Category: Estonia

Magnusson has represented special purpose companies Envst United Action, KTZL Action Group, MNTHR Action Group, and more than 2000 international and local investors in their fraud claims against three crowdfunding platforms before a court in Estonia.

According to Magnuson, “at the beginning of 2020, several Estonia-based crowdfunding platforms (Envestio.com, Kuetzal.com, and Monethera.com), ceased operations and went under after having attracted millions of euros for fraudulent investment projects.” The total value of the alleged fraud is estimated at EUR 15 million. The firm reported that the claimants organized a crowdfunding campaign which raised EUR 200,000, which will be used to finance the lawsuit against entities responsible for the fraud. 

In addition, Magnuson reported that, “although the platforms are registered in Estonia, the roots of the crowdfunding fraud lead back to Latvia and investigation of the case has revealed several well-known Latvian businessmen to be amongst the actual beneficiaries of the large-scale scam.” 

“Envestio was registered in Estonia and the bankruptcy proceedings are handled in Estonian court, but the entities we needed to sue were operating in Latvia,” commented Magnusson Partner Denis Piskunov, who is the lead attorney on the case. “By the end of January, we managed to get the Latvian court to arrest the properties of the two main debtors.”

TGS Baltic obtained a positive interim judgment for Coffee IN in recent judicial proceedings against Apollo Cinema.

According to TGS Baltic, the dispute relates to the situation in which “Apollo Kino OU and OU Coffee IN agreed that Apollo will operate Coffee IN’s self-service Yo! cafes in its cinemas. To protect Coffee IN’s investments, the uniform reputation of the trademark, and high level of service, exclusivity was also agreed on. Regardless of that, Apollo replaced Yo! cafes with competing Ice Cafe cafes in its cinemas in Mustamae, Solaris Centre, and Lounakeskus. Yo! cafes were relocated to places rarely visited by customers. As a result, Coffee IN filed an action with Harju County Court by demanding compensation for damage from Apollo for breaching the exclusivity clause.”

According to the firm, “since Apollo cinema attempted to avoid validity of the exclusivity obligation with an argument as if the exclusivity obligation was contrary to competition law, the court first made an interim judgment regarding whether the exclusivity obligation was in compliance with competition law and, therefore, valid. In particular, Apollo claimed in judicial proceedings that its market share on the cinema market is very high and, consequently, the exclusivity obligation between the parties is not permissible in terms of competition law. The court disagreed with this argument and provided several substantial explanations in its interim judgment regarding how to assess exclusivity clauses, i.e., non-compete obligations, in similar distribution agreements.”

TGS Baltic’s team included Partner Martti Peetsalu, Senior Associate Triinu Jarviste, and Associate Silvia Urgas.

TGS Baltic has advised real estate company Kapitel on the acquisition of a 50% holding in the Nordassets logistics property company from Logassets OU. Cobalt advised Logassets on the transaction, which remains contingent on the approval of the Estonian Competition Authority.

Kapitel is one of the Baltics’ largest real estate companies and is engaged in the development and management of shopping centers, hotels, and office buildings. 

According to TGS Baltic, “the main area of activity of Nordassets is development, acquisition, management, and leasing of industrial property.”

TGS Baltic’s team included Partner Sander Karson, Senior Associates Kart Raud, Merli Maesalu, and Triinu Jarviste, and Lawyer Hanna Maria Kokla.

Cobalt’s team included Partners Aivar Taro and Elo Tamm, Senior Associate Tonu Kolts, Associate Helen Sool, and Assistant Lawyer Mari Teder.

The Circuit Court of Tallinn, acting on a motion made by Magnusson Estonia’s Attorney-at-Law Martin Hirvoja, has ordered the Estonian Central Prosecution Office to initiate a criminal investigation into the leak of files from the Danske Bank money-laundering case.

The Danske Bank criminal case revolves around the alleged laundering of around EUR 200 billion by the bank’s Estonian branch from 2007 to 2015.

According to Magnusson, “in September 2020, Estonian newspapers published series of articles based on the 17,600 documents leaked to the Italian media house l´Espresso, including at least hundreds of documents from the Danske money laundering investigation files collected by the Estonian investigative authorities.” 

“Estonian law grants immunity to any media representative from questioning or punishing for the leak, but these provisions do not protect a person who had access to the confidential files due to serving as a government officer,“ said Hirvoja, who is representing two defendants in the criminal proceedings.

