Latest News By Practice
Brandl Talos has advised Telos Impact on leading the EUR 12 million series A financing round of Kern Tec. Schoenherr advised EIC.
Sayenko Kharenko has advised the EBRD on its USD 30 million secured financing to Ukrainian agro-industrial holding Astarta.
Czabanski & Galuszynski has advised HiProMine on a EUR 32 million financing for the construction of a new production plant and insect genetics center from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. Dentons advised BGK and the KUKE state export credit agency.
Glatzova & Co has advised SNP Invest on obtaining permission from the Czech National Bank to operate as a self-managed investment fund of qualified investors.
Gecic Law, working with Deloitte Legal and RPHS Law, has advised MTS on a dispute with Pristina authorities stemming from the decision to revoke MTS’s operating license in Kosovo.
Albania is making significant changes to its gambling laws. The Albanian government has been actively revising its gambling regulations, with the latest amendments poised to usher in a new era for the industry. Recent developments and what they mean for the future of gambling in the country are explored below.
Glatzova & Co has advised SNP Invest on obtaining permission from the Czech National Bank to operate as a self-managed investment fund of qualified investors.
September 2023 – According to Article 5 of the Serbian Banking Act (Zakon o bankama), no person other than a bank licensed in Serbia may engage in the granting of loans unless authorised by law. One Serbian law that does allow foreign banks (i.e., banks not established and licensed in Serbia) to provide cross-border loans to Serbian entities is the Serbian Foreign Exchange Act (Zakon o deviznom poslovanju). In particular, Article 18(7) of the Foreign Exchange Act expressly allows Serbian entities to borrow cross-border from foreign banks, which are not required to obtain a banking licence in Serbia for this purpose.
Linklaters has advised a group of commercial lenders, export credit agencies, and multilateral financial institutions on the development and USD 5.2 billion non-recourse green financing for the Baltic Power offshore wind farm. Hogan Lovells advised the borrowers. SSW Pragmatic Solutions advised Baltic Power.
White & Case has advised Asseco Poland on a shares buy-back via an invitation for current shareholders to submit offers for the sale of their shares.
Clifford Chance has advised Commerzbank and other joint lead managers on the issue of green senior non-preferred bonds with a total nominal value of EUR 750 million by mBank. Reportedly, Allen & Overy advised mBank.
Paksoy has advised Turkish baby goods retailer Ebebek Magazacilik on its TRY 1.86 billion IPO.
The European Commission (“Commission") has been in the process of what can be called a reform of secondary legislation for the last few years. The Commission has issued several legislative developments that have reformed European competition law. After a long period of work, in May 2022, The Commission launched the new VBER with extensive changes. This year, the Commission made further changes on the EU Merger Regulation, extended the EU Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER), introduced the new EU Revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulation, introduced Guidelines on Exclusionary Abuses, and announced public consultation under Digital Markets Act (DMA).
On 12 September 2023, the President of Ukraine signed Law No. 5431 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Improve the Activities of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine" ("Law"), which launches a reform of Ukrainian competition law. The Law will enter into force on 1 January 2024.
Where behavior is investigated in parallel by the Austrian competition authorities and the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO), the latter usually requests the competition authorities to provide it with copies of their files, including leniency statements and settlement submissions that have been filed with the Federal Competition Authority (FCA), and adds (parts of) these documents to its own file. Victims of competition law infringements can thus indirectly get access to leniency statements and settlement submissions through an inspection of the PPO’s file. This practice risks weakening the effectiveness of the Austrian leniency program and settlement procedure as it may deter undertakings from cooperating with the FCA.
As part of the implementation of the European Union's waste management directives, Hungary will also need to apply the rules of the ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ (EPR) legislation as from 1 July 2023.
The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act is a major advancement in the supply chain network, improving international human rights and environmental standards across the board. It focuses on issues of child labour, health and safety standards, and the role of trade unions, and will have substantial effects on all relevant parties concerned due to its scope and importance. For instance, the Act bans all sorts of conduct from discrimination to forced labour. Serbia in particular will be considerably impacted, since Germany is the country's largest trade partner.
Are compliance teams a necessary evil or effective facilitators of business success? At the CEE Legal Matters GC Summit held in Istanbul, legal experts from across Europe discussed how to best foster a culture of compliance and ethics in order to benefit businesses, as well as why multidisciplinary knowledge and an agile approach are crucial for compliance teams.
Pohla & Hallmagi has advised VePo Investments, Vildemal Investments, and Sixten Invest on the sale of Rave Moobel to Furnico. Reportedly, Magnusson advised Furnico.
Ellex has advised on Orkla’s opening of a new EUR 100 million biscuit and wafer production plant in Adazi, Latvia.
E+H has advised Burgenland Energie on its acquisition of a 25% stake in the Solah Group.
