The adoption of Directive 2014/104/EU ("Damages Directive"), which introduced a level playing field for the private competition law enforcement regime among EU Member States, has paved the way for private enforcement to gain more traction in the EU.

As it is in many other countries, the reemergence of Covid is the dominant issue in Slovenia. “With restrictive measures on movement and businesses back in place, everybody is trying to just make it through the whole thing,” says Kavcic, Bracun, & Partners Partner Aleksandra Mitic. “Everything else has taken a backseat – all the politicizing and bickering have faded into the background.” 

DLA Piper and Kirm Perpar have successfully represented the Slovenian municipality of Kranjska Gora in an arbitration proceeding adjudicated at the Vienna International Arbitration Center against WTE Wassertechnik GmbH, a German supplier for municipal and industrial water management.

Due to considerable variations in the prices of medicine within the EU, parallel trade –  cross-border resale of trademark-protected pharmaceutical products by a third party without the authorisation of the IP rights holder – is common in the pharmaceuticals market.

In addition to the effect of the newly introduced FDI rules, the upcoming post-epidemic period in Slovenia will see extensive efforts to revive the economy. On May 29, 2020, Slovenia’s Parliament adopted the Intervention Act to Remove Obstacles to the Implementation of Significant Investments to Start the Economy After the COVID-19 Epidemic to restart economic activity and growth in key investment sectors.

It was nineteen years ago, but I remember it vividly as if it were yesterday: fresh out of law faculty and green with excitement, I was sitting in my very first job interview when the question fell: “Do you know anything about mortgages?” I started reciting: “A mortgage is a real right of a third person …,” when my future mentor smiled and exclaimed: “Ah, never mind, you will learn!”

Although, like many other CEE jurisdictions, Slovenia experienced major COVID-19-related market turbulence in the first half of 2020, the market has nonetheless seen some interesting developments as well – and more activity is likely to follow in Q3 and Q4.

On 23 September 2020, the Slovenian government decided that price control measures in the field of fuel products are no longer necessary, meaning that the retail fuel market will be fully liberalised from October 2020.

On July 9, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that ODI Law had advised Hranilnica Lon on a new issuance of shares. CEEIHM spoke with Imre Balogh, President of the Management Board at Hranilnica Lon, to learn more.

According to Andrej Kirm, the Managing Partner of Ljubljana’s Kirm Perpar law firm, things are going pretty well in Slovenia. “It’s pretty much business as usual, apart from the Covid-19 crisis,” he says. Indeed, he says, while most larger transactions were put on hold from March to June, “now a lot of things are progressing, and we hope this will continue through the end of the year.” According to him, “we are quite optimistic, and business is surviving better than we expected back in March.

Former Karanovic & Partners Partner Patricia Gannon has announced the establishment of Gannon Advisory, which she describes as "a holistic strategic advisory business."

Eisenberger & Herzog, Milbank, and Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners have advised the Sartorius Group on its acquisition of BIA Separations and the merger of is into its subgroup Sartorius Stedim Biotech. Schoenherr advised the unidentified majority shareholder on the sale.

ODI Law and Praljak & Svic have advised Tokic, a Croatian auto parts retail chain, on the acquisition of all shares in Slovenian tire distribution company Bartog from private individuals Jasna Bartolj Kotar and Darija Bartolj Umek. The sellers were advised by solo practitioners Mihael Prcic and Janez Tekavc.

The SEE Legal law firm alliance has announced the formal launch of two new practice groups, one dedicated to Employment and Immigration, headed by Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli Counsel Maral Minasyan, and one dedicated to Intellectual Property, headed by Selih & Partnerji Partner Natasa Pipan Nahtigal.

Karanovic & Partners has announced the withdrawal of Founding Partners Patricia Gannon and Dejan Nikolic, after a prolonged process.

For our Checking In feature, we reach out to partners and heads of practice across CEE to learn how specific practice areas are faring in their jurisdictions. This time around we asked firm Energy experts: What, in your view, is the most effective scheme currently in place in your jurisdiction to attract investments in renewable energy? If you had to pick one, what additional step from the regulators do you believe would have the most positive impact?

As Europe begins a tentative re-opening following several difficult months of quarantining, social distancing, and working-from-home, we spoke to CMS’s Warsaw-based Employment Partner Katarzyna Dulewicz and Vienna-based Dispute Resolution Partner Daniela Karollus-Bruner for their perspective on the process.

Efficient energy consumption, reducing CO2 emissions, and energy from renewable sources have been in the spotlight of the European Union for a while now. Although the Republic of Slovenia has not attained the goals envisaged by the EU by 2020 – i.e., a 20% share of energy produced from renewable sources (i.e., 20% increase in energy efficiency and 20% reduction in CO2 emissions) – it remains above the EU average in that regard. Renewable energy sources amount to less than 3% of the overall energy produced in Slovenia, with the rest acquired through nuclear power (40%), fossil fuels (33%), and hydro energy (25%), allowing for substantial growth of the former in the future.