On 29 December 2023, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Regulation on financial support for dual education ("Official Gazette of the RS", No. 120/2023), which entered into force on 6 January 2024 (hereinafter: the Regulation).

Despite their undeniable awareness of importance of intellectual property (IP) for business success, many multinational companies overlook the fact that IP laws vary between countries. This has motivated us to write this article as a memento of IP that can be generated by employees. It explains the general regime related to use of such intellectual property and suggests which legal mechanisms are available to employers in safeguarding their legitimate interests in relation to IP.

Former Partner Dragoljub Sretenovic has been promoted to a Senior Partner position and former Counsel Bisera Andrijasevic has been promoted to a Partner position with BDK Advokati.

AP Legal has advised a syndicate of banks including Eurobank Direktna, NLB Komercijalna Banka, and OTP Bank Srbija on an EUR 34.5 million loan to Hillside.

Kinstellar has advised Evelixon Trading Limited on its acquisition of the Grand Wind Park project company from Windvision Serbia Holding and the subsequent sale of a 50% stake in Grand Wind Park to MK Green Energy Limited. Karanovic & Partners advised Windvision. AP Legal advised MK Green Energy.

Did you know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, a total of eleven law firms and five individual lawyers worked on five or more reported Serbian client matters in 2023?

NKO Partners has advised Achiona on its joint venture with Triglav to develop 20,000 square meters of office space in Belgrade.

By its decision dated 29 December 2023, the Serbian Competition Commission determined that the companies KTG Solucije and Eco Sense from the town of Subotica (in Serbia) entered into a restrictive agreement by colluding in public procurement procedures (i.e., bid rigging).

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency responsible for regulating the securities markets and protecting investors in the U.S.A, granted approval to 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), in its Approval Order on 10 January 2024.

Serbia has been hard at work implementing extensive revisions to its immigration laws – merging the work and residency permits, for example – producing both timely results and temporary issues, according to DNVG Attorneys Partner Damjan Despotovic.

Poland's Weronika Kapica and Daria Rutecka, Romania's Adina Damaschin and Mara Moga-Paler, Serbia's Zoran Soljaga, Slovakia's Michal Lucivjansky, and Slovenia's Peter Gorse have all been appointed to Partner positions with Schoenherr.

PwC Legal, working with Van Campen Liem, has advised Blue Sea Capital on co-investing to acquire the Telekom Srbija telecommunications tower portfolio alongside Actis and in co-operation with Andrej Jovanovic’s family office.

Kinstellar has announced several appointments to firm-wide practice and sector leadership positions, including Partner Csilla Andreko in Budapest, Partner Iustinian Captariu and Special Counsel Magda Raducanu in Bucharest, Managing Partner Milos Velimirovic in Belgrade, Managing Partner Lukas Sevcik and Counsel Jan Lehky in Prague, and Managing Associate Lukas Mrazik in Bratislava.

NKO Partners has advised Emmezeta on the development of a distribution center in Novi Sad with Structura to perform the construction works.

Insufficiently precise provisions of the law, unharmonized court practice, as well as the average duration of the employment disputes, were affected creating the “fear of litigation” amongst many employers. Due to the stated reasons, instead of unilateral employment termination, even in cases when there is firm evidence confirming its lawfulness and validity, the employers tend to execute the mutual agreement on employment termination, as well as to pay certain one-time compensation on the said basis.

Drakopoulos has become a part of the South East Legal Alliance, thus expanding the network’s reach to Athens, Bucharest, and Nicosia.

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.

Former Zivkovic Samardzic Partner Ana Popovic has joined VMT Vujetic Trisic in Belgrade as a Partner.