At the end of September, the long-awaited Regulation (EU) 2023/1804) on the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure, and repealing Directive 2014/94/EU (“AFIR”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Though the entry into force of AFIR is 13 April 2024, it is worth reviewing the key takeaways that the AFIR introduces as part of the EU’s Fit for 55 package.
E+H has advised Burgenland Energie on its acquisition of a 25% stake in the Solah Group.
For almost every industry, sustainability involves adopting environmentally and socially responsible practices throughout a company's operations, from sourcing and production to sales and customer engagement. This includes reducing carbon emissions, promoting fair labor practices, supporting the product lifecycle, leveraging blockchain and digital systems, ensuring supply chain transparency, and maintaining ethical governance standards. Therefore, environmental sustainability policies need to be integrated into internal company rules, and, in particular, stakeholders in every sector need to take more responsibility for ESG practices.
Everlegal has partnered up with the Norwegian Refugee Council in Ukraine and will be offering the NRC legal support on a number of day-to-day legal issues.
Zivkovic Samardzic has successfully represented the B92 media company before the European Court of Human Rights in a dispute against Serbia.
Everlegal has become the legal partner of the USAID/ENGAGE program – funded by USAID and implemented by Pact in Ukraine – in an educational project aiming to provide legal support to civil society organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the citizens of Ukraine on martial law and other regulatory changes introduced during the war.
Cobalt has advised Italian company Italferr on its successful participation in the EUR 141.5 million Rail Baltica public procurement process for the provision of engineering consultancy and construction supervision services for the construction of the mainline in Latvia.
CMS has advised Hellenic Petroleum Group subsidiary EKO Bulgaria in the EUR 51 million public procurement process organized by the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance for the delivery of fuel needed by the administration entities under its executive purview.
In recent years, significant global events and unforeseen circumstances have had a profound impact on, among others, infrastructure projects. These events, whether global conflicts, health crises, or other significant occurrences, have triggered price changes in such projects. As a result, provisions of the Serbian Law on Obligations regarding claims for changes in price have gained prominence.
TGS Baltic has successfully represented Orlen Lietuva, Philip Morris Lietuva, and Lietuvos Pastas in a dispute regarding the lawfulness of an out-of-court bankruptcy process for Inter Rao Lietuva.
With a delay of over a year, Czech Act no. 284/2023 on preventive restructuring implemented the EU Restructuring Directive 2019/1023 into Czech law with effect as of 23 September 2023. This publication explains some of the key choices made by the Czech Republic upon the Directive’s implementation.
"Bulgaria transposed the Restructuring Directive's prohibition to terminate contracts via ipso facto clauses, but also (deviating from the Directive) prohibited contractual set-off in restructuring, thus rendering the preservation of many contracts performed via contractual set-off / netting of payment meaningless. So, in drafting ipso facto clauses the impossibility to perform contracts in restructuring, due to the contractual set-off prohibition, may be utilised as an additional trigger for termination, now".
As the amendment is effective as early as 1 October 2023, we provide below an overview of the main changes, indicating the necessary or recommended steps for employers to be taken:
Hungarian forest management regulations are among the strictest in Europe, however, there have always been investments and real estate developments that affected forest areas, the effect of which could so far be compensated by a fine in certain cases. As of 1 July 2023, the new provisions of the Forest Act brought pleasant changes, as even in the case of non-natural forests, the authority immediately obliges the developers affecting the forest area to reforest and not only to pay a forest protection contribution, if the size of the area reaches or exceeds one hectare.
Social media platforms significantly changed the ways how people express their opinions: sharing views became easier than ever. On the one hand, this is positive, but on the other hand, it is also dangerous in the employment context, as the employee's opinion may be prejudicial to the employer's interests. A recent decision of the Hungarian Supreme Court gives answer to the question whether the employer can dismiss the employee for expressing his opinion on Facebook.
The Serbian private healthcare sector – including private healthcare providers and pharmacies – has been on a steady incline over the past several years. BDK Advokati Senior Partner Vladimir Dasic, Prica & Partners Partner Tijana Lalic, and Karanovic & Partners Senior Partner Marjan Poljak take a deep dive into what makes the sector tick and grow.
Clifford Chance has advised AHP Investments on the sale of a majority stake in the American Heart of Poland medical network to Gruppo San Donato in partnership with GKSD. Dentons advised the target. Rymarz Zdort Maruta advised the buyers.
Gide has advised Investindustrial portfolio company Farmaceutici Procemsa on its acquisition of a majority stake in Poland's Master Pharm.
TGS Baltic has successfully represented Orlen Lietuva, Philip Morris Lietuva, and Lietuvos Pastas in a dispute regarding the lawfulness of an out-of-court bankruptcy process for Inter Rao Lietuva.
Gecic Law, working with Deloitte Legal and RPHS Law, has advised MTS on a dispute with Pristina authorities stemming from the decision to revoke MTS’s operating license in Kosovo.
