Kalo & Associates has advised the YURA Corporation, a South Korean auto-supplier, on launching the first stage of the operation of its plant on a 4.9 hectare site near Fier, in southwest Albania.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

Kalo & Associates and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, both acting on behalf of the Republic of Albania, have persuaded an ICSID arbitral panel to dismiss a case brought by the Anglo-Adriatic Investment Fund, which was claiming about EUR 220 million for foreign investment expropriation.

Dorda has advised Swiss milk processor EMMI AG on the acquisition of a 66% stake in Leeb Biomilch GmbH and its affiliate company Hale GmbH, the Austrian suppliers of organic goat milk and sheep milk products, from shareholders Hubert Leeb and Jorg Hackenbuchner. Hasch & Partner advised Leeb Biomilch GmbH.

Social Media is omnipresent these days and individuals as well as companies increasingly use these instruments as communication and marketing tools. Moreover, the development of Social Media platforms, like interactive online rating and comparison platforms, is also of interest for the start-up sector. However, this increasing importance of Social Media also raises questions about the liability for the published content and legal remedies to protect and enforce affected legal positions.

BPV Huegel has advised ISS on its acquisition of Austrian business catering company JH Catering.

SPP Stepanovski, Papakul & Partners has assisted with establishment of H&M in Belarus. The Swedish clothing retailer is registered as H and M Hennes & Maurits Bel.

Sorainen is advising the EBRD on Belarusian and Lithuanian aspects related to its loan of USD 11.3 million to the Modus Group for use in the construction of two biogas power plants with total installed capacity of 3MW in Belarus.

Sorainen Belarus has assisted the EBRD with the sale of its share in Commercial and Industrial Group West-Ost Union,CDRL S.A. and to the company's current CEO and shareholder, Siarhei Misiachenka.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

Law Firm Sajic has successfully represented Aquana doo Banja Luka in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Srpska, which upheld the decision of the lower court that Aquana doo owed only EUR 50,594.85 to plaintiff Atzwanger S.P.A. as damages related to the construction of an aqua-park in Banja Luka, and not the EUR 1,158,863.90 that Atzwanger had been seeking.

The Law Firm Sajic has won a EUR 3.25 million case for insurance company Krajina Osiguranje before the Supreme Court of the Republic of Srpska.

Dimitrov Petrov & Co has helped Telenor Bulgaria obtain regulatory permission necessary for conducting the business of an insurance agent.

White & Case has advised Total Eren, a French renewable energy Independent Power Producer, on the acquisition of NovEnergia Holding Company, a Southern European Independent Power Producer. King Wood & Mallesons advised NovEnergia on the deal.

Boyanov & Co. has advised the lenders on a EUR 100 million syndicated financing of the Advance Media Group EAD's EUR 185 million acquisition of the Nova Broadcasting Group from MTG Broadcasting AB and Eastern European Media Holdings S.A. Advance Media was reportedly assisted by O'Melveny & Myers in London and Kambourov & Partners in Sofia. MTG Broadcasting was advised by Allen & Overy, Go2Law, and Spasov & Bratanov, and Eastern European Media Holdings was reportedly advised by Mayer Brown.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

“These are really exciting times in Croatia,” says Kallay & Partners Managing Partner Ivna Medic. On January 1, 2019, she says, the rule book of electronic communications in commercial court procedures was changed to provide the conditions for communicating in electronic form. Medic explains that the regulation represents something completely new for the Croatian legal system. “For the very first time we have the opportunity to communicate with courts electronically, and most definitely this will speed up court proceedings and reduce costs for the proceedings,” she says.

After almost two years, the extraordinary administration proceedings over Agrokor and 77 of its Croatian group companies is entering its final stage.

Date: 4th June 2019 Venue: Cubex Centre Prague

Glatzova & Co has advised CSOB on the creation of a joint venture with the Mall Group, to improve the MallPay payment service that was created last year to facilitate shopping at Czech shopping malls.

CMS Prague has advised Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, the Czech division of KBC Group, on the acquisition of 45% stake in the Czech building savings bank Ceskomoravska stavebni sporitelna from Bausparkasse Schwabisch Hall, advised by Schoenherr.

Karatzas & Partners acted as Greek legal advisers on the successful completion of TAP’s EUR 3.9 billion project financing, the largest project finance agreed for a European infrastructure project in 2018.

NPL Greece, Cyprus & SEE Regional Summit, Grand Hyatt, Athens, 29 May 2019

Greece's KLC Law Firm successfully represented France's Vinci Construction Grands Projets SAS before the Hellenic Competition Commission.

White & Case has advised Total Eren, a French renewable energy Independent Power Producer, on the acquisition of NovEnergia Holding Company, a Southern European Independent Power Producer. King Wood & Mallesons advised NovEnergia on the deal.

