CEE Legal Matters

Category: News

  • UBA Calls for Foreign Members

    Ukrainian Bar Association, July 27, 2022: Since February 2022, our primary objective has been to resist Russian aggression against Ukraine on the legal front. We urge world leaders to impose radical sanctions against Russia and establish comprehensive accountability and damages mechanisms. In addition, we support Ukrainian citizens and lawyers affected by the war. However, the Ukrainian Bar Association needs support from the international legal community to survive this fateful time and continue our activities.

    To reconcile our striving for international cooperation and our mission of serving the people of Ukraine, we opened our doors for global participation and invite foreign lawyers to become international members of the UBA.

    International membership at the UBA is available to all foreign lawyers who wish to support and join the activities of the UBA. 

    What we offer:

    • regular receipt of information in English about the UBA activities (positions papers, news, events, etc.);
    • access to information about Ukrainian lawyers, the opportunity to find partners in Ukraine;
    • One complimentary ticket to any international UBA conference;
    • the opportunity to hold events and consultations with the UBA Committees on any Ukrainian legislation or practice issue.

    The annual membership fee is EUR 200. Lawyers can join the community by following the link: https://2022.uba.ua/en/membership/international-participant/

    We will be glad to see international lawyers as full-fledged members of our association. We believe that experience exchange and new network opportunities for both Ukrainian and international members of the UBA would be a great way to develop their legal practice and help the Ukrainian legal community grow and thrive. If you would like to find out more about our activities, please visit our website: https://2022.uba.ua/en/

    Unlike any other news items in CEELM, these are published as received with no other edits than outlined in this editorial note.

  • AgiLawyer: UA.SUPPORT – Legal Volunteers Needed (International)

    AgiLawyer Society, July 25, 2022: We are seeking additional volunteer lawyers to join our international platform UA.SUPPORT – particularly lawyers based in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Hungary, and also in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway and Sweden. If you are interested, please fill out the following form on our website UA.SUPPORT or contact us by email at info@ua.support to discuss opportunities for cooperation.

    The Czech non-governmental organisation AgiLawyer Society z.s. has established the international pro bono legal platform UA.SUPPORT to link Ukrainian refugees in need of legal help with appropriate lawyers. The platform accepts more than 150 requests for legal aid per week. The Ukrainian refugees we serve are in need of legal aid in a variety of areas, including immigration law, employment law, schooling, healthcare, business development, etc. To date, more than 200 volunteer lawyers from 30 countries worldwide have signed on to volunteer with UA.SUPPORT.

    Unlike any other news items in CEELM, these are published as received with no other edits than outlined in this editorial note.

  • Bird & Bird and White & Case Advise on OTP’s Acquisition of Alpha Bank in Albania

    Bird & Bird has advised Hungary’s OTP Bank Group on its acquisition of the Albanian subsidiary of Greek Alpha Bank for EUR 55 million. White & Case advised Alpha Services and Holdings. Boga & Associates reportedly advised OTP as well. Kalo & Associates reportedly also advised Alpha.

    According to Bird & Bird, “Alpha Bank is the eighth largest bank in Albania with a market share of nearly 5% by assets and, as a universal bank, it is active in both the retail and corporate sectors. The deal creates a leading banking group in Albania, which will hold a share of about 11% of the market based on assets.”

    Bird & Bird’s team included Partner Pal Szabo, Counsel Daniel Aranyi, Senior Associates Daria Szabo and Gabor Kutai, and Associate Eszter Gal.

    White & Case’s team included lawyers from the firm’s Dubai and London offices.

  • JSK and Solivan Advise Topforsport on Acquisition of Stake in Eleven Teamsports Polska

    JSK and Solivan have advised Topforsport on its acquisition of shares in Eleven Teamsports Polska from Robert Julga.

    Topforsport is a sports equipment e-commerce company.

    According to JSK, Eleven Teamsports Polska is one of the three biggest internet shops for football equipment in Europe.

    JSK’s team was led by Partner Tomas Dolezil and included Senior Lawyer Jana Pospisilova.

