Integrites has successfully represented the interests of the Gradoliya Oil Extraction Plant in two stages of a tax dispute against the Main Directorate of the State Tax Services in the Kirovohrad region, Ukraine.

Schoenherr has advised Oiltanking on the sale of a 91.1% stake in a liquid storage terminal at the Black Sea in Devnya, Varna, to Astra-Finance. 

Cobalt has advised Levinum on the establishment of the fine wine investment fund WineFortune.

Velchev & Co has helped Premier Energy obtain a natural gas trading license in the Republic of Bulgaria.

Sorainen has advised the Better Fund on obtaining an activity license from Estonia’s financial supervision and resolution authority.

On October 20, 2022, the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 140/2022 on the single industrial licence (“GEO 140/2022”) adopted by the Romanian Government has been published in the Official Gazette.

Clifford Chance has advised Baltic Hub on the expansion and refinancing of its existing debt and the construction of the third deep-water sea container terminal in Gdansk.

In the previous article, we have included information about the value of cryptocurrencies in the metaverse within the framework of the financial metaverse and the transactions that constitute the subject of the financial metaverse. Now, from the perspective of the financial metaverse, we will discuss the banking sector, the current status of cryptocurrencies in Turkey, and whether the digital products obtained as a result of financial transactions can be evaluated within the scope of property rights by the courts, the compliance processes and legal aspects that should be considered in Meta-Fi.

Schima Mayer Starlinger has advised +Simple on its acquisition – via German subsidiary Carl Rieck – of a portfolio of insurance brokerages from Austria-based Alt+Partner.

Paksoy has advised the General Directorate of Mint and Stamp Printing House of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance of Turkey on a gold certificate issuance and listing on the Borsa Istanbul Commodity Market.

On August 23, 2022, CEE Legal Matters reported that JSK had advised Credit Value Investments on its investment in the Saunia Group through bond financing. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Radoslav Tausinger, Managing Director at Credit Value Investments (CVI), to learn more about the matter.

Bernitsas Law, working with Allen & Overy, has advised Piraeus Bank on its EUR 350 million issuance of senior preferred bonds and on their listing on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s Euro MTF market.

In the last two months, the Commission for the Protection of Competition (“Commission”) initiated several different proceedings i.e., 3 gun-jumping cases, one for abuse of a dominant position and one case regarding restrictive agreements. It is necessary to pay attention to these proceedings, because they are not coincidences but rather are initiated due to Commission’s reasonable doubt that market participants have breached the Law on Protection of Competition of Republic of Serbia (“Law“).

Following a thorough evaluation and review of the 2010 rules regarding vertical agreements and concerted practices, the European Commission adopted the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”), which entered into force on 1 June 2022, accompanied by revised Guidelines on Vertical Restraints. It is assumed that the latest alterations and their potential effects on the commercial ecosystem will slowly find their place in Turkish competition legislation and practice.

With large energy and infrastructure projects under development in Bosnia and Herzegovina, local legal professionals are facing an uphill battle against the double standards in their industry, according to Sajic Law Firm Senior Partner Natasa Krejic.

Sorainen has provided pro bono advice to circular economy start-up FudLoop on the administrative law and compliance aspects of its daily operations. 

The Digital Services Act ("DSA") was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 October 2022. This means that the Act, targeting numerous online services, will enter into force only 20 days later, on 16 November 2022.

Partner Pawel Hincz and Counsel Juliusz Krzyzanowski have been appointed as Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences M&A and Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences Regulatory, respectively, within Baker McKenzie’s Warsaw Office.

Clifford Chance has advised Baltic Hub on the expansion and refinancing of its existing debt and the construction of the third deep-water sea container terminal in Gdansk.

Former Counsel Katarzyna Czwartosz-Liber and former Associate Monika Duzynska have been promoted to Local Partners with White & Case's Warsaw office, effective January 1, 2023, as part of the firm's global promotion round. 

Cobalt has advised Neo Performance Materials – the parent company of NPM Silmet OU – on establishing a sintered rare-earth magnet manufacturing facility in Estonia.

