Vernon David and Filip & Company have advised Moldova's Victoriabank on its acquisition of the Chisinau subsidiary of Banca Comerciala Romana. Schoenherr advised the seller.

Filip & Company has advised both Inform Lykos Romania and entrepreneur Octavian Radu on setting up a joint-venture holding company that took over Pink Post Group’s postal and courier services business and the postal volumes aggregation business operated by the Inform Lykos group.

Nyerges & Partners has advised Eurowind Energy on its second acquisition of a 48-megawatt wind project in South-Eastern Romania.

Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, only eleven lawyers in CEE have worked on four or more reported Energy/Natural Resources deals in CEE since March 1, 2022?

Stratulat Albulescu has advised the main shareholder of Stera Chemicals on the sale of 70% of their stake in Stera to the Oqema Group. Stalfort and, reportedly, Kapellmann advised Oqema AG in Romania and Germany, respectively.

Former PNSA Attorney Alexandru Nicolae and former Prosecutor Liviu Dascalescu have teamed up to establish the Dascalescu Nicolae & Partners law firm in Romania.

CEE Attorneys Boanta Gidei si Asociatii has advised CEE Special Situations Fund portfolio company Aplast Wood Industry on its sale of a land plot near Bucharest including 12,500 square meters of logistics assets to Viva Toys.

Loredana Coras has joined PKO Bank Polski as a Legal Expert in Romania.

In terms of recent updates, on 25 February the Council of the European Union adopted the tenth package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia in response to the armed conflict in Ukraine, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Noerr has advised Saint-Gobain on its acquisition of plasters, paints, and coatings producer Revco Hungary. CEE Attorneys advised the sellers.

PwC Legal Romanian affiliate D&B David si Baias has advised the Greek Public Power Corporation on its acquisition of Enel Group’s electricity production, supply, and distribution assets in Romania. Milbank and Legance reportedly advised the PPC as well. Clifford Chance reportedly advised the seller.

2022 was a year of significant legislative changes in the field of competition, and 2023 is set to present several challenges for the business environment. This article discusses three of the most significant competition law challenges faced by Romanian companies in 2023: no-poaching, foreign direct investment (FDI), and abuse of superior bargaining position.

It has recently been noted that social actors show a growing interest in concluding collective agreements at various levels, the justification being manifold: this either represents a way to retain employees, or it is an attempt to align to market practices, etc.

In December 2022, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector and amending Regulations (EC) no. 1006/2009, (EU) no. 648/2012, (EU) no. 600/2014, (EU) no. 909/2014 and (EU) 2016/1011 (the “Digital Operational Resilience Act” or “DORA”).

When the Russian military launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) responded immediately by amending their legal framework to provide shelter for Ukrainian refugees. These neighboring nations not only provided immediate humanitarian help, but also changed their immigration law to allow Ukrainian refugees to work and live in their country.

Nyerges & Partners has advised Shikun and Binui Energy on a EUR 40.5 million loan from Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Raiffeisen Bank Romania for a 70-megawatt photovoltaic project in Satu Mare. CMS reportedly advised Raiffeisen Bank.

Clifford Chance has advised Exigent Property Investment on its EUR 57.8 million financing agreement with OTP Bank Romania and OTP Plc. Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen advised OTP Bank.

Nyerges & Partners has advised the Solarpro Holding on the engineering, procurement, and construction contract concluded for the development of six photovoltaic projects with a total capacity of approximately 35 megawatts-peak in Mures, Romania.