Category: Lithuania

Walless has advised Finnish financial technology company Saldo Bank – formerly Saldo Finance UAB – on the establishment of its banking operations in Lithuania. 

Saldo Bank offers fully automated lending solutions for consumers and SME customers and term deposit account services for consumer customers.

According to Walless, “having built regulatory readiness after obtaining a specialized bank license from the European Central Bank, Saldo Bank introduces term deposits and continues providing loans for Lithuanian consumers and SME customers.”

“We are ready to provide wider lending services for consumers and SMEs as well as introduce deposits for Lithuanian consumers in April,” Saldo Bank CEO Jarkko Maensivu commented. “In the future, Saldo Bank will offer more banking services like cards, increase SME finance availability, and plan to expand our banking operations in Finland and Sweden by passporting our specialized bank license.”

The Walless team included Partner Joana Baublyte-Kulviete, Associate Partners Alina Makovska, Lina Radaviciene, and Marija Grigaraviciene, and Associate Greta Sumskyte.

Former AAA Law Attorney Mantas Rimkevicius has joined Triniti Jurex as an Associate Partner.

According to Triniti Jurex, Rimkevicius is “an experienced practitioner in intellectual property, information technology, and advertising law with over 16 years of professional experience.”

Before joining Triniti Jurex, Rimkevicius spent almost two years with AAA Law. Previously, he spent over seven years with Ellex and almost three more with Baltic Legal Solutions Lithuania, between 2011 and 2014. He started his career as an Associate with Sorainen, where he spent over four years.

According to Triniti Jurex Managing Partner and Head of Intellectual Property Vilija Viesunaite, the addition of Rimkevicius “will significantly strengthen the firm’s technology law and advertising regulation competencies and enable it to better meet the needs of its clients.”

Sorainen has advised MM Prekyba – operating under the Macadamia Nut Farm brand – on its sale of a 34% stake to Baltijos Biotechnologijos. Ellex Valiunas advised the buyer.

“This strategic transaction has provided the target with additional financing, enabling the company’s further growth,” Ellex informed.

MM Prekyba is a wholesale and retail company operating as the Macadamia Nut Farm. The Macadamia Nut Farm owns macadamia nut plantations and has its own production chain.

The Sorainen team included Partner Mantas Petkevicius and Counsel Jonas Kiauleikis.

The Ellex team included Senior Associate Augustinas Macionis and Associate Ausra Abraityte.

The real estate market in Lithuania is in flux, facing significant challenges and, at the same time, providing numerous opportunities to explore, according to Fort Legal Partner Ruta Radzeviciute-Meizeraite.

“We are currently living in a very interesting decade, and the past few months have not been an exception,” Radzeviciute-Meizeraite begins. “The situation in the world, especially the war in Ukraine, had a significant impact on Lithuania’s real estate market.”

“Unfortunately, with the developments in Ukraine, everything came to a halt for about two weeks,” Radzeviciute-Meizeraite remembers. “Later, we were then hit with huge inflation, and the prices of construction materials skyrocketed. Consequently, all construction activities were either stopped, postponed, or renegotiated due to the high costs of construction and inflation.” During the autumn, she continues, “inflation was still present, and the banks changed their financing policies significantly, leading to a rise in Euribor rates. As a result, transactions were once again impacted, and financing became more expensive.” Looking to the future, she notes that Lithuania is keeping an eye on global economic news, as “there are concerns that the Baltic region might face a crisis in the summer.”

Still, Radzeviciute-Meizeraite says there are acquisitions and developments taking place, but 2023 is not a blooming year like 2020 or 2021. “However, it’s important to note that, in Lithuania, businesses are making the best of the current context,” she adds. “Amidst the current slowdown in the real estate market, there are still opportunities to be found.”

For instance, Radzeviciute-Meizeraite points out, “there are potential fire sales and there are interested buyers, and we’re in a better position than we were during the 2008 financial crisis. Some well-established local players have been growing since then, and they have cash reserves that they’re not afraid to use to acquire promising prospects or take advantage of potential fire sales. For context, cheap money has been available for a while, which has led to some opportunistic or less experienced players becoming over-leveraged, or about to be.” Consequently, she notes, “for those with cash, this is an opportunity to take over these assets. While ongoing transactions may be limited, it’s only a matter of time before more deals start happening. After being a seller’s market for a long time, real estate is now becoming a buyer’s market.”

As for the most sought-after real estate segments, Radzeviciute-Meizeraite highlights there is an increased interest in “acquiring quality commercial assets such as business centers, shopping centers, and especially logistics centers.” According to her, “local players have taken over investments from Western foreign investors that have halted or delayed their plans. They are particularly interested in single-tenant shopping centers that host major retailers, located in smaller cities, which are considered secure investments as food is a necessity regardless of economic conditions.”

Adon Legal has advised Taiwanese capital company FinCause on obtaining an electronic money institution license from the Bank of Lithuania.

“The company plans to service European Economic Area businesses and contribute to the further growth of cooperation between EEA and Taiwan by facilitating smooth international payments,” Adon Legal informed. “The scope of the license will enable the company to provide a broad range of payment services, and, thus, act as the main payments partner for its clients.”

According to the firm, “this is the first e-money institution license the Bank of Lithuania issued” in 2023,  with the “threshold for the new market participants becoming higher and higher” in a highly competitive market.

The Adon Legal team was led by Managing Partner Donatas Sliora and included Partner Marius Matiukas and Associate Akvile Avulyte.

