CMS' Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka has been appointed as Vice-President of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Aside from Surdek-Janicka, 33 lawyers from CEE were appointed as members and alternate members of the court.

The matter on labour assignment has recently become topical in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), due to the increased need of business entities to hire staff who are not on their payrolls.

Bosnia & Herzegovina is finally seeing the breaking of a two-year-old deadlock that paralyzed its securities commission and halted business, says BH Legal Partner Jasmina Suljovic, underlining the most important recent development in the country.

Wolf Theiss and Spain's Uria Menendez have advised Spain's Glovo on its EUR 170 million acquisition of Delivery Hero's food delivery service businesses in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia. Cuatrecasas advised Delivery Hero.

BDK Advokati, working with lead counsel Allen & Overy, has advised the joint lead managers, including Societe Generale, on Republika Srpska’s global EUR 300 million Eurobond offering on the London Stock Exchange.

Up until the adoption of the Laws on Property Rights in Republika Srpska (in 2008) and in the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina (in 2013), the only legal basis to obtain a construction permit and erect a lawful building was to first acquire ownership over the land on which the building is to be constructed, usually through a purchase agreement, as, according to the provisions of the applicable Laws of Physical Planning, as well as the general legal framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an investor must obtain construction rights over real property to obtain a construction permit for that property.

A new law firm alliance has appeared in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina (“ITA”) conducts, among other, the registration of the taxpayers for Value Added Tax (“VAT”) purposes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Pursuant to the applicable Value Added Tax Act of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are two types of registration: (i) obligatory – in case the turnover in previous year exceeds or is likely to exceed the amount of BAM 50,000 and (ii) voluntary.

Legal Partners and Krehic & Partners, both members of the Deloitte Legal Network, advised a group of German investors led by Brillant3221. GmbH on the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Dolomit d.o.o. Kupres, which exploits and processes minerals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On December 15, 2020 CEELM gathered legal experts from across the region for its annual Year-in-Review Round Table conversation. In a wide-ranging discussion, participants shared opinions and perspectives on their markets, on strong (and less-strong) practices across the region, and the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on both, as well as on how technology is changing the legal industry, and what the industry will look like in 2021.

Squeeze-out of minority shareholders is an important concept for joint stock companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). In the previous socialist system, many then-state-owned joint stock companies issued employee stocks as a form of partial privatization, leading to some companies having hundreds of minority shareholders with miniscule amounts of shares. This complicated the management of these companies, as majority ownership changed from state to private, since many small shareholders are unreachable, as they may be deceased or have relocated with unknown addresses. This situation often makes squeeze-outs essential for majority shareholders in order to efficiently manage these companies.

Sajic has successfully represented Elektropenos BiH a.d. Banjaluka in a commercial dispute worth EUR 31 million, including interest. 

Under Bosnia and Herzegovina law, a pledge can be granted solely to a creditor of a claim. This hampers the creation of effective security for securing syndicated facilities (e.g.,  loans provided to debtor by more than one lender). In practice, this is solved by creating a “parallel debt structure” and appointing a security agent who holds pledges in favor of all lenders. Despite its broad use, this structure has not been tested before local courts. Thus, questions about its validity remain unsettled.

Bosnian lawyers Natasa Krejic and Sanja Djukic have been promoted from Partner to Senior Partner at the Sajic law firm.

Sajic and Kinstellar have advised NLB Bank on its take-over of the majority of shares in Komercijalna Banka a.d. Beograd.

The Milosevic Law Firm has advised Bat Hotel on its sale of the Hotel Bistrica ski resort in the Jahorina mountain of Bosnia and Herzegovina to ZTC Banja Vrucica.

Dimitrijevic & Partners, Mihaj Ilic Milanovic, and Mikijelj Jankovic & Bogdanovic have successfully represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in an investment arbitration with Naveen Aggarwal, Neeta Gupta, and Usha Industries, heard by an arbitration tribunal in Paris.

“The country we live in is, in many ways, just a mirage – there are indications of there being a functioning state, but in reality it is very difficult to see it,” says Maric & Co. Managing Partner Branko Maric, noting that, “for over two years now, since the last general election, we have had a technical government.”