However, the scope of the decision is far broader and includes far more restrictions than it may appear at first glance.

The Hungarian Parliament passed a new act on 14 July 2020 to regulate the short-term housing market (Airbnb services). The new legislation delegates a regulating tool to the local municipalities, so that they can decide on the conditions (especially the maximum renting period), under which a flat can be rented for short term. The new law only gives a regulatory framework for the local municipalities and the Hungarian Government; specific rules are yet unknown as they have to be made from 1 August 2020. According to press releases, some of the mayors are planning to maximize the number of days for Airbnb and other similar services and would prescribe that at least half of these “allowed” days should fall between June and August.

Amendments* to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation regarding severance pay will come into force on 13 August 2020.

The European Green Deal is a new growth strategy invented to reshape the EU economy. In the eyes of the European Commission, its scale exceed even post-war transformation in the West and post-Soviet transition in the East. The EU believes that is able to turn the urgent challenge of climate change into a unique opportunity to become a digital and green leader of the world.

Following the approval of a directive in June 2020, consumers across the EU will be granted broader access to collective redress.

On 24 June 2020 the European Council amended Directive 2011/16/EU, in order to defer certain deadlines for filing and exchanging information under the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (“DAC”). The postponement is justified by the difficulties Member States and businesses are facing with during the pandemic.

The new law about legal entities/Law of The Companies was adopted at the Official Gazette No. 65/20 on the 03.07.2020 and is in force since the 16.07.2020/ when it was introduced in Montenegro.

Frankly, this question has to be determined by the acting court as and when it arises with reference to particular facts and circumstances of each individual case.

Оn 10 July, 2020, just over two years after Bulgaria formally announced its intention to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) and the Banking Union, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) announced two very important decisions: