Category: Bulgaria

Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. has advised Team.blue on its acquisition of the Bulgarian web hosting company SuperHosting. The Vladimirov Kiskinov law firm advised SuperHosting on the deal.

According to Dimitrov, Petrov & Co., “Team.blue follows its strategy to shape technology and provide digital services for businesses worldwide and expands its presence in CEE with the acquisition of the Bulgarian company. The web hosting provider SuperHosting specializes in professional web hosting, domains and VPS services. Team.blue serves over two million customers in Europe and has more than 1,000 experts to support them and will further expand its reach in Bulgaria and the region.”

Dimitrov, Petrov & Co.’s team was led by Partner Zoya Todorova and included Partners Boyana Milcheva, Desislava Krusteva, and Bilyana Angelova, Senior Associates Asya Vladimirova and Nikola Stoychev, Associates Polya Dimitrova and Rositsa Vassileva, and Legal Assistant Radoslava Makshutova.

Vladimirov Kiskinov’s team consisted of Managing Partners Nikolay Kiskinov and Desislav Vladimirov, Managing Associate Staniella Todorova, and Associate Pelagia Stoyanidu-Dimova.

Iliana Byanova, the former Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at the First Investment Bank, has joined Sopharma Trading as its Chief Legal, Risk, and Compliance Officer in Sofia.

Byanova joined First Investment Bank in 2008 as Legal Counsel. In 2008 she was promoted to Head of Legal and became Chief Legal and Compliance Officer in 2017. Before First Investment Bank, she had positions with Gugushev and Partners, Sofbuild & Co, and Comac Medical.

“My ambition is to turn this leap from industry to industry into a win-win for both myself and the company,” Byanova said. “I will stay focused on this goal through my new venture!”

DLA Piper and Bulgaria’s Sabev & Partners law firm have advised the Government of Bulgaria on the concession agreement and the tender procedure for the Sofia Airport in Bulgaria. As previously reported, Kinstellar advised the winning SOF Connect Consortium, which was led by Meridiam and included Munich Airport and Strabag.

The tender procedure for a mixed concession (including works and operation services) for the Sofia Airport was initiated by the Bulgarian government by way of an open procedure. In its winning offer, the Meridiam-led consortium offered to pay an upfront fee of BGN 550 million (EUR 281 million) as well as an annual concession fee of the higher of (i) 32% of the airport’s annual revenues for the duration of the concession, or (ii) EUR 24.5 million per year. Additionally, the parties agreed that the concessionaire would make further investments in the airport, including in a new terminal.

According to DLA Piper, on July 22, 2020, “the Government of Bulgaria, through the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, and the SOF Connect Consortium … signed a concession agreement for a period of 35 years for the operation of the Sofia Airport in Bulgaria.”

“I am very pleased that the agreements were well written and attracted many of the best bidders in the world, but foremost that the signing was achievable despite the current situation,” commented DLA Piper Vienna Partner Jasna Zwitter-Tehovnik, who co-led the firm’s team with DLA Piper Milan Partner Francesco Ferrari and Sabev & Partners Partner Boryana Boteva. The team also included Sabev & Partners Partner Iskra Neycheva, DLA Piper Senior Associates Ivan Males and Luigi Mula, and DLA Piper Associates Domen Brus and Alessandro Carofiglio.

As reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 18, 2019, Kinstellar’s team was coordinated by Partner Diana Dimova and Managing Associate Mladen Minev and included Partner Antonia Mavrova, Counsel Svilen Issaev, Of Counsel Dessislava Fessenko, Managing Associate Nina Tsifudina, and Associates Kristina Lyubenova, Denitsa Kuzeva, Vanya Evtimova, Simeon Vachev, Kamen Chanov, Georgi Georgiev and Petar Popov.

In June, 2020, CEE Legal Matters also reported that Kinstellar had served as legal counsel to the SOF Connect consortium on successful litigation procedures related to its receipt of the 35-year concession to operate the airport.

Eurolex Bulgaria and CMS have advised Trace Group Holding and Balkantel — both members of the Plovdiv Railway Project Consortium — on their successful participation in a tender for a EUR 45 million railway public procurement project in Bulgaria.

According to CMS, “the project [was] tendered and awarded by the Bulgarian state-owned National Company Railway Infrastructure company and includes modernization of the railways, the signaling and the telecommunication network of Plovdiv railway station, and construction of a communication-transportation hub in the area.” 

CMS’s team included Managing Partner Kostadin Sirleshtov and Associates Borislava Pokrass and Diyan Georgiev.

Eurolex Bulgaria’s team was led by Managing Partner Stoyan Barzakov. 

Georgiev, Todorov & Co. has successfully represented Sofia’s Acibadem City Clinic Multidisciplinary Hospital for Active Treatment Tokuda EAD in a claim against Bulgaria’s National Health Insurance Fund for payment for medical care provided by the hospital to health-insured persons above the limits set by the NHIF.

According to Georgiev, Todorov & Co., on July 15, 2020 the Appellate Court annulled the lower court’s decision and “ordered the NHIF to pay MHAT Tokuda the due remuneration for hospital medical care provided on clinical paths, medical and ambulatory procedures over the monetary limit set for April, November, and December 2016, as well as for the period March-December 2017, along with the statutory interest until the final payment of the amount.”

“The court’s decisive reasoning centers on the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Health Act,” the firm reports, “according to which the formation and implementation of a health policy is an obligation of the state, and the inviolable right of every Bulgarian citizen to affordable medical care in compliance with the principles of timeliness, sufficiency, and quality of the medical care.”

