Category: Poland

Tax specialist Aleksandra Wos and Corporate/M&A lawyer Tomasz Ciecwierz have joined NGL Legal in Warsaw as partners.

Wos is a licensed tax advisor with over 12 years of experience gained in, among others, PwC and Deloitte. She joins NGL Legal from Advicero Nexia, where she spent the last year and a half. According to NGL Legal, “Aleksandra specializes in advising on value added tax and corporate income tax. She advises on cross-border and transactional aspects of taxation, in particular investors from German-speaking countries and Polish entrepreneurs operating abroad. She analyzes and improves tax processes with particular emphasis on ensuring safety while implementing appropriate tax procedures. Aleksandra has represented clients in tax matters, including proceedings before the Polish Ministry of Finance. [She] specializes in advising the manufacturing, technology and real estate sectors.

Ciecwierz started his career at Schoenherr in Warsaw in 2007, immediately after obtaining his degree from the University of Warsaw. He obtained an LL.M. from the Columbia Law School in 2011, after which he joined Allen & Overy, where he stayed until this recent move. According to NGL Legal, “he advises clients active in various sectors on private and public transactions, share and asset deals, business sales, LBOs, MBOs, consolidations and divestments, joint ventures and corporate restructurings.” According to the firm, “Tomasz has a strong track record in transaction work for financial institutions, in particular banks, investment and pension funds, to whom he also provides regulatory advice. He also specializes in legal aspects of migration projects (including between financial institutions).”

“We are dynamically developing NGL Legal, and more broadly NGL Group, focusing on hiring skilled professionals with experience in Big Four and international law firms,” commented Managing Partner Krzysztof Wiater. “It is an element of our strategy to build a team of new generation of leaders, able to adjust to changing legal, as well as, or perhaps above all, business environment. Their experience gives them a broader knowledge of possible solutions, deeper understanding of business needs, which makes them practical partners for our clients. Our goal is to build integrated advisory – a universal practice that will compete with the best known brands.” 

Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has advised Impax Asset Management on the sale of a 42 MW wind farm in Kisielice, Poland, to a Green Investment Group investment fund managed by the Macquarie Group Ltd. Allen & Overy advised the buyers on the deal.

Impax New Energy Holdings Cooperatief W.A, an entity belonging to NEF2, an investment fund in the wind energy sector and managed by Impax Asset Management, sold 100% of shares in the wind farm, which is located in the Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship, to the Green Investment Group.

The wind farm in Kisielice, which has been in operation since 2014, consists of 21 E82 Enercon turbines, able to provide energy to 45,590 households per year. 

The DZP team included Partner Rafal Hajduk and Senior Associates Krzystof Fliszkiewicz and Grzegorz Filipowicz.

The Allen & Overy team included Partner Jaroslaw Iwanicki, Senior Associate Lukasz Lech, and Associates Antoni Roszkowski and Karolina Piorkowska-Grynkiewicz.

Baker Tilly Woroszylska has advised TPA Poland, a Warsaw-based tax advisory, audit, accounting, and payroll outsourcing company that is part of the Baker Tilly International network, on its merger with Moore Stephens Central Audit Team, which includes over 60 tax, accounting, and auditing specialists.

TPA Poland is an international consulting group present in 12 countries of Central and Southeastern Europe. It employs more than 1500 experts in 30 locations. It and Baker Tilly Woroszylska Legal are the exclusive representatives of Baker Tilly International in Poland.

The Baker Tilly Woroszylska team included Partner Grzegorz Gajda and Senior Associates Kamil Laminski and Aleksandra Zbrzezna.

Dentons has appointed Partner Karina Furga-Dabrowska Europe Chief Mindfulness Officer.

According to Dentons, “the appointment reflects her groundbreaking work in launching Dentons’ NextMind program, which helps the firm’s lawyers and professionals to reduce stress, improve well-being, and develop emotional intelligence through mindfulness techniques.”

