Serbia’s BDK Advokati has advised the French Gras Savoye insurance brokerage company on the acquisition of 51% of the shares in the Serbian REIB insurance brokerage company.
The firm’s team was headed by BDK Partners Vladimir Dasic and Mirjana Mladenovic.
KBC announced that the process set forth in agreements of 26 April 2013 with Societe Generale Srbija and Telenor Serbia on the divestment of KBC Banka, KBC’s banking entity in Serbia, had been concluded.
As agreed, Telenor now holds 100% of KBC Banka’s shares, while Societe Generale Srbija had already acquired KBC Banka’s key assets and deposits in August. The Jankovic, Popovic, & Mitic team advising the seller, KBC Insurance, was led by Partner Milica Subotic and Senior Lawyer Nikola Poznanovic.
Dentons represented Newag in proceedings before the Polish National Appeal Chamber (KIO) concerning a dispute over a tender for the delivery of 11 trains to Koleje Dolnoslaskie.
Koleje had chosen Newag’s bid over one submitted by Pesa, which it viewed as flagrantly underpriced. Pesa appealed the outcome of the tender but KIO dismissed the appeal and ruled in favor of the awarding body. If Pesa chooses not to appeal KIO’s ruling, Koleje Dolnoslaskie will be free to go ahead with Newag. Newag was represented in the appeal proceedings before KIO by Dentons Partner Aldona Kowalczyk, who heads the public procurements team in the firm’s Warsaw office.
Zita Harsanyi has joined PETOSEVIC Hungary to direct the firm’s Intellectual Property matters and direct the firm’s Budapest office.
Harsanyi has substantial experience in trademark, patent, and industrial design prosecution and is a member of the Hungarian Trademark Association and the Budapest Chamber of Attorneys at Law.
On November 25, 2013 the Solomyansky District Court of Kiev found that Philip Morris International Management was the lawful owner of the “Philip Morris International” trade name, and that the domain philipmorrisinternational.com.ua properly belonged to the company.
An individual using the name and domain was found to be unlawfully infringing on both, and ordered to cease doing so immediately.
Philip Morris was represented by Doubinsky & Osharova Partner Anton Koval, who indicated that the court’s judgment reflected well on Ukraine’s ability to effectively resolve domain disputes and thus should be understood as a positive development in IP-related jurisprudence.
We can’t deny it: This past year was, with all of its challenges, a great year for us. We saw hundreds of old friends — and made a similar number of new friends, all across the region. We traveled the world, and enjoyed innumerable good times at home. Most importantly … we introduced CEE Legal Markets to the world. Yes … 2013 was a pretty great year.
But we also have to be honest: We expect 2014 to be even better. The first issue of the CEE Legal Markets magazine will be completed and available in February, 2014, and with it we will have formally and completely launched our new venture: Introducing the premiere and go-to source of information, news, analysis and opinion about the lawyers and legal markets of this wonderful, challenging, dramatically growing part of the world.
As 2013 comes to a close, CEE dominates the news. Continuing unrest in Turkey. Maidan Square in Ukraine. The release of political prisoners in Russia leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. And on and on and on. The world is watching … and we intend to add unique and much-needed perspectives.
So we say good-bye to the old year and greet the new year with a perfect combination of excitement, pleasure, and anticipation. We hope all of our readers share our hopes for 2014, and that their own adventures bring similar challenges and rewards, opportunities, friendships, and growth.
Add a dollop of charity and an occasional helping hand, and you have a recipe for a fantastic year.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, CEE!
The Editors,
David Stuckey and Radu Cotarcea
P.S. And make sure to sign up for a subscription to our magazine — it’s the perfect gift for every lawyer you know.
Norton Rose Fulbright advised several lenders on the EUR 331 million financing of the project to expand and operate Zagreb Airport in Zagreb.
The loan, totaling EUR 198 million, was provided by Deutsche Bank, Unicredit Bank Austria, Zagrebacka Banka, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to ZAIC-A consortium, who are investing €133 million in the project. The consortium was awarded a 30 year design, build, finance, operation and maintenance concession in April 2012 and owns the airport’s operating company Medunarodna Zracna Luka Zagreb (MZLZ).
The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by banking partner Jon Ellis. Peter Hall, partner in London, and Martin Gdanski, partner in Paris, also worked on the deal. Jon Ellis, commented: “[..]The construction of the new terminal will significantly increase capacity at Zagreb Airport and we are pleased the financing has been brought to a successful close”.
The other firms involved were Madirazza & Partners, who provided Croatian legal advice to the lenders; Pinsent Masons and Porobija & Porobija, who were legal advisers to the sponsors; Freshfields Brukhaus Deringer, who advised the EIB on EIB specific aspects of the transaction; and Clifford Chance, who advised the IFC on their equity investment and intercreditor issues.
Hogan Lovells has advised the Shah Deniz Consortium (consisting of BP, the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Statoil, Total, Lukoil, TPAO, and NICO) as project counsel for the Stage 2 development of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Caspian Sea, which reached a final investment decision on December 17, 2013.
The Shah Deniz Stage 2 project is expected to diversify the European gas supply by bringing over 10 billion cubic meters a year of gas directly from the Caspian Sea, with another 6 bcma being sold to BOTAS in Turkey – in the process opening up what’s being called the “Southern Gas Corridor.”
Hogan Lovells Energy Partner Richard Tyler, who led the team, said that the project represents “an historic step in the Republic of Azerbaijan’s development as a major gas exporter”, and suggested that “implementation of the Project will alter the energy landscape of Europe and contribute significantly to Europe’s energy security and diversity of supply. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev described the project as “the Contract of the 21st Century”.
Tyler was supported by fellow Hogan Lovells Partners David Moss and David Levin, Senior Associate Ben Sulaiman; Of Counsels Colin Graham, Elisabeth Blunsdon, and Joanne Ede; Associates Matteo Matteucci, Janet Duff, and Oliver Searle; Consultant Jeremy Deeley; and Counsel Tobias Flasbarth. Hogan Lovells partners in Brussels and Rome assisted as well.
Dentons acted as legal counsel to a syndicate of international banks on a USD 72.5 million loan facility to Alfa Bank Ukraine with one year maturity, to be used for trade finance and general corporate purposes.
The Dentons team was led by Partner Natalya Selyakova in Kiev and Partner Matthew Harvey in London, supported by Kiev Associate Nikolay Zhovner.
Asters has acted as Ukrainian counsel to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) on a secured lending to Concern Galnaftogaz, a major Ukrainian petroleum distributor.
The aggregate financing package arranged by EBRD and IFC (with sub-participations by commercial banks), and BSTDB amounts to USD 180 million.
The financing will be used for modernization and expansion of Galnaftogaz’ petrol filling stations network in the southern and north-eastern parts of Ukraine by up to 60 new petrol filling stations and associated increase in working capital. The financing will help develop and improve the infrastructure for tank storage and liquefied petroleum gas modules, as well as expand the network of quality convenience stores, coffee shops and restaurants.
The team advising on the project consisted of Asters partner Iryna Pokanay and associates Gabriel Aslanian, Yulia Spolitak and Inna Bondarenko. Allen & Overy served as the English law counsel to the lenders.