    Solivan’s team was led by Partner Kamil Zurek.

  • SSW and Masiota Advise on Avallon’s Sale of Novo Tech to Constantia

    SSW Pragmatic Solutions has advised the Avallon MBO PE Fund on the full disposal of its stake in Novo Tech to Isosport Verbundbauteile Gesellschaft of the Constantia Industries group. Masiota advised the buyers. Filip & Company and MVVP reportedly also advised Avallon. SRG Stock Rafaseder Gruszkiewicz and Maruta Wachta reportedly also advised the buyers.

    Avallon is a management buyout company in Poland. Since its inception, it has participated in over 100 such transactions.

    Novo Tech operates in the manufacturing of polyethylene products, including splash guards and windshield wipers, as well as household doormats.

    According to SSW, “this transaction will strengthen the Avallon MBO market position and product portfolio and will result in the integration of 145 employees in three locations into the Isosport Group.”

    SSW’s team included Partners Pawel Chyb, Renata Patoka, Lukasz Karpiesiuk, Anita Palukiewicz, Katarzyna Szczudlik, and Andrzej Wloch, Counsels Anna Sekowska and Robert Wodzynski, Senior Associate Leszek Cyganiewicz, and Associates Wojciech Szaruch, Bartosz Kuziola, Cezary Gizinski, Joanna Berzynska-Garal, Tomasz Pietrzyk, and Aleksandra Czubek.

    Masiota’s team included Managing Partner Hubert Masiota, Senior Associate Marcin Dybowski, and Lawyer Daniel Jastrun.

    Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen announced that it had advised Isosport on the acquisition. “The transaction involved two production sites located in Poland and Romania (Oradea) which the Novo Tech Group operates, with an additional sales location in Belgium,” the firm informed. The NNDKP team included Partner Corina Dumitru and Senior Associate Claudia Lazar.

  • BDV and BD2P Advise Infobip on Acquisition of Netokracija

    Batarelo Dvojkovic Vuchetich and Bojovic Draskovic Popovic & Partners have advised Infobip on its acquisition of Netokracija.

    Infobip is one of Croatia’s unicorns and a communications platform provider. Netokracija is a digital media company and magazine focused on start-ups, digital marketing, and technology, based in both Croatia and Serbia.

    BDV’s team included Partner Laurenz Vuchetich and Attorney Marko Bohacek.

    BD2P’s team included Partner Vuk Draskovic and Senior Associates Milica Pesteric and Milos Andrejevic.

    The firms could not provide additional information about the deal.

  • CMS Advises Alpla on Acquisition of Apon

    CMS has advised Austria’s Alpla on its acquisition of Polish pharmaceutical packaging producer Apon.

    Alpla specializes in plastic packaging solutions, producing packaging systems, bottles, caps, and injection-molded parts for a range of industries.

    According to CMS, Alpla is “strengthening the presence of its pharmaceutical division in Central and Eastern Europe following the acquisition of the Polish company Apon. Apon was founded in 1985 as a family business. Today, around 45 employees produce plastic packaging for the pharmaceutical industry at the Zyrardow site near Warsaw. Among other things, Apon manufactures primary packaging for medicines in accordance with ISO 15378 under clean room conditions.”

    Earlier this year, CMS advised Alpla on its investment in Swedish start-up Blue Ocean Closures (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 11, 2022). In 2021, CMS advised Alpla on a joint venture with Ecohelp and UPT (as reported on October 14, 2021) and its acquisition of the Wolf Plastics Group (as reported on October 27, 2021).

    The CMS team included Vienna-based Partner Alexander Rakosi, Associates Marie-Christine Lidl and Anna Hiegelsperger, and Lawyer Dieter Zandler, and Warsaw-based Partner Blazej Zagorski, Senior Associates Joanna Bialoskorska, Maciej Olejnik, and Maciej Andrzejewski, Associates Kinga Mogilnicka and Karolina Terech, and Lawyers Aleksandra Dalecka, Tomasz Piotrowski, Michal Serwa, Agnieszka Gorecka, Marta Trebacka, and Katarzyna Los.