According to the firm, “relying on principles of neuroscience, cognitive science and psychology, NextMind uses regular mindfulness meditation to develop core elements of emotional intelligence, such as self-awareness, emotional self-regulation, social skills and empathy. The program starts with introductory workshops to allow novices to experience mindfulness first hand. It then progresses to a full eight-week training program, designed by Furga-Dabrowska in collaboration with the Kalapa Leadership Academy, where participants begin incorporating mindfulness practice into their daily work.  They also learn about the neuroscientific aspects of long-term stress, psychological pitfalls of perfectionism, consequences of cognitive bias, and the dangers of multi-tasking.”

In her new role, Furga-Dabrowska will work with Dentons’ Talent team and a network of trained in-house mindfulness ambassadors to roll out NextMind more widely across the firm and lead other mindfulness initiatives. 

“Mindfulness is simply about exercising your mind to improve cognitive ability and mental clarity,” said Furga-Dabrowska. “Neuroscientific research shows that regular mindfulness practice improves resilience, communication, productivity and wellbeing, which are not only beneficial for our people, but also for our bottom line. My goal as Europe Chief Mindfulness Officer is to make mindfulness an integral part of Dentons’ vision to be always the law firm of the future and to contribute to our global NextTalent program by developing essential skills of the lawyer of the future. I want to nurture a culture in which high performance is founded on compassionate leadership, authenticity, honesty and respect. I will also strive to promote a growth mindset and greater team cohesion to drive productivity and innovation.”

Furga-Dabrowska has been a lawyer in Dentons‘ Tax and Life Sciences groups since 2006, and a partner since 2008.

“Recognizing the health and productivity benefits that mindfulness can bring to an organization,  innovative global tech giants, such as Google, IBM and SAP, have appointed Chief Mindfulness Officers, but Dentons is the first global law firm to create this role,” said Richard Singer, Europe Chief Managing Officer at Dentons. “This is an example of how we are taking best practices from other sectors to bring innovative solutions to the practice of law.”

More information about Dentons’ Mindfulness program can be found in the May 2019 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine, which featured an interview with Furga-Dabrowska on the subject.

Act Legal Poland has advised Finland’s YIT Development on the purchase of a land lot in Sadyba, Warsaw, on which it plans to construct nearly 300 apartments.

YIT operates in Finland, Russia, Scandinavia, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. It has been operating in Warsaw for over three years. 

The Act Legal team included Partners Michal Wielhorski and Michal Soltyszewski and Senior Associates Mateusz Prokopiuk and Anita Wozniak.

Act Legal did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Former K&L Gates legal counsel Piotr Laska has joined Baker Tilly Woroszylska as a partner in the firm’s Real Estate team.

Laska has over 20 years of experience in the Polish real estate market. According to Baker Tilly Woroszylska, he “advises clients on real estate law, focusing mainly on transaction advisory and construction aspects of investments,” and “his extensive expertise also includes civil and commercial law as well as administrative law.”

“Piotr is one of the best real estate specialists in Poland and combines outstanding analytical skills with an excellent business sense in a unique fashion,” commented Baker Tilly Woroszylska Managing Partner Katarzyna Woroszylska. “His competences perfectly match the offer and strategy of our law firm – delivering substantially perfect, individual and practical solutions.”

Laska holds a Masters of Laws degree from the University of Warsaw. Before joining Baker Tilly Woroszylska he worked with Jeantet and Associates, CMS Cameron McKenna, Hogan Lovells, and K&L Gates, which was taken over by DWF in May of this year (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 2, 2019).

Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka is advising Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland on its manufacture of a second electronic continuously variable transmission for low-emission hybrid systems, which will work with a 1.5l engine.

According to DZP, “this project supplements and extends the manufacture of an e-CVT working with a 1.8l engine, started in November 2018. As a result, Toyota’s factory will double the production of electric hybrid transmissions in 2021. Together with other currently implemented modern engine development projects (TNGA – Toyota New Global Architecture), investments at both TMMP plants (in Walbrzych and Jelcz-Laskowice) will be increased to almost PLN 5 billion.”