Swedish service provider TransLegal has announced its entrance into the Hungarian market with the launch of its World Law Dictionary project at the Lawtech Meetup: Right to Capture Language in Budapest on April 10, 2019.

Former ENKSZ Lead Attorney Emese Szitasi has joined DLA Piper as a senior associate.

Sorainen has helped Holm Bank become the first credit institution in Estonia to obtain a credit institution license from the European Central Bank under the new European Union Single Supervision Mechanism framework.

Cobalt has advised the BaltCap Growth Fund on investing almost EUR 3 million of growth capital in Viru Haigla AS to expand the Pihlakodu chain of elderly care homes. As a result of the transaction, BaltCap will acquire a minority shareholding in Viru Haigla AS.

TGS Baltic advised Royal Vopak N.V and Global Ports Investments PLC on the sale of the shares of Vopak E.O.S., an independent oil terminal operator in the Baltics, to Abu Dhabi-based Liwathon. The new name of the logistics company will be Liwathon E.O.S.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

In summer 2017, after Sejdiu & Qerkini Partner Korab Sejdiu was elected to the Kosovo Parliament, he suspended his law license and left private practice. We checked in with Sejdiu to learn more about his new role and experience.

Denise Hamer has joined Kinstellar as Special Counsel, in a regional CEE/SEE position working in the firm's Finance, Private Equity, NPLs & Distressed Assets, and Restructuring practices.

TGS Baltic has advised SIA M257 on the April 4, 2019 opening of Akropole, a shopping and leisure mall in Riga.

TGS Baltic has helped Apranga APB establish subsidiary Apranga HLV SIA, which will operate Zara Home stores in Latvia.

This year, the DIS Baltic Arbitration Days in Riga, Latvia will be held for the 8th time since the year of 2012. The conference takes place on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 June 2019 at the Stockholm School of Economics.

Sorainen has successfully represented Topo Grupe in a trademark registration dispute.

Motieka & Audzevicius has advised 70 Ventures, UAB on the establishment of the 70 Ventures Accel and 70 Ventures Seed private equity funds. 70 Ventures, UAB was selected by INVEGA as the manager of the accelerator funds, which will provide training and investment for innovative start-ups.

Ellex Valiunas has advised global payment cards giant Visa on its indirect acquisition of 100% of the shares of UAB Earthport Payment Services, a payment institution licensed in Lithuania. 

“The talk about the entrance of two regional players – CMS and Schoenherr – onto the Macedonian market last year is still on everyone’s lips (among lawyers),” says Apostolska & Partners’ Founding Partner Emilija Apostolska-Temov in North Macedonia, who says that the presence of such law firms in the market will undoubtedly influence business, increasing both the quality of legal services and competition. “It also gives us a hint about investments coming in – such big law firms would not come without any plans,” she says. “They must know something that the rest of us will learn later. I think it will be a positive experience.”

The Polenak Law Firm has advised Global Special Opportunities Ltd. on its acquisition of the assets of ferronickel production plant Feni Industries AD in its process of bankruptcy and reorganization.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

Efrim, Rosca & Associates has advised the Moldovan Government, acting through the Agency for Public Property, on its sale of 63.8865% of the authorized capital of Moldindconbank to Bulgaria's Doverie United-Holding AD. Gladei & Partners and Cobzac & Partners advised Doverie-Invest on the deal, which had received preliminary approval on January 22 from the National Bank of Moldova.

According to Oleg Efrim, the Managing Partner at Moldova’s Efrim Rosca Asociatii law firm, the primary topic of interest at the moment in the Moldovan legal community is the country’s newly modernized Civil Code which will become effective on March 1, 2019. According to Efrim, the new Code will be a significant upgrade to the existing law, which entered into force in 2003 as the country’s first following the fall of the Soviet Union. “It’s a substantial amendment,” Efrim reports, pointing out that the number of articles is increasing from the existing 1624 to 2671, and he says that "it is, indeed, a modernization of the Code.”

CMS and Turzan Cazac have advised the OTP Bank Group on the acquisition of 87.85% of shares in Mobiasbanca from the Societe Generale group. Schoenherr, working with lead counsel Jones Day, advised Societe Generale on the sale. 

While current affairs seem to be stable in Montenegro, according to Tripkovic & Raicevic Founding Partner Pavle Tripkovic, the recent bankruptcies of Invest Bank of Montenegro and Atlas Bank have alarmed the local banking market.

Jones Day has advised Societe Generale in connection with the sale of its majority stake in the share capital of Societe Generale Montenegro, a company listed on the Montenegrin Stock Exchange, to OTP Bank Nyrt. Schoenherr advised Societe Generale on matters of Montenegrin law, while CMS advised OTP.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

Mrowiec Fialek and Partners has advised private equity fund Value4Capital on the sale of the Konsalnet group's operations in the field of security of persons and assets, including manned guarding, GPS monitoring, and technical security systems, to Separgefi SAS.