Cobalt has advised Neo Performance Materials – the parent company of NPM Silmet OU – on establishing a sintered rare-earth magnet manufacturing facility in Estonia.

Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak has advised Altiplano on the construction agreement for a 137-megawatt wind farm with a consortium of ONDE and P&Q.

Late last year, the European Commission ("EC") adopted a legislative package on hydrogen and decarbonised gas, which includes a proposal for a Directive on Common Rules for Internal Markets in Renewable and Natural Gases and in Hydrogen ("Draft Gas Directive"). On 9 September 2022, the EC published a revised version of this directive, the key objective of which is to regulate hydrogen as an independent energy carrier.

Former Constitutional Court judge and National Anti-Corruption Department Chief Prosecutor Daniel Morar has joined forces with the Albu Legal white-collar and corporate crime law firm, joining as a Senior Partner to form Albu Morar.

Act Randa Havel Legal has successfully represented Seznam.cz in a defamation dispute against Jan Hamacek regarding articles published on the topic of the former minister's planned trip to Moscow.

Dentons has successfully represented Mariano Ruiz and his husband Jakub Sanko, on a pro bono basis, before the Regional Court in Zilina in residential proceedings.

Former Aldertree Legal Partners Zoran Draskovic and Peter Hodal have joined Hillbridges as Partners together with their team.

With large energy and infrastructure projects under development in Bosnia and Herzegovina, local legal professionals are facing an uphill battle against the double standards in their industry, according to Sajic Law Firm Senior Partner Natasa Krejic.

Krynicki Dajczer Kaminski Herominski has represented MS-EKO before the National Appeal Chamber and the District Court in Warsaw as one of the contractors challenging a single-source procurement organized by the City of Warsaw.

White & Case has advised Sberbank CZ insolvency trustee Jirina Luzova on the CZK 41 billion sale of Sberbank CZ’s assets to Ceska Sporitelna. Skils advised the buyer.

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised Westfort Capital Limited on the sale and financing restructuring of two hotels located in Rhodes and Crete.

Tomasz Romanowski and Piotr Kieloch have been appointed as Partners with Resist Rezanko Sitek.

Warsaw, 25 November 2022 – HR departments located outside our country, acting on behalf of their employer, are nowadays a fairly common practice, especially in multinational corporations. What does the liability of these individuals look like? The risk of penal liability for minor offences committed by employees operating outside Poland against employees operating in Poland is low, but it can happen. This occurs in cases where the perpetrator acted outside Poland, but the consequences belonging to the elements of a minor offence ensued in Poland.

A proposal for the modification of the Labour Code was filed to the Hungarian Parliament on 2 November 2022. The bill aims to ensure compliance with the EU Directives No. 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers and No. 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions.

On 4 October 2022, the Slovak parliament adopted an amendment to the Labour Code (the "Amendment") that enters into effect on 1 November 2022. The aim of the Amendment is mainly to implement two EU directives (No. 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the EU and No. 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers) and to respond to certain requirements resulting from application practice. In this article, we present an overview of the most important changes.

The Regulation on the Amendment (“Amendment Regulation”) of the Cosmetics Regulation (“Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 14 November 2022 and numbered 32013 and entered into force on the same date.

MFW Fialek has advised the shareholders of Grupa Nowy Szpital Holding on the sale of the company to PHPL, part of the Penta Hospitals International group.

While Lithuania is registering an overall slowdown in M&A transactions, the renewables, technology, and healthcare sectors remain dynamic, according to Ellex Partner Ruta Armone.

History shows that the last bastion of freedom of speech, which guarantees these values, is the free press. But it’s no secret that since 2015, key constitutional values have been in crisis. Over the past three years, there have been repeated legal actions by state institutions, state-owned companies, businessmen and other lobbying organizations aimed at stifling the work of journalists, publishers and NGOs.

Former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Senior Associate Ricardo Gardini de Andrade has joined DLA Piper's Vienna office as a Partner to work in the firm's Litigation & Regulatory practice.

Former CMS Senior Counsel Peter Szilas has joined Jalsovszky as a Senior Associate and Head of the firm's Commercial Litigation practice.