TMMP has two factories in Lower Silesia. The factory in Walbrzych manufactures e-CVTs for low-emission hybrid cars working with a 1.8 liter engine, 1 liter gasoline engines, as well as manual and semi-automatic transmissions. The factory in Jelcz-Laskowice manufactures 1.5 liter petrol engines and also 1.4 liter and 2.2 liter diesel engines. After the production lines for the new 2.0 liter and 1.5 liter engines designed in the TNGA technology are launched, the production capacity of the factory will be 309 thousand powertrain units annually. TMMP factories supply car assembly plants of Toyota, PSA Group, and Lotus run by European companies in the Czech Republic, UK, France, Turkey, and Russia, South Africa, and Japan.

The DZP team is led by Partners Marcin Krakowiak and Anna Glapa and Senior Associate Aneta Wloszek.

Counsel Adriana Mierzwa-Bronikowska and Senior Associate Agnieszka Chylinska have moved from Hogan Lovells to DLA Piper in Warsaw, with Mierzwa-Bronikowska assuming the role of Head of Projects/PPP.

According to DLA Piper, Mierzwa-Bronikowska “will support our clients in structuring and preparing infrastructural projects, in proceedings aimed at concluding contracts, and in the process of obtaining financing as well as during the operation and maintenance of projects. Adriana has over 20 years of experience in advising on complex infrastructural projects, including those carried out under the PPP formula. She advises public entities, private partners as well as financial institutions. She has been involved in the majority of large PPP/infrastructure projects in Poland, including the concessions for the building and exploitation of the A1 and A2 motorways, the building and exploitation of two sections of motorways, the reconstruction and maintenance of a number of regional roads, the construction and maintenance of student accommodation in Krakow, the management of the International Congress Centre in Katowice, and the construction and maintenance of incineration plants in Olsztyn and Gdansk. 

Mierzwa-Bronikowska had been with Hogan Lovells since January 2014 as Co-Chief of PPP and Infrastructure. She has also worked for five years at Chadbourne & Parke, two years at Wierzbowski Eversheds, and one year at Gide Loyrette Nouel. She received her Master’s in Science of Law from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan in 2001.

Krzysztof Kycia, Co-Managing Partner and Head of Litigation and Regulatory at DLA Piper Warsaw, commented: “Adriana and Agnieszka constitute a further strengthening of our offer to clients in the infrastructure sector. We are very pleased to welcome two lawyers with such significant – and often unique – experience and expertise to our team, and we are happy that they have chosen to develop their careers with us.“

Dentons has advised Solar Turbines Europe on its successful bid in a tender for the supply and maintenance of a set of compressor units for the Baltic Pipe project.

The units will be used in the three gas compressor stations in the Polish cities of Goleniow, Gustorzyn, and Odolanow. Operator Gazociagow Przesylowych GAZ-SYSTEM is the contracting authority in charge of the implementation of the Baltic Pipe project. 

The Baltic Pipe is a pan-European strategic project involving the construction of a sea gas pipeline across the North Sea and the Baltic Sea with an enhancement of the Polish and Danish gas transmission grids. Upon completion, the project will contribute to the creation of a “gas corridor” facilitating the transmission of natural gas from Norway to Denmark, Poland, and neighbouring countries. At the same time, it will enable gas transfers from Poland to Sweden and Denmark.

The Dentons team was led by Partner Aldona Kowalczyk.

Dentons has advised Stadler Polska on its agreement to build and sell 12 FLIRT electric multiple units valued at approximately EUR 230 million to PKP Intercity. The contract also provides for maintenance of the train units for 15 years.

The first two multiple units are expected to be delivered within 18 months of execution and the rest within the next four years. The modern FLIRT trains will be manufactured at the Stadler Polska plant in Siedlce, Poland. Their traveling speed will be up to 160 km/h and they will be fitted with the ETCS 2 system, which ensures a high level of travel safety. As for comfort, the units will be air-conditioned and passengers will be able to use electric sockets, Wi-Fi, and mobile telephone signal amplifiers.

PKP Intercity is a major Polish railway operator.

The Dentons team was led by Partner Aldona Kowalczyk and included Senior Associates Agnieszka Gilowska and Sylwester Kuchnio.