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PRK Partners has announced that the firm’s “longstanding cooperation with the Tereza Maxova Foundation” has been recognized and acknowledged in the November newsletter of the Lex Mundi association.

The editors of the November issue praised three pro bono projects of its members around the world in particular, and according to PRK Partners, “one of those spotlighted was our pro bono project cooperating with and providing continuing support for the Tereza Maxova Foundation. PRK Partners provides the Tereza Maxova Foundation with essential legal services, head office, material and financial support.”

As reported in the Lex Mundi newsletter, “with more than 24,000 children and juveniles under institutional care, the Czech Republic numbers among countries with the greatest number of children growing up outside the family. The Tereza Maxova Foundation assists and supports these children with their integration into society and into a ‘normal’ life by giving them the chance to grow up in a family environment, to receive an education and develop good life skills.” 

PRK Partners Partner Daniel Rosicky, who serves as Vice-President of the Tereza Maxova Foundation, said: “Our partnership with Tereza Maxova is a unique combination of a professional relationship and interpersonal understanding. As most of our clients’ objectives are purely economic, we highly appreciate cooperating with a non-profit organzsation which clearly delivers help where it is actually needed.” In addition to providing legal assistance, PRK Partners also supported the Tereza Maxova Foundation in its successful initiative to pass an enforcement regulation for a new law aimed at the social and legal protection of children, including issues related to adoption. The new regulation came into force in 2013.

DZP has supervised the Remak-Rozruch group’s consolidation, which ended on November 3, 2014.

Due to the acquisition of Przedsiebiorstwo Inwestycyjno-Remontowe Energetyki i Przemyslu Remak-Rozruch by SBB Investments — Remak-Rozruch’s sole shareholder — SBB Investments took over all Remak-Rozruch’s rights, obligations, and assets, and changed its business name to SBB ENERGY. The consolidation process included the acquisition by SBB Investments of all Remak-Rozruch’s shares from previous shareholders, the transformation of SBB Investments into a joint-stock company, and finally merger of this company with Remak-Rozruch.

According to DXP, “SBB ENERGY is currently carrying out a number of key modernization projects, particularly for Zespol Elektrowni Patnow-Adamow-Konin, Elektrownia Opole, and Elektrownia Turow.”

The consolidation process was supervised by DZP Corporate/M&A lawyers Robert Niczyporuk and Przemyslaw Furmaga, with additional advice provided by Corporate/M&A lawyers Krzysztof Zakrzewski, Adam Pawlisz, Maciej Wasilewski, and Andrzej Dunikowski, IP/TMT lawyer Jaroslaw Konecko, and Tax lawyers Joanna Wierzejska and Grzegorz Sprawka.

Highly-regarded Bulgarian Banking & Finance Partner Reneta Petkova has left CMS to lead Deloitte Legal’s office in Sofia.

Petkova spent almost 9 years at CMS, becoming Bulgaria Managing Partner and Head of Banking & Finance, before moving to join Deloitte Legal as Associate Partner. She has more than 23 years of experience overall, including previous positions as Head of Legal at United Bulgarian Bank, Chief Legal Adviser at Bank Consolidation Company, Legal Adviser at Bankservice, Legal Adviser to the Management Board of the Bulgarian National Bank, and Senior Associate with the Hayhurst Robinson Law Firm. She specializes in asset finance, project finance, acquisition finance, corporate lending, and restructuring, as well as equity and debt finance, banking regulations and compliance, privatization, and M&A. 

In explaining why she left CMS for Deloitte, Petkova referred to the latter’s ability to combine its legal services with other forms of professional services offered by the Big 4. “Globalization requires integrated services, and I am a big fan of one-stop-shop services,” she said. “For me personally this combination between legal and the other practice services the Big 4 firms provide, including international advice and M&A, is a very good combination.” Petkova believes the Big 4 firms provide unique business development opportunities, noting that “of course I can rely on my contacts to develop the practice, but also on the contacts and relationship between other partners and the team here, so it’s much easier to reach the clients and to develop the law practice based on their existing relationships.”

Petkova graduated with an LL.M from the Sofia University Faculty of Law, and has been a member of the Sofia Bar since 2002. She also has a degree in Journalism from Sofia University.  

On November 20, Partners from six of the leading Capital Markets practices in Poland met in White & Case’s Warsaw Office for a CEE Legal Matters Round-Table on Capital Markets in the country.

