Although in use long before, on January 1, 2018, a new type of equity funds – “capital funds from contributions” – were expressly recognized and regulated by the Slovak Commercial Code. These funds are considered a supplement to contributions to a company’s registered capital and may be created by all capital company forms in Slovakia, including joint stock and limited liability companies.

This article is an excerpt of Producing in CEE, Dentons’ guide to tax and financial incentives for film, television and digital media production.

Havel & Partners has advised Austria's Innofreight Consulting & Logistics on the formation of a joint venture with Slovakia's Budamar Logistics. Hamala Kluch Viglasky advised Budamar Logistics on the deal.

Havel & Partners has advised Vision Ventures on its venture capital investment in Slovakian start-up Eatster, which operates an online food order application.

Kinstellar has advised GTT Communications on the USD 2.15 billion sale of its business infrastructure in Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe to I Squared Capital. Linklaters advised the buyer on the deal.

Kinstellar has re-launched its Restructuring and Insolvency practice, with the new iteration to be co-led by Csilla Andreko, Head of Kinstellar's Banking & Finance practice, and Denise Hamer, Kinstellar Head of C/SEE Asset Solutions.

Dentons’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution team in Bratislava has helped petitioners obtain three favorable rulings from the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic. 

The second coronavirus wave is spreading across the globe and its negative economic implications are felt – once again – in the business environment. Although we all hoped that the end of 2020 would bring some relief in terms of the pandemic situation, the opposite is true.

The Slovak Competition Act (No. 136/2001 Coll. as amended) has been the cornerstone of Slovak competition law for almost two decades and has seen its share of major amendments. The Slovak Competition Authority has now decided to table a new Competition Act and has submitted a draft for preliminary consultation. The draft transposes the ECN+ Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1) and addresses a number of competition law issues that have been debated for years in Slovakia.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to nearly all businesses in the logistics and manufacturing sectors in Central and Eastern Europe, enough time has now lapsed that identifiable trends and opportunities are beginning to emerge. CMS Partners Ana-Marija Skoko, Ivan Gazdic, Iain Batty, and Lukas Hejduk agreed to share their thoughts about the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on logistics and manufacturing developments in their local markets and across CEE.

Dentons has advised Vseobecna Uverova Banka and UniCredit Bank on a EUR 105 million loan to J&T Real Estate for the construction of the Eurovea Tower in Slovakia. Relevans reportedly advised the unidentified borrower on the deal. 

If a company has fulfilled its purpose, its further existence is unprofitable, or if there are other justifying reasons, it is usually best to dissolve such a company and have it deregistered from the commercial register. Where the company has no legal successors to which its assets could be transferred, it must, however, first go into liquidation.

CMS has advised Green Source GmbH and its Solar Partners subsidiary on the EUR 66 million financing provided by Kommunalkredit Austria for the construction of power plants in Hungary. Wolf Theiss advised Kommunalkredit Austria.

Both Poland's Kochanski & Partners (on behalf of Poland's Muszynianka Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia) and the Bratislava office of Squire Patton Boggs (on behalf of the Slovak Republic) are claiming victory in a dispute involving the Agreement on the Protection and Promotion of Investments between the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Poland.

Oliver Werner has made Partner at and become Managing Partner of CMS Bratislava, and new Partner Sona Hankova has joined the firm from EY Law.

Kinstellar’s Bratislava office has advised E.ON on its acquisition of a 49% stake in electric utility Vychodoslovenska Energetika Holding from the German electric utilities provider RWE. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the seller on the deal. 

Due to the current unfavourable economic situation, many businesses are in arrears of their financial obligations. If a company is at risk of becoming bankrupt, it is obliged to take immediate steps to avert it (see the article “A Company in Crisis”). However, where a company is unsuccessful in staving off the crisis, bankruptcy proceedings are imminent. 

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?