White & Case has advised Total Eren, a French renewable energy Independent Power Producer, on the acquisition of NovEnergia Holding Company, a Southern European Independent Power Producer. King Wood & Mallesons advised NovEnergia on the deal.

Hogan Lovells has successfully represented the Malta Foundation in a dispute against Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage before the Regional Court in Warsaw.

Clifford Chance Badea has advised First Bank, owned by US-based investment fund J.C. Flowers & Co., on its acquisition of Bank Leumi Romania.

Dragne & Asociatii has successfully represented Partidul Libertate, Unitate si Solidaritate before Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania  in a dispute regarding the right to constitute electoral alliances.

Clifford Chance Badea has advised Alpha Bank Romania in relation to the first covered bond program established in Romania, for the amount of EUR 1 billion. RTPR Allen & Overy advised Barclays Bank PLC as arranger on the program, which comes three years after the Romanian covered bond law entered into force.

Dentons has represented a pool of leading international financial institutions including the Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, International Finance Corp, and responsAbility Investments AG.as creditors to Azerbaijan's AccessBank, on the successful debt restructuring and recapitalization of the bank.

Ilyashev & Partners has promoted Head of Moscow Office Vladimir Zakharov to partner.

Dentons has advised The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank on its extension of a USD 69 million loan to the Russian State Transport Leasing Company to finance the construction of the Lavna Coal Transshipment Terminal at the Murmansk sea port. Allen & Overy reportedly advised the borrowers.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

Prica & Partners is advising the Serbian government on the privatization process of Komercijalna Banka, the country’s second largest lender.

Bojanovic Partners Partner Filip Blagojevic successfully represented Slavko Perovic against Turkey's Denizlispor football club before the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber.

Former Allen & Overy Senior Associate and Head of Real Estate in Slovakia Vojtech Palinkas has joined Slovakia's MCL law firm, where he will co-head the Real Estate, Projects, M&A, and Corporate law practices.

White & Case has advised Deutsche Bank, HSBC France, Natixis, Societe Generale, and Vseobecna Uverova Banka as lead managers on the Slovak Republic's bond issue of EUR 1 billion 0.750% notes due in 2030.

Budapest lawyer Balazs Csuday, Bratislava lawyer Daniel Lipsic, and Prague lawyer Jan Prochazka are among the 25 European lawyers promoted to partner by Dentons as part of its 2019 cycle.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Conscia Holding on its acquisition of NIL Skupina from 24 private individuals. Jerman & Bajuk advised the sellers.

Baker McKenzie, ODI Law, Simkins, Covington & Burling, and Van Bael & Bellis have advised MHP SE on the acquisition of 90.68% of the issued capital of Perutnina Ptuj, d.d. Schoenherr Vienna advised the sellers on the deal and CMS London advised ING, MHP’s financial partner.

As in almost all other jurisdictions, in Slovenia there are no cryptocurrency-specific tax laws. In order to shed light on the tax treatment of the cryptocurrency in Slovenia, in June 2018 the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FURS) issued the extended and updated Guidelines on Tax Treatment of Cryptocurrencies in Slovenia (the “Guidelines”).

Paskoy has advised Ziraat Katilim on its entry into a EUR 250 million murabaha syndicated loan agreement with the participation of Bank ABC, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, and Warba Bank. Dentons reportedly advised the afore-mentioned banks involved on the loan agreement.

Translation works, which were created by transferring the intellectual artwork created in one language into another one, are preserved and considered as a work in today’s laws. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that translation works are results of intensive work and labor. Although translators are working on the basis of the original work, they are adapting the original work to another language by transferring information from their previous experiences. In this regard, it is an undeniable fact that translations should be evaluated as a separate work independently from the original work.

Medical intervention is defined as actions taken by medical institutions, physicians and medical personnel in order to diagnose, cure and prevent diseases. Medical intervention notion has a wide variety from curing or preventing an ailment to fulfilling a request relating to an aesthetic matter.

K&L Gates and Integrites have advised NBT on the financing documents for Segment 2 of Ukraine’s Syvash Wind Power Project, with commitments of an additional EUR 107.6 million of further senior debt coming from the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (EUR 30 million), Proparco (approximately EUR 42 million), Finnfund and IFU (EUR 15 million each), and the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (EUR 5 million). The lenders were advised on Ukrainian law by Redcliffe Partners and on English law by Clifford Chance.

Elena Volyanskaya, who heads the Bankruptcy and Restructuring practice at Ukraine's LCF Law Group, has been promoted to Partner at the firm.

Former Jeantet Partners Illya Tkachuk and Igor Krasovskiy have joined Integrites in Kyiv, bringing the total number of partners to 19 across the firm's six offices.