The Tallinn office of Walless has advised the Laane-Nigula municipality of Estonia on termination of preparatory work on a special plan and environmental assessment for a EUR 150 million wind farm construction project planned by Enefit Green.

According to Walless, Enefit Green is a subsidiary of Eesti Energia, which has bought about 240 hectares of land in the area between the communities of Risti-Piirsalu and Seljakula, where it planned to build 30 wind turbines.

Walless reported that the termination came after the local residents submitted more than 1000 signatures in protest of the wind farm’s  construction. The firm reported that Enefit Green intends to challenge the decision either by appealing directly to the municipality or in court.

The Walless team consisted of Managing Partner Piret Kergandberg and Associate Siim Vahtru.

Cobalt has successfully represented AS Tallinna Sadam in a dispute with Worldwide Cargo Establishment.

The Harju County Court dismissed WCE’s claim against AS Tallinna Sadam and ordered WCE to cover the procedural expenses. According to Cobalt, “the judgment of the County Court has not yet entered into force and it can be contested in District Court.”

Cobalt’s team included Senior Associates Rauno Ligi, Merle Veeroos, and Mart Blondal.

Sorainen has advised Kaamos Real Estate, a subsidiary of Estonia’s Kaamos Group, on the sale of the Tridens logistics center.

According to Sorainen, “the logistics center, with a total area of more than 11,000 square meters, is located in a logistics area of strategic importance. Tridens, the tenant of the building, is one of the oldest trading companies in Estonia with more than 150 internationally known brands in its product portfolio.”

Sorainen’s team included Partner Piret Jesse and Senior Associate Robin Teever.

Sorainen could not provide additional information on the transaction.

Ellex Raidla has advised United Angels VC and Superangel on their EUR 800,000 investment in Vok Bikes, a Tallinn-based electric cargo bike producer.

According to Ellex, several regional business angels invested as well. According to the firm, “the new investment will help manufacture the next 100 vehicles and fuel expansion to a couple of major European cities in the next year.”

Ellex Raidla’s team included Counsel Antti Perli.

Ellex could not provide additional information on the deal.

Dispute Resolution co-heads Chirag Mody and Martti Peetsalu have been promoted to Associate Partner at TGS Baltic.

Peetsalu has more than ten years of experience in litigation and arbitration. According to TGS Baltic, “Martti has built up the firm’s maritime and transport law team and is currently heading it. As for maritime and transport law, Martti is a leading expert representing clients for all modes of transport. His successful litigation projects have contributed to the development of national maritime-related case law.” He Peetsalu has a BA and an MA in law from the University of Tartu. Prior to joining TGS Baltic in 2014, he spent two years with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and six years with Glimstedt.

TGS Baltic describes Mody as an “experienced and esteemed litigator and has been responsible for a significant number of substantial court and arbitration disputes.” According to the firm, “clients value Chirag as an extremely thorough and analytical senior associate focused on the practical aspects of dispute resolution.” He also has a BA and an MA in law from the University of Tartu. Prior to joining TGS Baltic in 2018, he spent over five years with Primus and a year with Ellex Raidla,

As part of TGS Baltic’s promotion round, Senior Associates Kedli Anvelt and Dmitri Teplohh were promoted to Counsel.

“Martti, Chirag, Kedli, and Dmitri are colleagues whose contribution to the firm’s success has been invaluable,” said Senior Partner Paul Varul. “In their new roles, they can certainly support the firm’s development even more effectively.”

“The addition of new Associate Partners and two new Counsels clearly marks the firm’s movement towards new horizons and ongoing development,” added Managing Partner Sander Karson. “Promotion of colleagues in important fields like litigation, insolvency law, compliance control, penal law, and transport law reflects a strong resolve to continue as a market leader in these areas and offer the best service to our clients.”

Sorainen has advised the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the establishment of a cooperation agency with the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership, a training and research center focusing on the six countries of the EU’s Eastern Partnership.

According to Sorainen, the Center works to develop relations with the Eastern Partnership countries and to contribute to the fulfillment of EU’s policy goals in the region.” According to the firm, “as a result of the analysis, the [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] was given recommendations for further action.”

Sorainen’s team consisted of Partner Karin Madisson, Counsel Pirkko-Liis Harkmaa, Associate Nele Suurmets, and Legal Assistant Hanna-Elise Rahni.