Under Hungarian law the judge can reduce the amount of the contractual penalty if it is excessive. The penalty reduction shall be expressly requested by the defendant during the litigation. Can the defendant submit such request at any time during the litigation, or is there any deadline for that? In a recent decision, the Hungarian Supreme Court addressed this issue.
Cobalt has advised Italian company Italferr on its successful participation in the EUR 141.5 million Rail Baltica public procurement process for the provision of engineering consultancy and construction supervision services for the construction of the mainline in Latvia.
Ellex has advised Integre Trans on its EUR 4 million bond issuance on the Nasdaq Baltic First North Market.
DWF has advised Enter Air Group on a EUR 25 million financing from a consortium including facility agent Bank Pekao and security agent mBank. Kycia Legal advised the banks.
Djingov Gouginski Kyutchukov & Velichkov has advised ICBC International Finance Limited on a USD 66.22 million ship financing extended to the Navibulgar group. Stephenson Harwood reportedly advised Navibulgar.
The KLC law firm has advised the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund on the Court of Auditors' pre-contractual review of the tender and contract for the sub-concession of a multi-purpose terminal within the Philippos II port.
Amendments and supplements to the Customs Law, enacted in December 2022, amended the misdemeanour provisions for violations of this law. The amendments introduce greater certainty regarding the misdemeanour liability of importers and customs representatives for submitting customs declarations and accompanying documents with the goal of legitimate conducting of customs procedures. In this article we present our interpretation of the respective amendments.
Pohla & Hallmagi has advised VePo Investments, Vildemal Investments, and Sixten Invest on the sale of Rave Moobel to Furnico. Reportedly, Magnusson advised Furnico.
Havel & Partners has advised Investown Technologies shareholder Ceska Sporitelna Seed Starter on the sale of a stake in the company to Finbus.
Brandl Talos has advised Telos Impact on leading the EUR 12 million series A financing round of Kern Tec. Schoenherr advised EIC.
Everlegal has partnered up with the Norwegian Refugee Council in Ukraine and will be offering the NRC legal support on a number of day-to-day legal issues.
The Ilyashev & Partners law firm has assisted Italian non-governmental organization Fondazione Terre des Hommes Italia ONLUS in setting up its local branch in Ukraine, advising on corporate, tax, and employment matters.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has signed the memorandum of understanding and is providing pro bono legal advice to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine as it establishes a development fund to attract public and private sector capital for the future reconstruction and recovery of its economy.
Havel & Partners has advised Investown Technologies shareholder Ceska Sporitelna Seed Starter on the sale of a stake in the company to Finbus.
Ellex has advised on Orkla’s opening of a new EUR 100 million biscuit and wafer production plant in Adazi, Latvia.
The amendment to the Local Taxes Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2015, allowed local governments to levy a municipal tax on any taxable subject within their jurisdiction that is not prohibited by law and is not subject to a statutory public tax.
For almost every industry, sustainability involves adopting environmentally and socially responsible practices throughout a company's operations, from sourcing and production to sales and customer engagement. This includes reducing carbon emissions, promoting fair labor practices, supporting the product lifecycle, leveraging blockchain and digital systems, ensuring supply chain transparency, and maintaining ethical governance standards. Therefore, environmental sustainability policies need to be integrated into internal company rules, and, in particular, stakeholders in every sector need to take more responsibility for ESG practices.
The Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise (“the Law”) was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia no. 75/2023 of September 6, 2023, and it entered into force on the eighth day after its publishing, i.e., on September 14, 2023, while it shall be applied from October 1, 2023.
As part of the implementation of the European Union's waste management directives, Hungary will also need to apply the rules of the ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ (EPR) legislation as from 1 July 2023.
Havel & Partners has advised Investown Technologies shareholder Ceska Sporitelna Seed Starter on the sale of a stake in the company to Finbus.
Gecic Law, working with Deloitte Legal and RPHS Law, has advised MTS on a dispute with Pristina authorities stemming from the decision to revoke MTS’s operating license in Kosovo.
Trade secrets are an invaluable asset for many businesses, often encompassing years of research, innovation, and strategic development. Protecting them is paramount, and the legal landscape surrounding this protection is ever-evolving. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) recently published the report “Trade Secrets Litigation Trends in the EU” (June 2023), which provides fresh insights into the state of trade secrets litigation within the European Union.
What is corporate crime prevention and why is it a necessary "cost"? Depending on the industry in which a company operates in Romania, it is subject to legal obligations whose violation can result in legal liability.
As we promised a few weeks ago when we discussed all the interesting aspects of commercial offences as an integral part of Serbian penal law, we shall now take a closer look at the first-instance proceeding and some of the most important segments of domestic and foreign legal entities, as well as their responsible persons, should keep in mind in case they are subjected to a commercial offence proceeding.
This article discusses the interplay between the primacy of European Union law and the expected new practice in criminal law cases in Romania.