    CMS did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

  • Ilyashev & Partners Announces Glimstedt Cooperation

    Ilyashev & Partners has announced it has started a cooperation with Glimstedt to expand the firm’s capabilities in EU countries.

    According to Ilyashev & Partners, “meeting the new challenges facing Ukraine and foreign businesses in connection with the war in Ukraine, Ilyashev & Partners and Glimstedt, which has 13 offices in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, have joined efforts to provide the widest range of services to their clients.”

    “The new partnership significantly widens the range of opportunities for Ilyashev & Partners in terms of provision of legal services to its current clients in the Baltic Region, where the firm has had a presence since 2016,” the firm stated. “At the same time, the offices of Ilyashev & Partners in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa will be able to ensure coordinated joint consulting on projects of the clients of Glimstedt in Ukraine.”

    “Close cooperation with Glimstedt will allow us to provide additional services to our clients and assist Baltic and Scandinavian companies in coming to Ukraine for its post-war reconstruction,” Ilyashev & Partners Managing Partner Mikhail Ilyashev commented. “Our teams, as well as our clients, believe in the prospect of Ukraine’s EU membership and see the opportunities opening before them.”

    “We are willing to ensure our presence in the countries that seem most promising to our clients,” Glimstedt Partner Randu Riiberg added. “Partnership with the largest legal network and the leader of Ukrainian court dispute resolution practice opens opportunities for complex support of the projects in our jurisdictions, providing our clients with a clear competitive advantage.”

  • Queritius and Wolf Theiss Successful for Mol in ICSID Arbitration Against Republic of Croatia

    Queritius and Wolf Theiss, working with Dechert, have successfully represented the interests of the Mol Group in a USD 230 million ICSID arbitration case against the Republic of Croatia. Reportedly, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Peters & Peters, and Brick Court Chambers also represented Mol.

    According to Queritius, the case concerned claims that arose under the Energy Charter Treaty. “The tribunal has roundly rejected Croatia’s allegation that Mol’s Chairman and CEO bribed ex-Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to acquire control over Mol’s investment in Croatia – a charge for which Croatian courts have convicted both.”

    The Queritius team was led by Partner Daniel Dozsa.

    The Wolf Theiss team included Partner Dalibor Valincic, Senior Associate Ana Grubesic, and Associates Lucia Mocibob and Borna Dejanovic.

    The Mol Group’s in-house team was led by Pal Kara and Sandor Rezman.

  • Clifford Chance, Selih & Partnerji, DTB, Onisko & Holesova, and Planinic Soljic & Partners Advise on Ceska Sporitelna and CSOB Refinancing of Kofola

    Clifford Chance, Selih & Partnerji, and Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic & Krka have advised Ceska Sporitelna and Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka on the refinancing of Kofola. Onisko & Holesova, Planinic Soljic & Partners, and solo practitioner Klemen Ticar advised Kofola.

    According to Clifford Chance, the transaction covered “the existing financing for Kofola CeskoSlovensko and several of its subsidiaries, including the accession of a new borrower, the Slovenian company Radenska. The banks made available a new credit line of up to CZK 1 billion to Kofola CeskoSlovensko for its future investments and growth in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other countries, and implemented a more efficient and flexible management structure of the currency risk.”

    Kofola CeskoSlovensko is a manufacturer and distributor of soft drinks in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Its signature product, Kofola, was created in 1960.

    Clifford Chance’s team included Partner Milos Felgr, Senior Associates Hana Cekalova and Stanislav Holec, Associate Bara Becvarova, and Junior Lawyer Anna Kalasnikovova.

    The Selih & Partnerji team included Partner Blaz Ogorevc, Attorney Lidija Zupancic, and Associate Blaz Murko.

    DTB’s team included Senior Partner Damir Topic, Attorney Dina Salapic, and Trainees Lorean Micik and Jure Marovic.

    The Onisko & Holesova team included Partner Jakub Onisko and Attorney Katerina Sramkova.

    The Planinic Soljic & Partners team included Partner Kresimir Planinic and Lawyer Ante Mestrovic.