A couple of legislative changes that affect working parents, foreign employees and posted employees recently came into effect in Slovenia.

On June 7, 2023, the Arbitration Association of Central and Eastern Europe – ArbCEE – was officially launched in Bratislava.

In the past few years, the global community has faced the acute challenges of the COVID-19 health crisis and the war in Ukraine, which significantly impacted the continuing rapid increase of prices in the building industry. The main reasons for the rising prices of building materials were initially linked to the health crisis, as many production facilities were closed and production was severely delayed. Once the post-closure period started, demand for materials worldwide surged, exceeding supply.

Contributed by Jerovsek & Malis.

Cytowski & Partners has advised both South Central Ventures and Serbia's HireApp on their USD 1.5 million seed financing agreement.

Wolf Theiss has advised Erste Group Bank on WG Projektiranje’s sale of the Velenjka shopping center in Velenje, Slovenia, to Velenjka doo. The Ptuj-based Mayr law firm reportedly advised the buyer.

Slovenia strongly emphasizes infrastructure development as an integral component of its commitment to the green transition, together with developments in solar, wind, geothermal, and hydrogen energy projects, according to Selih & Partnerji Partner Blaz Ogorevc.

Contributed by Jadek & Pensa.

Schoenherr, working with Luther and Hogan Lovells, has advised the Cargo-Partner Group Holding on its EUR 1.4 billion sale of Cargo-Partner GmbH and 60 other subsidiaries to Nippon Express Holdings. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the buyer.

CMS has advised Best in Parking and its majority shareholder Breiteneder Immobilien Parking on receiving a minority investment from Macquarie Asset Management. Linklaters advised Macquarie Asset Management.

Schoenherr has advised Seven Refractories on the EUR 93 million sale of its European, Indian, and US operations to RHI Magnesita. Brandl Talos advised Seven Refractories' founder and CEO Erik Zobec as well as other minority management shareholders. Cerha Hempel and Ulcar & Partnerji, working with Clifford Chance, Khaitan & Khaitan, Legance, Harneys, Eubelius, and Barnes & Thornburg, advised the buyer.

Ketler & Partners, a member of Karanovic, and Ilej & Partners in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners have advised the Volution Group on its acquisition of I-Vent in Slovenia and Croatia for EUR 25.2 million on a debt-free cash-free basis from Milan Kuster. Zagorc & Partners advised Kuster on the sale.

In May 2022, the European Commission announced the REPowerEU Action Plan, proposing a package of measures to accelerate the energy transition, made even more urgent by the high dependence on Russian gas. Given the urgency of deploying renewable energy installations, the EC highlighted the generation of electricity from solar energy (i.e., solar power plants, photovoltaics) as a priority and key issue. Such technology has a minimal environmental impact (especially when installed on existing built surfaces), high public acceptance, the fastest technical feasibility, and, last but not least, a low cost (the price of the technology has fallen by around 82% over the last decade).

An in-depth look at Katarina Kresal of Senica & Partners covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

Over the past few years, there has been a significant surge in the number of collective actions being filed by consumer organizations in Slovenia. Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners Partner Aljosa Krdzic and Jadek & Pensa Partner Mitja Podpecan discuss the current surge of collective actions being taken against companies, along with the primary factors driving it, and make predictions regarding the outcome of such litigations.

In the spirit of CEE Legal Matters’s upcoming Tenth Anniversary, Fatur Menard Head of M&A Practice Lea Vatovec Miklavcic and Senica Managing Partner Uros Cop provide an evolutionary insight into the Slovenian market from a legal, economic, and business standpoint.

Kinstellar and ODI Law, working with Morgan Lewis London, have advised TAWAL on its bid to acquire the Bulgarian, Croatian, and Slovenian tower assets of the United Group for EUR 1.2 billion. Jadek and Pensa and Bradvica, Maric, Wahl, Cesarec advised the United Group. Paul Weiss and Kambourov and Partners reportedly advised United as well.

Several years have passed since the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) has been in force in the EU, regulating personal data protection. Although the GDPR is directly applicable, the act governing the matter of personal data protection must nevertheless be adopted in each member state, as some areas in the GDPR are left to be governed by the national law of each country.In addition, the adoption of a national law is a precondition for imposing fines and appointing a supervisory authority. Those are the main reasons for systematic regulation of the field of data protection in Slovenia by the new Personal Data Protection Act (“Act”). The Act will apply as of 26 January 2023.