Disruptions to supply chains due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, staff shortages, increasing inflation, rising fuel prices, wage pressure from workers, the war in Ukraine – these are just some of the challenges faced by economic operators. All of them significantly affect the profitability of existing public contracts.

Balicki Czekanski Gryglewski Lewczuk has advised Bank Pekao on a PLN 60 million financing granted for the acquisition of Altus Palace Hotel in Warsaw.

Gide Loyrette Nouel has advised Frey on its acquisition of Park Handlowy Matarnia in Gdansk from Ingka Centres for EUR 105 million. Wardynski & Partners advised Ingka Centres on the deal. 

Former Compliance Partners Partner Jaroslaw Nowacki has founded Tau Nowacki focused on "operational compliance and AML in fintech and crypto."

PwC Legal has promoted Stanislaw Zemojtel to Partner in Poland. 

Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, commonly referred to as the work-life balance directive, is due to be implemented into the Labour Code by the Polish government.

Dentons has advised a syndicate of banks led by Ceska Sporitelna, and including Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka and Komercni Banka, on the financing of KKCG Group and Aricoma Group’s acquisition of Musala Soft. Polenak, Boyanov & Co, and, reportedly, Andric and TM & Partners advised the banks as well. Clifford Chance advised Aricoma Group on the deal.

Arrangements and consultations on the draft act amending the VAT Act and certain other acts, i.e. the so called SLIM VAT 3 (draft No. UC128), were scheduled to complete by 26 August.

Michal Jagielski and Wiktor Rainka have joined JDP Drapala & Partners as a Co-Head of the firm’s Tax team and Head of the IP/IT/Advertising and Media Law team, respectively.

Deloitte Legal has promoted Serbia-based Stefan Antonic and Poland-based Patrycja Bolimowska and Jacek Korzeniewski to Local Partners.

Marcin Aslanowicz has joined SSW Pragmatic Solutions as a Partner in the firm’s Dispute Resolution practice. He is joined by Attorneys Ewa Zaleska and Damian Majda.

Gessel has advised Bioceltix on non-prospective public offering, preparation for a debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange regulated market, and transfer of stock quotes from the alternative trading system NewConnect to the regulated market. SSW Pragmatic Solutions reportedly also advised Bioceltix.

With the Public Offering Act already being amended this year, two other important pieces of legislation are likely to impact capital markets in Poland in 2022 – the amendments to the Commercial Companies Code and the Crowdfunding Regulations.

The legacy of COVID-19 looms large over the financial situation of many businesses across Poland. In order to stave off the pandemic’s impact, a new type of restructuring was introduced into the Polish legal system – the simplified restructuring procedure. Businesses affected by the crisis were quick to use this solution, particularly because of its informal nature and the possibility of getting relatively strong (though temporary) protection from creditors, as well as the time necessary to restructure their business.

One might have hoped that, with the pandemic fading, the real estate market was bound to bounce back in 2022, despite interest rates rising since October 2021. And bounce back it did, at least in the first quarter, when investments in commercial real estate reached EUR 1.7 billion, including Google’s landmark acquisition of a Warsaw office building for nearly EUR 600 million. The Russian aggression against Ukraine, coupled with growing cost pressures, created the current market conditions that will continue to shape the CEE real estate market for the foreseeable future.

Gessel has advised DataWalk on a public offering of series P shares.

The Polish media market finds itself in an interesting position. Following a streak of market moves and reshufflings, the media landscape seems to have, to an extent, polarized. To get an insight into the market ins and outs, as well as expectations for the future, we reached out to Wiercinski Kwiecinski Baehr Partner Agnieszka Wiercinska-Kruzewska.

On January 1, 2022, a “historic tax reform” – as referred to by the Polish government – came into force, with major changes implemented into Poland’s tax system. Just a few months later, another tax reform package, now known as the Polish Deal 2.0, was introduced. We spoke with Penteris Head of Tax Artur Plutowski and PwC Legal Partner Katarzyna Komorowska to learn what was the driving force behind the update and how it will impact the business sector in Poland.