CEE Legal Matters

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  • Binder Groesswang Partner Joins Wolf Theiss

    Wolf Theiss has announced that Austrian Corporate/M&A Partner Michael Lind has left Binder Groesswang after five years to join the firm.

    Before Binder Groesswang Lind spent five years with Schoenherr, and has experience with both Slaughter and May and Alston & Bird in London as well.

    In a statement released by the firm, Wolf Theiss reports of Lind that, “in the first half of 2014, he was leading several deals, including the sale of SAP Consulting by Software AG [reported on by CEE Legal Matters on June 4, 2014], the take-over of immobilien.net by Scout 24 [reported on by CEE Legal Matters on May 30, 2014] and the sale of the Beauty and Personal Care Folding Carton Business by MeadWestvaco Group [reported on by CEE Legal Matters on June 4, 2014].”

    Lind was quoted on the firm’s press release as saying that, “Wolf Theiss’ outstanding record on advising in cross-border M&A transactions and their regional presence in CEE and SEE suits my main fields of interest.”  Wolf Theiss Managing Partner Erik Steger commented on the addition as well: “We are very glad to win such a dynamic colleague like Michael Lind. His addition to our M&A Team for Austria and CEE will only enhance the team’s core competency – advising on complex and cross-border transactions.”  

     

  • New Partner and Team Join A&O

    RTPR Allen & Overy has announced that litigator Valentin Berea has joined the firm as Partner, bringing with him a team of three lawyers. Berea moves over from Bulboaca & Asociatii in Bucharest, where he spent the past 7 years.  

    Berea specializes in Competition and Anti-trust litigation matters. RTPR Allen & Over notes that he, “succeeded in obtaining in court the first significant reduction (of over 80%) of a fine imposed by the Competition Council (on the insulin trading market), based on a mitigating circumstance, which set a precedent of reducing in court the fines imposed by the competition authority.” He also specializes in commercial disputes and arbitrations, as well as being a certified IP counselor and an Assisting Professor at the Bucharest Law University. 

    In a statement released by the firm, Berea announced his enthusiasm at the move: “I am pleased to join a team of lawyers whom I appreciate very much. Along with some of them, I started my career more than 12 years ago, and we remained friends throughout this period. I am also very delighted to be working again with Professor Lucian Mihai, who made a decisive contribution to my training as a lawyer. The existence of this history and common values, coupled with the professional skills that we have developed and proven so far, are strong arguments which give me every confidence that together we will be a formidable team.”

    For his part, Costin Taracila, Managing Partner of RTPR Allen & Overy, is delighted to bring an old colleague back into the fold: “Valentin is one of the most respected litigation and competition lawyers and we are delighted to have him join us. As colleagues for several years with both Valentin and Professor Lucian Mihai, at Linklaters, we are delighted to find ourselves again in a successful team” 

     

  • Baker & McKenzie Advises on First Euro-Commercial Paper Program by an Azerbaijani Bank

    Baker & McKenzie has successfully advised BCP Securities and BNP Paribas as arrangers and permanent dealers on the establishment of a debut USD 50 million Euro-commercial paper program for Muganbank, a leading commercial bank in Azerbaijan, and the first offering of notes under the program.

    The firm describes this as “the first ECP program established in Azerbaijan”, and says that the proceeds from the issue will be used for the bank’s general corporate purposes.

    With 38 branches and seven sub-branches throughout Azerbaijan, Muganbank’s primary business consists of lending, deposit taking, payments and money transfers, commercial activities, foreign currency trading and issuing guarantees.

    Baker & McKenzie’s team was led by Moscow-based Partner Roy Pearce, working with Baku-based Partner Altay Mustafayev, and Associate Sahar Kianfar. In a statement released by the firm, Pearce stated that, “we are delighted that our cross-border team was able to help Muganbank successfully enter the  Euro-commercial paper market and believe this will prove to be an attractive source of funding for other banks and corporates in Azerbaijan.”

    Elmir Hasanov, Chairman of Muganbank’s management board, was similarly pleased, saying that, “I would like to emphasize that it is our first entry into the European market. Many thanks to our partners for their great teamwork that helped us in this accomplishment. I hope the successfully established close cooperation will bring us further success and new achievements.”

     

  • Hedman Partners Part of Silicon Vikings’ New Estonian Chapter

    Hedman Partners reports that Silicon Vikings, a network connecting start-up entrepreneurs and investors between Silicon Valley and the Nordics, has established a chapter in Tallinn.

    Silicon Vikings was established 15 years ago with the goal of increasing awareness of the technology potential in the Nordic region amongst the entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley. Silicon Vikings hosts regular meetings, social gatherings and educational seminars across the US and Europe, actively engaging start-up ventures in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway and now also in Estonia. The company focuses solely on Nordic start-ups. “We believe that people from Nordic countries share a similar business culture and mindset,” said Silicon Vikings’ CEO Ingrid Echter. “This focus allows us to ensure assistance and contacts that are actually relevant to them in Silicon Valley.”

    According to a Hedman Partners press release, “Silicon Vikings’ launch event in Tallinn featured presentations about their success stories in Silicon Valleys by several tech entrepreneurs with an Estonian connection – Steve Jurvetson, Sten Tamkivi, Rain Rannu and others. The event was organized jointly by the Estonian Development Fund, Enterprise Estonia and law firm Hedman Partners.”

    Hedman Partners’ Managing Partner Merlin Salvik explains the purpose of the network: “We aim to continue bringing remarkable speakers to Estonia to give  local entrepreneurs the opportunity to directly interact with the “creme de la creme” of the tech world and help them take further steps towards their success by providing relevant information about the opportunities and activities in Silicon Valley.”

