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Did you know that while only five lawyers worked on ten or more CEE client matters reported by CEE Legal Matters in 2022, a total of fourteen lawyers reached that level in 2023? The 2023 leaderboard was led by Milos Felgr of Clifford Chance in Prague, who worked on a remarkable 20 CEELM-reported client matters last year, with Alper Onar of Istanbul’s Aksan Law Firm, who worked on 19, close behind. Fellow Turk Kerem Turunc, the Managing Partner of Turunc, worked on 17 reported deals, while Djordje Nikolic of NKO Partners in Belgrade worked on 16, and Tomasz Rogalski of Norton Rose Fulbright in Warsaw worked on 15.

It was another strong year for the leading law firms in Central and Eastern Europe, which, combined, worked on over a thousand deals and other client matters across the region reported on by CEE Legal Matters this year. According to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, Clifford Chance, which worked on an impressive 95 CEELM-reported CEE client matters in 2023, led the international firms in the region, with Schoenherr, which worked on 90, close behind. Dentons (82), CMS (71), Wolf Theiss (65), Cobalt (66), Kinstellar (50), White & Case (45), and Allen & Overy (42) took notable places on the leaderboard as well.

There is nothing new in fancying competitiveness. There is also little that one can meaningfully add to the dialogue. Yet, it is surprising how the subject of “Europe’s competitiveness” climbs up the ladder of timely discourses, and repeatedly does so; finds its way onto the list of “final novel plans”, “last grand projects”, or, for the matter of pure practicality, to agendas of the European Union’s presiding troika.

Dentons and TGS Baltic have advised the European Investment Bank and Nordic Investment Bank on their EUR 64 million project financing for Ignitis Renewables to fund the Mazeikiai wind farm in Lithuania. Walless and Linklaters advised the Ignitis Group.

Turunc has advised Gelecek Etki Fonu on its investment in Brandefense in a round that included Sabanci Ventures, AK Portfoy, the Technology Development Foundation of Turkiye, TechOne, and Finberg. Kutadgu & Arsin advised Brandefense. Reportedly, BASEAK and the Diamond Law Group advised Sabanci Ventures, while BTS advised the Technology Development Foundation of Turkiye.

Dentons and its Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki have advised the lenders on QNB Finansbank's dual currency loan including USD 241.5 million and EUR 235.7 million.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has found itself at the forefront of NATO’s eastern flank, sharing a border with a country embroiled in a full-scale war. DLA Piper Partner Marta Frackowiak and Dentons Partner Jaroslaw Witek talk about how this geopolitical reality has prompted a significant shift in Poland’s defense strategy.

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Dentons is one of the leading law firms in CEE and Central Asia with offices in Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava, Kyiv, Baku, Almaty, Astana, Tbilisi and Tashkent. With a legacy of supporting local and international clients in Central and Eastern Europe since the early 1990s, we have the experience and market insight to help clients close deals, resolve disputes and do business in the key markets across the region.

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