Sorainen has successfully represented Siauliu Plentas before the Supreme Court of Lithuania in a dispute related to the offset of contractual late interest with the Lithuanian Road Administration.

Siauliu Plentas is a road and bridge construction company.

“The main dispute in the case arose due to the fact that the Lithuanian Road Administration had calculated late contractual interest for overdue contractual works not based on each separate unfinished site, but based on the total price of all contracts,” Sorainen reported. “The Supreme Court of Lithuania supported the position of Siauliu Plentas since the provisions of the contracts, which were prepared by the Lithuanian Road Administration itself as the contracting authority, lack clarity and have caused a deterioration in the financial position of the supplier.”

According to Sorainen, Siauliu Plentas was awarded EUR 235,000, 8% in procedural interest, and litigation costs.

“This court ruling is important in that it confirmed not only the repeated unlawful actions of the Lithuanian Road Administration in calculating the contractual late interest but also recognized the claimant’s right to demand procedural interest when filing a lawsuit for the recognition of off-sets as invalid,” the firm informed. “After the first decision, the court also corrected the awarded amount due to an arithmetical error.”

The Sorainen team included Partner Laurynas Lukosiunas and Associate Erikas Linkevicius.

On March 9, 2023, TGS Baltic announced that InMedica’s acquisition of the Vilnius Implantology Center Clinic from the OP Group (reported by CEE Legal Matters on September 19, 2022) had closed.

As originally reported, TGS Baltic advised InMedica on the acquisition while Walless advised the seller. 

InMedica is a Lithuanian private healthcare service provider. The VIC is a dental treatment institution in Lithuania.

The TGS Baltic updated team included Partner Dalia Tamasauskaite-Ziliene, Senior Associates Paulius Dabulskis, Simas Paukstys, and Ruta Tikuisyte, and Associate Elvina Jurciukonyte.

The Walless team included Managing Partner Dovile Burgiene, Partner Aiste Medeliene, Associate Partner Akvile Mackay, and Senior Associate Sarunas Basijokas.

Sorainen has successfully advised the receivership estate of EminiFX in recovering and repatriating approximately EUR 60 million in Bitcoin to the victims in an ongoing case where US authorities are targeting a crypto-related Ponzi-like scheme.

Sorainen reports it “assisted the Receivership Estate in recovering and repatriating the assets which had reached the platforms of crypto service providers in Estonia and Lithuania to the victims.”

According to Sorainen, “the Commodity Futures Trading Commission launched action against EminiFX in May 2022. The CFTC complaint alleged numerous violations of the federal commodities laws in a Ponzi-like scheme whereby the defendants pooled at least USD 59 million from hundreds of members of the general public to purportedly trade Forex and cryptocurrencies as well as futures and options in an investment club.”

According to the firm, “EminiFX allegedly promised outsized returns of 5% to 9.99% per week and gave the impression that EminiFX was profitably trading the participants’ contributions, which was false. Instead, the complaint alleges, although EminiFX’s trading at an online brokerage racked up over USD 6 million in losses, the EminiFX CEO misappropriated over USD 14.7 million for his personal accounts while continuing to report to participants that their account balances were actually increasing by 5% to 9.99% every week.”

“A significant amount of Bitcoin fraudulently collected from EminiFX investors reached the platform of crypto service providers in Estonia and Lithuania,” Sorainen reported, which the firm helped recover and repatriate to the victims.

Sorainen’s team included Partner Norman Aas, Counsel Darius Raulusaitis, Senior Associate Almina Ivanauskaite, and Assistant Lawyer Maarika Maripuu.

Motieka & Audzevicius has advised In Balance Grid on a EUR 1.3 million investment from EIT Urban Mobility, the Business Angels Fund, Civinity, and the Motieka Investment Fund. Primus advised the Business Angels Fund and other investors. TGS Baltic reportedly advised existing investor Contrarian Ventures.

“This investment has also helped us to strengthen our expertise,” In Balance Grid Co-Founder and CEO Simonas Stankus commented. “Experts in innovations and the real estate industry joined us, who also have experience in Poland and are keen to share it. It will enable us to implement our strategic development plans faster.”

Earlier this year, Motieka & Audzevicius advised In Balance Grid on its joint venture with Equite to develop charging station infrastructure (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 3, 2023).

The Motieka & Audzevicius team included Partner Rokas Jankus and Senior Associate Laurynas Ramonas.

The Primus team included Partner Giedre Dailidenaite, Senior Associates Greta Vozbutaite, Karolis Diska, and Vilma Rakleviciene, and Associate Monika Murauske.

Sorainen has provided pro bono advice to Local Ocean on intellectual property matters related to its development of sustainable and eco-friendly farming technology for growing high-quality shrimp.

Local Ocean is a Lithuanian aquaculture technology company.

According to Sorainen, “Local Ocean’s production method has been developed to ensure minimum ecological impact. The company’s farming methods involve the use of renewable energies, zero water exchange, and recycling and reusing waste. Local Ocean has a high-quality control standard; and for this reason has banned the use of chemicals, antibiotics, or synthetic products in its shrimp production.”

By developing shrimp farming methods that guarantee high-quality shrimps and ecological efficiency, Local Ocean aims to fight the destruction of vast areas of mangroves, overfishing of shrimp in the wild, and significant human rights abuses in the shrimp farming business.”

Sorainen’s team included Counsel Stasys Drazdauskas and Associate Raminta Matulyte.