Finally, Georgiev, Todorov & Co. reported, “according to Appellate Court – Sofia, it is inadmissible, through the use of the sovereign position of a state body – NHIF, and as a result of lack of proper planning of the expected costs, to limit the rights of citizens guaranteed by law for access to timely and quality medical care in a medical institution chosen by them. The hospital owes provision of medical care to all health-insured persons, who have requested it regardless of whether the set limits have been reached or not. Any different interpretation and application of the law would lead to unclear and in any case negative consequences for the health of patients, as the timeliness of medical care is a clearly defined guarantee of good healthcare in all relevant regulations.”

The firm’s team was led by Managing Partner Ivan Todorov, Attorney Maria Derelieva, and Junior Attorney Margarita Ivanova.

Former Dimitrov, Tchompalov & Todorova partner Katya Todorova has joined CMS Sofia as Head of Capital Markets.

According to CMS, DTT is “a law firm specialized in advising companies, financial institutions, and other clients on sophisticated financial and investment transactions and regulatory matters.” From that firm’s inception in 2001, CMS reports, “Katya Todorova was an essential part of most of the landmark capital market deals in Bulgaria, such as the squeeze-out and delisting of the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company, convertible bonds issued by Central Cooperative Bank, and [a] rights issue and capital increase by Bravo Property Fund REIT. According to the firm, “she is also highly recommended for her banking and finance, corporate and M&A work, including advising the finance parties to the energy projects Maritza East 1 and Maritza East 3.”

“This is a dream move coming true for us,” exclaimed CMS Sofia Managing Partner Kostadin Sirleshtov. “We have worked alongside with Katya Todorova since the start of CMS Sofia some 15 years ago and it feelс natural to make the next step. As a market leading law firm, CMS Sofia would like to dominate in each legal field and we are happy to add yet another pearl to our ranks. CMS Sofia won the CEE Legal Matters’ Deal of the Year Award in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and we are now adding the market leading Capital Markets expert to our team. Welcome, Katya!’

“CMS Sofia is a home to so many of my closest friends and colleagues that it feels like a natural move for me,” commented Todorova, who joins CMS as a Senior Associate. “CMS provides an international platform of opportunities and I am keen to contribute to the growth of the Capital Market practice in Bulgaria and beyond.”

Kinstellar has advised OTP Bank and its Bulgarian subsidiary, DSK Bank, on a EUR 25 million loan provided to Balkan Business Center AD for the construction and operation of the Balkan Business Center office complex in Sofia.

According to Kinstellar, “the 20-story building has a built-up area of nearly 50,000 square meters and combines 12 office floors and six parking levels. Construction is planned to be completed by the end of 2020.”

Kinstellar’s team included Partner Antonia Mavrova, Counsel Svilen Issaev, Senior Associates Kristina Lyubenova and Maya Medzhedelieva, and Associate Denitsa Kuzeva.

DGKV has advised Bulgarian start-up Nasekomo on the investment into the company of EUR 4 million from VC funds Morningside Hill and New Vision 3 backed by the Fund of Funds in Bulgaria.

According to DGKV, “Nasekomo is a company producing an alternative protein from insect for animal feed. By feeding insects with local agricultural by-products, it contributes to creating an environmentally positive local loop. Nasekomo’s proprietary robotized insect rearing technology and selective breeding programs will enable the company to produce at large scale premium insect protein meal at a competitive price to supply European markets. Since its inception, the company has secured a total of EUR 5 million funding to develop its technologies.”

DGKV’s team consisted of Partner Omourtag Petkov, Senior Lawyers Ivan Punev and Rusalena Angelova, and Associates Georgi Georgiev, Sonya Stoyanova and Valery Blagoev.

Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. has assisted with the spin-off of CETIN Bulgaria from PPF Telenor.

The spin-off was part of a larger corporate restructuring of PPF Telecom Group’s telecom business in South East Europe (initially reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 10, 2020).

According to Dimitrov, Petrov & Co., the result was “probably the biggest spin-off in Bulgaria in the last few years,” and the firm’s work “included structuring a new entity — the tower company CETIN Bulgaria (which has become the owner of the entire infrastructure of Telenor Bulgaria) — and transferring the ownership of the network, including a portfolio of several thousand owned or leased sites, towers and other properties together with all backbone telecom and energy infrastructure.”

According to DPC, the firm’s lawyers “advised [on] the transferring of a permission for use of spectrum, through a complex procedure that had never been applied before in Bulgaria, as well as the structuring of the relationship between Telenor and CETIN going forward.”

The DPC team was led by Partner Hristo Nihrizov.

Boyanov & Co. has advised the Valea Foundation on the acquisition of a minority capital package in FIB Bank.

FIB is the fifth-largest bank by assets in Bulgaria. According to Boyanov & Co., on July 2, 2020, “FIB Bank announced the successful completion of the capital increase procedure, where all newly issued shares were subscribed by the state-owned Bulgarian Development Bank and Valea Foundation. The Valea Foundation is the family foundation of Mr. Karel Komarek, an investor from the Czech Republic with various interests in the energy, tourism, gambling, and other sectors of the economy.”

According to Boyanov & Co., “the capital increase procedure may have far-reaching political and financial consequences as the re-capitalization of FIBank was the last condition put to Bulgaria on its way to the ERM II, acceptance in the Eurozone and the Banking Union.”

Boyanov & Co.’s team was led by Partner Yordan Naydenov.

Boyanov & Co. did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.