Moderated by the CEE Legal Matters Editors, the round table included participants from both international firms and firms operating exclusively in the Polish market. Participants included:

• Host: Piotr Szelenbaum (White & Case) 
• Piotr Lesinski (Allen & Overy) 
• Konrad Konarski (Baker & McKenzie) 
• Ludomir Biedecki (DJBW) 
• Krzysztof Haladyj (Eversheds) 
• Jacek Jonak (JONAK) 
• Pawel Wajda (White & Case)

The conversation touched upon the slowdown of the Equity Capital Market in Poland and identified three main reasons: (1) the slowdown of the privatization program (carried out through the stock exchange); (2) the Pension Fund Reform in Poland — affecting one of the largest capital holders in the market; and (3) the lift of restrictions on investing abroad for these funds. The general consensus at the table was that Poland’s days as the tiger of CEE ECMs may be gone, but the participants to a man expressed optimism over their pipelines of work in Debt Capital Markets, which most believe is far more sophisticated and will likely keep their firms busy for years to come. 

Szelenbaum commented after the round table: “Although there is currently a certain stagnation in the development of the capital market, it is worth noting that the legal community is positive about the near future. DCM and in particular debt financing based on high yield bonds is at the moment the most dynamic part of the market. The outlook for ECM is also changing in a positive direction. I believe also that the regulations adopted by the EU authorities will have a dominant influence on the functioning and the further development of the capital market, to add a third element to the entire picture, i.e., regulatory work.”

A full summary of the discussion will be included in the December issue of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine.

CMS has reported that it advised both Gladiator Leasing — a subsidiary of Erste Group Bank AG — and Erse Group Bank itself in Gladiator Leasing’s purchase of an airplane owned by the American company Aircraft 28038.

Aircraft 28038 is a subsidiary of Aircastle, which is a global company involved in purchasing, leasing, and sales of commercial airplanes. Enter Air, a Polish charter airline with four permanent bases of operation — Chopin airport in Warsaw, the airport in Pyrzowice, the airport in Poznan, and the airport in Wroclaw — remains the operator of the airplane. The company leases a total of 14 Boeings, including the airplane belonging to Gladiator Leasing.

The CMS team consisted of Keith Wilson and Evonne Man from the London office as well as Malgorzata Chrusciak and Pawel Kulak from the Warsaw office. The team was responsible for all the legal aspects of the transaction, including arranging for the transfer of the airplane’s ownership and advising on issues related to financing the purchase and on governing law for securing claims under the credit agreement, as well as securing the bank’s claims, registering the new creditor and the securities in the civil aircraft register, and coordinating the successful closing of the transaction.

Aircastle was represented by the McCann Fitzgerald law office in Ireland, which specializes in aircraft finance transactions. The lessee, Enter Air, was supported by the Polish MMM Legal law firm, which provides services to aviation and tourism companies.

Lavrynovych & Partners has advised Vaderstad, a Ukrainian subsidiary of Europe’s largest agricultural machinery manufacturer, in litigation regarding the recognition and cancellation of UAH 1.05 million in tax fines imposed by the customs authorities of the Cherkasy province of Ukraine.

After what Lavrynovych & Partners describes as “a long litigation process,” the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine upheld the cassation appeal and upheld the court of first instance’s judgment that the claim had been fully satisfied.  

Vaderstad is a subsidiary of the Sweden-based company of the same name, which supplies soil tillage and seed drilling machinery. Vaderstad-Verken AB — is a family business founded by Rune and Siw Stark in 1962. According to Lavrynovych & Partners, “the family business has now grown into a large progressive company equipped with the latest technologies.”

The firm’s team was led by Associate Partner Andriy Moroz, who guided Associate Inna Rudnyk. 

Esin Attorney Partnership, the Turkish arm of Baker & McKenzie, has advised Global Liman I?letmeleri (Global Ports Holding) and the Guarantors, Ortadogu Antalya Liman Isletmeleri and Ege Liman Isletmeleri (both subsidiaries of Global Ports Holding) in relation to a USD 250 million Eurobond offering to foreign institutional buyers.

Global Ports Holding is the world’s largest cruise port operator, with a diversified portfolio of cruise and commercial ports in Turkey and the Mediterranean. 

Esin and Baker & McKenzie’s London office advised Global Ports Holding and the Guarantors in relation to USD 250 million 8.125 per cent unsecured senior notes due 2021 and offered: (a) for sale in the United States to qualified institutional buyers only as defined in, and in reliance upon, Rule 144A under the Securities Act and (b) for sale to non-US persons as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act outside the United States in reliance upon Regulation S. The deal was signed on November 7 and closed on November 14, 2014.

Now established as a leading port operator in Turkey, Global Ports Holding has built up a diversified portfolio of eight ports in five different countries with a combination of commercial port and cruise ports operations. The Group operates three ports in Turkey: one mixed-use commercial and cruise port on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast (Port Akdeniz in Antalya), and two cruise ports on Turkey’s Aegean coast (Ege Ports in Kusadasi and Bodrum Cruise Port in Bodrum). The Group has recently acquired interests in commercial port concessions in Montenegro and cruise port operations in Barcelona, Lisbon, Malaga, and Singapore, further enhancing its business model by providing an unmatched choice of destinations to cruise operators.  

