In recent years, innovative Hungarian companies are increasingly attracting foreign professional and financial investors who seek their state-of-the-art products and services.

Real estate is responsible for around 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Given the industry’s high impact, a comprehensive decarbonization strategy is essential. As environmentally conscious investors and tenants focus on zero-carbon buildings, green building ecosystems and life-cycle assessments become necessary. Accordingly, green building certification processes are needed to ensure that habitats are environmentally sustainable. These certification processes assess many building components, from ventilation systems to insulation materials, for their impact on human and environmental health.

The rules in Hungary for guarantees of origin (GO) changed at the beginning of this year to ensure the ascension of the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (Hungarian Energy Authority) to the European Energy Certificate System, as a result of which Hungarian GOs will be accepted on international markets.

Fair commercial practices and communication with consumers have always been a mandatory requirement for all businesses but now, with the updated regulations on unfair consumer practices, communication has an even higher importance – especially in light of rapid technological developments, the growing digital space, new digital solutions, and consumers becoming more and more vulnerable, both as a result of these developments and the already two-year-long pandemic.

Over the last years and especially during the high peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of being subject to harmful and systematic cyberattacks has massively increased. Although the aim of cybercriminals – to extort money – is still unchanged, their methods and targets have been developed in line with the overall increase of digitalization. In contrast to industries with a focus on sensitive data and trade secrets, such as pharmaceuticals, banks, or insurance companies, industrial companies have not focused on preventive measures against potential cyberattacks in the past. Nowadays, however, production machines are linked to each other via a network and are therefore threatened to the same extent.

New amendments to Law No. 422/2001 on the protection of historic monuments (Law 422) were posted for discussions on the website of the Ministry of Culture, on January 12, 2022, in the shape of a Government Ordinance (Bill) intended to amend and supplement Law 422. Any suggestions or opinions should have been submitted no later than January 24.

The trend towards ESG issues has increased markedly on the Slovakian commercial real estate market. More and more Slovak companies are behaving responsibly and sustainably – under pressure from tenants, employees, contractors, customers, regulators, and investors who involve ESG in their decision-making.

Montenegro is a small mountainous country located in Southeastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula, with a coastline on the Adriatic Sea, and with a specific real estate market that offers something for everyone’s pocket.

Since 2009 the Republic of Serbia has undergone major legislative changes aiming to simplify the process for issuing construction permits and to establish private ownership over land as an exclusive property right, replacing the permanent use right and the long-term lease, which are relics of the communist regime. Depending on the circumstances pertinent to the holder of the title, the conversion of the permanent land use and long-term lease rights into private ownership may be performed either free of charge or for a fee.

Had we been writing this piece mid-February, our description of the Polish real estate market would have been consistent with the trends encompassing the past two years: despite the pandemic, two sectors continue to boom – logistics and residential, including the still relatively new professional rented sector, with many big players moving into Poland over the past few months.

In most countries, the energy consumption of buildings reaches very high levels, making their energy efficiency potential high. Buildings play an important role in energy efficiency and make a significant contribution to combating climate change and energy consumption. Therefore, it is important to align the process, from the buildings’ design to their final completion and exploitation, with the pertinent green standards.

The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly hit the real estate market. In response, the government adopted a series of measures that included an extraordinary moratorium, often used by commercial tenants, and a rent reduction scheme in which the government subsidized the rent in cases where the landlord was willing to provide a discount. Most importantly, the crisis made the government abolish the 4% real estate transfer tax.

Open Banking doesn't just happen because regulations enforce it, it's commercially embraced as an opportunity to make a nation's financial infrastructure more efficient, more resilient, and better serve customers. We look forward to the opportunities it will bring to the economy and society as a whole. Open Banking Implementation Entity the 'OBIE' Implementation Auditor Imran Gulamhuseinwala, UK

Sayenko Kharenko, Jun 3: After three months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we are beginning to adjust to the new conditions of life, while other countries worldwide are gradually removing the war from their agendas. But this should not be allowed to happen, so in May, the Fund’s volunteers tried to spread the word about the need to help Ukraine and the activities of the “Breathe” Charity Fund at every possible venue.

COVID-19 pandemic caused different market distortions that imposed economic entities to various challenges, both in terms of their relations with the clients, i.e., consumers, and their mutual relations.

Emergency Ordinance No. 58/2022 amending and supplementing consumer protection acts (“GEO No. 58/2022”) was published in the Official Gazette, Part I, No. 456 of 6 May 2022. The act entered into force on 28 May 2022.

At the end of April 2022, the Commission proposed the digitalization of the Schengen visa process, replacing the visa sticker, and introducing the ability to submit visa applications online through a visa platform. This way, applying for a Schengen visa will become easier and the visa itself will be more secure and less vulnerable to theft and fraud.

On 19 May 2022, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Regulation on the temporary measure of limiting the price of gas and compensating for the difference in the price of natural gas, procured from imports or produced in the Republic of Serbia, in case of disturbances on the natural gas market, which regulation was published in the Official gazette of the RS no. 59/2022.