Romania launched a call for project proposals from companies interested in attracting financing from the EU Modernisation Fund, for investments in sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage or the modernisation of energy networks.

By virtue of Government Decree 408/2020 (VIII.30.), Hungary closed its borders to non-Hungarian citizens as of 1 September 2020. The new rules abolish the tricolour system of green, yellow and red countries we reported on earlier, qualifying literally all countries as red.

Cerha Hempel has advised OMV on the sale of its 51% stake in Gas Connect Austria GmbH to Verbund AG. Schoenherr advised Verbund on the EUR 271 million sale.

Laszlo Krupl, Attorney at Law and Head of the Real Estate Practice in Hungary at Schoenherr, on the status of the Hungarian Real Estate Market in a COVID-19 world.

Schoenherr has advised Austrian fintech Bitpanda on a European Series A financing round, led by Valar Ventures, and including other fintech investors such as Speedinvest. The funding secures USD 52 million to further drive Bitpanda's expansion.

The screening of foreign direct investments (FDIs) has been a hot topic for some time now across CEE. Several jurisdictions have adopted stricter measures of scrutiny allowing for the vetting of transactions potentially posing security risks.

Schoenherr’s Budapest and Prague offices have advised Covivio on its lease of the Carlo IV hotel in Prague and the New York Palace and New York Residence hotels in Budapest to the NH Hotel Group. CMS advised the NH Hotel Group on the deal. 

CMS has advised ACWA Power, Blackrock, and Crescent Capital on their sale of ACWA Power CF Karad PV Park and NOMAC Bulgaria, which operate the 60 MWp Karadzhalovo photovoltaic plant in Bulgaria, to Enery Development GmbH. Schoenherr advised the buyer on the deal.

Popovici Nitu Stoica and Asociatii has advised Auchan Retail Romania on its agreement with OMV Petrom to place 400 MyAuchan stores in the entire Petrom network over the next five years.

NNDKP has advised shareholders Gheorghe Iana and Vlad Ardeleanu on the sale of a majority stake in Medima Health to Morphosis Capital. Schoenherr’s Bucharest office reportedly advised Morphosis Capital on the deal. 

In Romania, companies that commit severe professional misconduct are excluded from participation in public procurement procedures. Yet, these companies have received some good news recently thanks to a common opinion issued by the Romanian National Agency for Public Procurement ("ANAP") and the national Competition Council (the "Common Opinion"). In this article we analyse the clarifications introduced by the Common Opinion on how self-cleaning can be achieved by blacklisted companies.

Schoenherr has advised BNP Paribas S.A. Citibank NA, London Branch, and Black Sea Trade and Development Bank on Bulgarian legal aspects of a EUR 90 million syndicated credit facility extended to Oliva AD and Buildcom EOOD, as well as on the establishment of a Bulgarian security package for the facility. Herbert Smith Freehills acted as English law counsel to the banks.

Former Weber & Co Partner Christoph Moser will re-join Schoenherr at the beginning of 2021.

The digitalisation of the Croatian court system is proceeding and e-communication is expanding. Snail mail and "paper" communication are on the verge of extinction. As of 1 September 2020, all legal entities will have to use e-communication with the court.

The Romanian labor market before the COVID-19 pandemic was very competitive. On the one hand, foreign companies closely monitored the opportunities of a developing market and local labor force, while on the other hand, the tradition of people traveling abroad in pursuit of happiness and the flood of young and bright minds out of the country had spread enough to make recruitment a difficult process and to significantly affect the labor market in general.

The main concern in the energy sector in Bulgaria, as in the rest of the EU, has shifted from constantly-increasing electricity prices to a significant drop in those prices during the pandemic. The Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange (IBEX) reported the lowest prices in Europe – from below EUR 4/MWh to approximately EUR 12/MWh – for the day ahead market during the first weekend of April. Although these record-breaking figures have not stayed constant, the reduction of electricity consumption in the industry sector is still prolonging the trend, which is obviously here to stay. Electricity prices from approximately EUR 14 to EUR 35 for the first week of May are still way below the weighted average price of EUR 48.64/MWh for the day ahead market for 2019.

“Poland’s Covid policy did not satisfy everyone – especially those in the retail sector,” says Marta Bijak-Haiduk, Local Partner at Schoenherr in Warsaw. “However, the market is getting back on track, and it is slowly learning how to move forward amid the crisis.”

Working outside of the employer's business premises deeply conflicts with the traditional concept of the working environment based on the worker's physical presence in a determined workplace. Nevertheless, exponential technological progress and globalisation trends have changed widely accepted notions about employment and placed work productivity above any other employment indicator. Therefore, the employee's physical presence in the employer's business premises has ceased to be a decisive condition for their inclusion in the organisation and processes. Furthermore, the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the significance and benefits of remote work and anticipated its expansion in the years to come.