London-based Partner Simon Porter and Istanbul-based Partner Muhsin Keskin advised Global Ports Holding and the Guarantors on the Eurobond offering, with support from Associates Erdem Sismangil (in Istanbul) and Alexander Dresch (in London).

“The domestic bond market has seen a lot of activity from corporates whereas the Banks have historically been the stars of the international bond market,” commented Partner Muhsin Keskin. “It is thrilling to see that Turkish corporates are increasingly tapping the international bond markets. We have been building an excellent track record advising issuers on their international bond offerings. The Global Ports Holding issue follows Yasar Holdings’ USD 250 million 8.875 per cent notes on which we also advised the issuer. We are currently working on other Eurobond offerings as well as international equity capital markets offerings.”

Freshfields has advised C.A.T. oil AG (Vienna) on safeguarding its strategic interests in the face of an unclear takeover bid.

According to a firm press release: “The background to this is an alleged change of CAT Holding (Cyprus) GmbH’s major shareholder as well as the public takeover bid for the leading provider of oil and gasfield services in Russia and Kazakhstan which was announced by Joma Industrial Source Corp. (Joma Industrial) on 31 October 2014. 

The management board had already asked Joma Industrial on 31 October 2014 to provide written proof of the alleged acquisition of the 50.25% share in CAT. Holding and the resultant control of the listed company. The management board also called on Joma Industrial to provide information on the intention, its plans in relation to strategy and the composition of the management board as well as on the financing of the planned public offer. To date, there has been no response to these requests by Joma Industrial or its representatives.

In addition, the management board has received confirmation from the supposed seller Dr. Walter Hoft that the alleged sale of his shares in CAT. Holding was not planned. Finally, Joma Industrial has also called into question the participation of Anna Brinkmann, Chief Operating Officer of C.A.T. oil AG and CAT. Holding shareholder.”

Freshfields has been advising C.A.T. oil since its Frankfurt IPO and on all important M&A and capital market transactions, most recently in relation to an equity placement by the major shareholder CAT Holding in January 2014. The Freshfields team consists of Vienna-based Partner Thomas Zottl, Counsel Stephan Pachinger, and Principal Associate Ludwig Hartenau, and Hamburg-based Partner Christoph Seibt and Associate Jorg-Peter Kraack.

Irina Nazarova, the Managing Partner of Engarde Attorneys at Law, has become a member of the Council for Judicial Reform within the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.

The Council was established by Decree of the President of Ukraine No.826/2014, on October 27, 2014. According to an Engarde press release, the Council is staffed by a number of leading lawyers, who have “devoted their professional careers to the development of justice in Ukraine.” The firm reports that the Council is the tasked with the following matters:

1) preparing and submitting proposals to the President of Ukraine regarding reforms to the judicial system and legal procedure, and developing implementation plans for that strategy;

2) contributing to the establishment of an effective mechanism of cooperation among state authorities, civil society, and international organizations on the issues of preparation and implementation of the proposed strategy for reforming the judicial system and legal procedure;

3) preparing proposals regarding the development of legislation in the sphere of judicial system and legal procedure, as well as the considering and evaluating proposals and initiatives by state authorities, civil society, and international organizations on the matters mentioned above;

4) monitoring the implementation and analyzing the effectiveness of Ukraine’s strategy for reforming the judicial system and legal procedure;

5) informing the public and the international community on the development and implementation of the proposed strategy for reforming the judicial system and legal procedure.

The Council for Judicial Reform will work as a consultative-and-advising body reporting to the President of Ukraine.

East Legal Team EEIG (European Economic Interest Grouping), an alliance of independent law firms from the Central and Eastern Europe, has moved its seat from Budapest to Bucharest.

As Tamas Balazs, Partner of Balazs & Kovatsis Legal Partnership — a Hungarian law firm — was the alliance’s elected President for the first few years, the seat of ELT was in Budapest from 2008-2014. But as the current President is based in Bucharest — Cosmin Mocanu, Partner of the Romanian law firm Stratula Mocanu & Asociatii, was elected ELT President in November, 2011 — the move to Romania was perhaps inevitable.

The alliance was founded in March 2008 and it is subject to the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/85 of 25 July 1985 on the European Economic Interest Grouping. The main purpose of East Legal Team is, according to the organization’s press release, to “provide a wealth of legal advantages arising from the ability to provide unified services at regional level.”

The alliance has six member law firms: PP&Z Law Firm (Bulgaria), Antonakis Soteriou & Associates (Cyprus), Balazs & Kovatsis Legal Partnership (Hungary), Mikulski & Partners (Poland), Stratula Mocanu & Asociatii (Romania), Petek Law Office (Slovenia). Also, ELT has one associate member, Petsch Frosch Klein Arturo Rechtsanwalte, with offices in Austria and Italy. East Legal Team is planning to enlarge its membership starting in 2015.