Hogan Lovells and PRK Partners have advised Polish-Czech RGW Express Group owner Hartmut Luetz on the sale of all shares in the company to French Groupe BBL.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Panattoni on the construction of an 87,300 square-meter built-to-suit facility for Tedi and subsequent sale of the asset to Tedi affiliate HH Immo. Dentons advised Tedi on the acquisition. 

Eversheds Sutherland has advised PJ Expedis on its merger with RSBC Logistics. Forlex reportedly advised RSBC Logistics.

Clifford Chance has advised Baltic Hub on the expansion and refinancing of its existing debt and the construction of the third deep-water sea container terminal in Gdansk.

Ellex and Wardynski & Partners, working with Thommessen, have advised Hampidjan on its acquisition of the Morenot Group from FSN Capital Partners. Norway's Haavind and Iceland's BBA Fjeldco advised FSN Capital.

Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak has advised Sea/ by Maritech company Maritech Holdings Limited on its acquisition of Setapp. Lukasz Lenartowicz reportedly advised the seller.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership has advised Sabanci Ventures on its investment in SCW.AI.

Cobalt has advised Change Ventures on leading the USD 2 million pre-seed financing round for influencer marketing software start-up Modash. Tark advised Modash and its founders on the round.

Taylor Wessing has advised Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU on the intra-group merger with Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Energia.

On November 29, 2022, Eversheds Sutherland announced that the construction of the first Czech Ronald McDonald House by Nadacni Fond Dum Ronalda McDonalda (reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 21, 2021) had been finalized.

Sorainen has provided pro bono legal support to Filaret on drafting contracts for its cigarette butt waste upcycling program.

Sorainen has advised the Better Fund on obtaining an activity license from Estonia’s financial supervision and resolution authority.

Clifford Chance has advised Baltic Hub on the expansion and refinancing of its existing debt and the construction of the third deep-water sea container terminal in Gdansk.

Former Counsel Katarzyna Czwartosz-Liber and former Associate Monika Duzynska have been promoted to Local Partners with White & Case's Warsaw office, effective January 1, 2023, as part of the firm's global promotion round. 

Djingov Gouginski Kyutchukov & Velichkov has advised the Oman Investment Authority on the sale of a real estate portfolio to the Smart Property Fund.

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen has successfully represented Romanian electricity distributor ENEL E-Distributie Banat in a tax dispute regarding tax depreciation for transferred fixed assets. 

The Tax Foundation issued its annual International Tax Competitiveness Index (ITCI) of 38 OECD countries. The Index seeks to measure the extent to which a country’s tax system adheres to two important aspects of tax policy: competitiveness and neutrality. The ranking weighs variables across five categories: corporate taxes, individual taxes, consumption taxes, property taxes, and international tax rules.

Integrites has successfully represented the interests of the Gradoliya Oil Extraction Plant in two stages of a tax dispute against the Main Directorate of the State Tax Services in the Kirovohrad region, Ukraine.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership has advised Sabanci Ventures on its investment in SCW.AI.

In the previous article, we have included information about the value of cryptocurrencies in the metaverse within the framework of the financial metaverse and the transactions that constitute the subject of the financial metaverse. Now, from the perspective of the financial metaverse, we will discuss the banking sector, the current status of cryptocurrencies in Turkey, and whether the digital products obtained as a result of financial transactions can be evaluated within the scope of property rights by the courts, the compliance processes and legal aspects that should be considered in Meta-Fi.

Cobalt has advised Change Ventures on leading the USD 2 million pre-seed financing round for influencer marketing software start-up Modash. Tark advised Modash and its founders on the round.

Under Article 30 (5) (c) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering or terrorist financing (AML Directive 2015), Member States are obliged to ensure that information on beneficial ownership is accessible by any person or organisation that can demonstrate a legitimate interest in obtaining it.

The War in Ukraine left no market sectors unaffected and, according to Ilyashev & Partners Managing Partner Mikhail Ilyashev, things were no different for lawyers.

Former Constitutional Court judge and National Anti-Corruption Department Chief Prosecutor Daniel Morar has joined forces with the Albu Legal white-collar and corporate crime law firm, joining as a Senior Partner to form Albu Morar.