CEE Legal Matters
In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets
CMS has helped Global Biomet obtain a license for a photovoltaic plant in its portfolio – the 100-megawatt AC capacity Aratiden project – before the Bulgarian State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission.
Kochanski & Partners, working with Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, has advised the Japan Bank for International Cooperation on securing Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego's JPY 93 billion issuance of aid bonds for Ukraine. CMS reportedly advised BGK.
CMS has advised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on its acquisition of a 35% stake in the Lviv M10 industrial park project in Western Ukraine, developed by Dragon Capital. Aequo reportedly advised Dragon Capital.
Contributed by CMS.
Did You Know that a total of 15 partners have worked on multiple reported Hungarian Banking/Finance client matters in the ten years that CEE Legal Matters has been covering the market? The Banking/Finance leaderboard over the past decade is led by CMS Budapest Partner Erika Papp, who has worked on 14 reported Banking/Finance client matters in that time.
CMS has advised Astronergy on the acquisition of the Boychinovtsi 60-megawatt photovoltaic project in Bulgaria. Ivanov & Co advised the sellers.
Clifford Chance has advised lenders Santander Bank Polska, Alior Bank, Bank Millennium, Bank Polska Kasa Opieki, and the EBRD on their financing for Gemini Polska. E+H advised Santander Bank Polska. CMS reportedly advised Gemini Polska.
CMS Sofia has advised Astronergy Solar Bulgaria on receiving a EUR 54 million refinancing for its portfolio of ten operational photovoltaic plants from the recently merged KBC United Bulgarian Bank.
Cerha Hempel has advised CA Immo on the sale of the Vizivaros Business Center in Budapest to the FLE SICAV FIS real estate fund managed by FLE. CMS advised the buyer.
CMS has advised Best in Parking and its majority shareholder Breiteneder Immobilien Parking on receiving a minority investment from Macquarie Asset Management. Linklaters advised Macquarie Asset Management.
On April 28, 2023, CMS announced that PPD and INA’s sale of TMF – the largest shareholder of Croatian fertilizer company Petrokemija – to the Yildirim Group (reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 22, 2022), had closed.
Binder Groesswang has advised Semperit Aktiengesellschaft Holding on its acquisition of the Austrian Rico Group. SCWP Schindhelm advised the seller. CMS advised a consortium of banks led by UniCredit Bank Austria and UniCredit Bank on providing EUR 250 million in financing for Semperit.
Gide Warsaw has advised Mindspace on opening a co-working space in the Skyliner skyscraper in Warsaw and its lease agreement with Karimpol Polska. CMS reportedly advised Karimpol Polska.
Bulgaria has great potential and is currently attracting major investors interested in large-scale renewable energy projects. Currently, over 1,500 megawatts of solar and over 800 megawatts of wind projects are operating. Still, the country’s power generation is highly dependent on its baseload power capacity coming from thermal power plants (over 3,600 megawatts). However, to meet the net zero economy targets, renewables could be the solution to replace these capacity volumes. Thus, at least 2,600 megawatts in RES capacity are expected to be installed by 2025, to allow Bulgaria to meet its target of 30.33% of energy produced from renewable sources.
Looking ahead to 2023, white-collar crime is likely to be a subject of close scrutiny by local and EU authorities across CEE. CMS CEE Partner Nedeljko Velisavljevic, from Serbia, and CMS Head of the Criminal Defense Practice in Romania Mihai Jiganie-Serban explore the current context, latest developments, and outlook of white-collar crime practices in CEE.
Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, only ten lawyers have worked on five or more reported Infrastructure/PPP/Public Procurement deals in CEE over the past ten years?
On the evening of April 25, 2023, the Deal of the Year Awards Banquet brought together, under the same roof, top-tier lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe's leading law firms and ILFs active in the region in Istanbul.
CMS has advised Hansgrohe on its EUR 85 million investment in the development of a production facility in Valjevo, Serbia.
CMS Sofia is a full-service law firm, the largest international law firm in Bulgaria and one of the largest providers of legal services in the local market as a whole. The breadth and depth of our practice means that our lawyers are specialised, with a level of specialisation that few of our competitors can match.
CMS Sofia is the Bulgarian branch of CMS, a top ten global legal and tax services provider with over 5000 lawyers in 43 countries and 78 offices across the world.
CMS entered the Bulgarian market as one of the first internationally active law firms in 2005 and is now among the most respected legal advisors in the country. We have 7 partners, 4 counsel and over 30 lawyers in our office in Sofia.
Our legal experts, who are rooted in Bulgaria’s local culture, can also draw on years of experience in foreign countries and are at home in several legal systems at once. We know the particularities of the local market just as well as the needs of our clients and combine both to achieve optimum solutions. Our lawyers are Bulgarian qualified and we also have English qualified experts – all of them regularly working on cross-border mandates.
In our work, we focus on M&A, Energy, Projects and Construction, Banking and Finance, Real Estate, Media, IP and IT law, Tax, Employment law, Competition, Procurement and any kind of Dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation. What’s more, we also take care of the entire legal management of our clients’ projects.