     

  • Dentons Hires New COO for Europe

    Richard Singer, the former Chief Operating Officer for Central & Eastern Europe and EMEA Director of Strategic Projects at White & Case, has left the White Shoe firm to join Dentons in Prague. Singer joins the firm as Chief Operating Officer for Europe.

    After graduating from the University of Economics in Prague in 1999, Singer joined Arthur Anderson, and he spent seven years with Ernst & Young as Sales Director, Directors of Business Development for first Eastern Europe and then Central & Southeast Europe. He had been with White & Case since May, 2009.

    The news of Singer’s departure comes less than two months after the news that White & Case’s Head of HR for EMEA left the firm to join Eversheds in London. 

  • Goltsblat BLP Wins Attorney Fees Award for IKEA

    Goltsblat BLP has successfully defended the interests of IKEA regarding what it describes as “unsubstantiated claims” made by the “Khimki” collective agricultural enterprise, including the recovery of 100% of legal costs.

    The case involved a dispute over the ownership of real estate located on a former collective farm. After a drawn-out process Goltsblat BLP achieved a full victory for IKEA. The Court then also granted IKEA’s application to have the Plaintiff reimburse its RUB 13 million in attorneys’  fees and related costs.

    Andrey Goltsblat, the Managing Partner of Goltsblat BLP described the award thus: “This collaborative effort between the team of lawyers of Goltsblat BLP is especially significant considering that the amount reimbursed is one of the three largest cost recovery awards in the jurisprudence of the Russian Federation.” And Ivan Veselov, Head of Dispute Resolution at the firm, said: “Such decisions regarding the collection of substantial litigation costs are important for Russian legal space. They help reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, thereby reducing the burden on the courts and protecting companies from many unsubstantiated claims, because the risk of financial loss for these plaintiffs becomes a significant factor. Ultimately, this will improve the quality of justice by allowing judges to devote more time to really complex legal issues. “

     

  • Presidential Administration Appointment For VKP Partner

    Vasil Kisil & Partners has announced that Partner Oleksiy Filatov has been appointed Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration by Order of the President of Ukraine.  

    Filatov joined Vasil Kisil & Partners in 2003 as an Associate Partner and became Partner in 2005. Since 2007 he has served as Head of VKP’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group, where he led a team of 30 lawyers and represented VKP’s clients in international arbitrations and domestic courts. VKP reports that Filatov was “regularly invited as an expert on Ukrainian law in various international arbitration and litigation proceedings.”

    Senior Partner Vasil Kisil issued a statement about the news: “We highly appreciate the long-lasting successful cooperation and contribution made by Mr. Oleksiy Filatov to the development of our firm as a whole and its Dispute Resolution and Intellectual Property Practice Groups in particular. We congratulate Mr. Filatov on his new appointment and strongly believe that his professionalism would help him meet new challenges at the government level. We wish Oleksiy the very best in his new position.” 

  • Schoenherr Advises Waters Technologies on IKnife Acquisition

    Schoenherr’s Budapest office has assisted the US-based Waters Technologies Corporation in connection with its acquisition of certain assets of MediMass, a Hungarian medical R&D company.

    The deal involves an intelligent surgical device called iKnife that is capable of analyzing cancerous and healthy tissues in real time during surgeries, and Waters Technologies acquired certain assets, extensive IP assets, contracts and employees related to its development. Waters Technologies said all the acquired assets relate to rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry, or REIMS, technology being developed for use in an intelligent knife which could be used to give real-time diagnostics in surgery. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Waters Technologies is based in Milford, Massachusetts. The company makes scientific equipment used for healthcare, environmental and other industries, and specializes in instruments for chromatography (separating complex chemical compounds into their elements) and mass spectrometry (the analysis of those elements to determine their molecular structure). “While showing promise across many applications, REIMS technology significantly strengthens Waters’ technology position within health sciences,” said Rohit Khanna, Waters Technologies’ Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Informatics, in a statement. 

    The Schoenherr team was led by Budapest-based Partner Sandor Haboczky, who was supported by Attorney-at-law Daniel Varga. Kinga Hetenyi, Managing Partner of the Budapest office provided employment related advice supported by Associate Aniko Nagy. The lead counsel of the purchaser was Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. The seller was represented by Squire Patton Boggs and the Mihaly Matrai Law Firm.

     

  • EPAP Lawyer Elected to Prosecutor Office

    Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners Counsel Sergiy Grebenyuk has been elected Deputy Head of the Consultative Council of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office.  

    According to EPAP, the Consultative Council “is an advisory body to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The Consultative Council is composed of high level representatives from Ukrainian legal society, public organizations, human rights organizations, mass media, etc.” Members of the Consultative Council are elected for two-year terms.

    Grebenyuk, who is Co-head of EPAP’s Criminal Law Practice in Ukraine, has a history of public interest work. In 2012, he was elected Deputy Head of the Committee of Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law of the Ukrainian Bar Association, and since June 2013 he has led UBA’s Kiev branch. 

     

  • KLC Law Firm Advises Hellenic Fund on Public Tender

    KLC Law Firm has provided legal advice to the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) on an international public tender for the acquisition of real rights and rights of use on real estate properties with development potential as boutique hotels.

    The tender process involves selected Xenia Hotels, the former Sanatoria “Mana” in Vytina and “St. Eleoussa” in Rhodes, Villa de Vecchi in Rhodes, as well as three Mansions (Xiradaki, Mousli & Evangelinaki) in Pelion.

    According to the firm, these properties “are of high historical and cultural value and are situated in privileged locations in Greece.”