CEE Legal Matters

Author: admin

  • Gide Promotes Partner in Poland

    French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel today promoted Pawel Grzeskowiak, who heads the firm’s Warsaw Banking & Finance department, to equity partner, effective January 1, 2014. 

    Grzeskowiak specializes in banking and finance projects (secured and structured lending operations) and private equity and M&A transactions, and has extensive experience in stock exchange law, securities, securitization, and infrastructure investment projects.  

    Commenting on the appointment, Gide Senior Partner Baudouin de Moucheron said that the promotion demonstrated that “In an increasingly global and complex environment, we are now more than ever committed to our clients and to supporting them in their projects both in France and abroad.”

  • Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners Advises Purchasers on Eurobond Offering

    Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners has participated in the debut Eurobond offering by the Bulgarian Telecommunication Company (BTC), one of the leading telecom operators in Bulgaria.

    In November 2013 BTC issued EUR 400,000,000 6.625% Senior Secured Notes due in 2018. Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners advised the initial purchasers, Credit Suisse, VTB Capital, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Societe Generale, as well as the security agent, U.S. Bank Trustees Ltd. on matters of Bulgarian law.

  • Jonathan Hines appointed to the Presidium of ICAC in Russia

    Jonathan Hines, Business and Finance Partner in the Moscow office of Morgan Lewis, has been elected to the Presidium of the International Commercial Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICAC) for a five-year term.

    ICAC is the premier commercial arbitration institution in Russia and the Presidium is responsible for monitoring arbitration practice in individual cases and recommending changes to the ICAC Rules, selection and challenges to arbitrators and other procedural matters as provided in the Rules, and liaison with similar institutions worldwide. Hines, and a professor from Germany, is the first two non-Russians ever to be elected to the ICAC Presidium in its 80-plus year history.

    “I am delighted at the honour of being one of the first ever foreigners elected to the ICAC Presidium,” Hines commented.  “ICAC has become a first-rate commercial arbitration forum, and I look forward to participating actively toward further enhancing its stature, inside Russia and internationally.

     

  • Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii announces 3 new partners in promotions round

    Romanian independent law firm Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii announced three new partners in recent promotions round that also included 10 appointments to the role of Managing Associate.

    The three new partners at the firm are Cristian Radu (Corporate/Commercial/M&A), Vlad Cercel (IT/TMT and PPP/Concessions), and Dragos Apostol (Privatization and M&A). The promotions will be effective as of January 1, 2014.

    According to Florentin Tuca, Managing Partner of the firm, the round of promotions “reflects the group’s outstanding legal expertise, deep engagement with the firm’s clients and their ability to grow our business in what has been a difficult and uneven year. We remain committed to further strengthening our ranks at all levels of seniority, including at partner level”.

     

  • DLA Piper Advises on Acquisition of Ukrainian Online Payment Company

    DLA Piper has advised Europe Virgin Fund (EVF), a private equity fund sponsored by Dragon Capital, in the acquisition of the majority stake in Portmone.com, the leading Ukrainian system of online payments.

    The DLA Piper team was led by Illya Muchnyk (legal director) and Margarita Karpenko (managing partner of DLA Piper in Ukraine). Associates Dmytro Pshenychnyuk (Finance & Projects) and Dmytro Tkachenko (Corporate) assisted on the transaction.

    Andrey Nosok, managing director of the private equity department at EVF added: “With our investment, we intend to bring a new energy for the further development of the company. The primary focus will be to attract new clients, the design of new services, as well as introducing a more user-friendly system.”

  • Lavrynovych & Partners Judged Best Corporate & Commercial Team in Ukraine

    Lavrynovych & Partners has been named the Best Corporate & Commercial Team in Ukraine by Capital Finance International Magazine.

    According to the CFI Judging Panel, the Ukraine firm Lavrynovych & Partners “delivers a comprehensive range of legal services to international as well as domestic companies … [and] there is constant focus on international best practice and this firm is well thought of by the international ranking agencies. 

  • Hogan Lovells advises MOL on USD 375 million acquisition in North Sea

    Hogan Lovells has advised MOL Group on its agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Wintershall (UK North Sea) Limited for a base consideration of USD 375 million.

    The final value of the transaction is subject to adjustment at closing, subject to the approval of the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and the consent of third party partners related to the ownership interests. 

    MOL Group is a leading integrated Central & East European oil and gas corporation, listed on both the Budapest Stock Exchange and the Warsaw Stock Exchange, with an extensive international upstream portfolio of oil and gas exploration activities in 12 countries and valuable producing assets in 7 countries.

    The Hogan Lovells team advising MOL Group was led by London corporate energy partner Steven Bryan and senior associate Oscar Johnson, supported by associates Alex Browning and Matteo Matteucci, with tax advice from Of Counsel Andy Treavett and senior associate Fiona Bantock.

  • D&B David si Baias Successfully Represents Rafinaria Steaua Romana on Late VAT Refunds Interest

    D&B David and Baias, the Romanian firm associated with PWC, successfully represented Rafinaria Steaua Romana in the Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice.

    The High Court ordered ANAF (the National Agency for Fiscal Administration in Romania) to pay default interest on late VAT refunds to Rafinaria Steaua Romana. Dan Dascalu, the Partner who lead the D&B team in the case stated: “This final ruling of the High Court is the natural consequence of the judgment pronounced by the European Court of Justice in the case of Rafinaria Steaua Romana vs. ANAF. The historic ruling in this case file created the European case law that will entitle any taxpayer who has received late VAT refunds from the State to request the award of default interest accruing on the respective amounts. At this time we have several case files pending in courts pertaining to similar cases,  and we are confident that we will obtain similar results. Nevertheless, for the long term we hope our efforts will lead to an improved VAT refund system in Romania,  so that the companies will no longer have to suffer VAT refund delays,  and the State be put in position to pay default interest, and so we can also avoid the infringement of the European laws in these matters”

  • Lawyr.it

    Lawyr.it is a peer-reviewed legal journal consisting of articles written on different legal issues and other relevant topics that address different needs of students.

    The publication is part of a larger project, launched in Central and Eastern Europe, which aims to create a network of law-school students and alumni, as well as an informational database which would facilitate recruiting by potential employers, on the basis of each member’s profile and the articles they have written – we believe there is no better calling card for a fresh graduate than a sample of his/her writing style and legal thinking.

    www.lawyr.it

    {loadposition Lawyr}

  • Belgrade Legal 2014 Conference

    CEE Legal Matters is a proud media partner of the Belgrade Legal 2014 Conference, organized by AKADEMIK, and titled: “Legal Risks Forecasting and Management”.

    The conference will take place on May 19, 2014, and will include a series of debates and presentations on how to forecast and manage risk in different fields of law. 

    Details about the event can be found on our events page or on our partner’s website here.