CEE Legal Matters

Category: News

  • 360Competition Opens Doors in Romania

    Clifford Chance Badea Of Counsel Diana Crangasu and Former D&B David & Baias Partner Adrian Ster have founded 360Competition, a boutique competition law firm.

    Both Ster and Crangasu specialize in competition law and state aid. The new firm’s services will cover antitrust, merger control, state aid, and unfair competition.

    Ster has spent the past two years as Partner in charge of Competition Law and State Aid at D&B David and Baias, which he joined in May 2019 after spending the previous three years at Wolf Theiss (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 8, 2019). He graduated from the Babes-Bolyai University Law School in 2005.

    Crangasu will continue to supervise the competition practice at Clifford Chance Badea, overseeing its local competition team, and working with the antitrust teams of other Clifford Chance offices. She graduated from the University of Bucharest Law School in 2004.

    “The opening of a specialized boutique reflects both the confidence we have in our capabilities and the maturity of the Romanian legal services market,” commented Ster. “Our experience and the portfolio of clients we set out with confirm that we are taking this step not only with the best team, but also at the right time,” added Crangasu.

  • DLK Legal Helps Free Now Register a Limited Network Instrument with Polish Financial Supervision Authority

    DLK Legal has helped Mytaxi Polska sp. z o.o., which does business as Free Now, register with the Polish Financial Supervision Authority as an entity benefiting from the limited network exemption under the Polish Act on Payment Services. 

    According to DLK Legal, “the registration covers the issuance of a payment instrument in form of the Free Now mobile application enabling users to make payments for the passenger transport services. Free Now is a leading urban mobility provider and part of the mobility joint venture between BMW and Daimler. Altogether Free Now’s activity covers 17 markets and 150 cities around the world and has 45 million users.”

    DLK Legal’s team included Partner Krzysztof Korus, Attorney Bartosz Wyzykowski, and Trainee Aleksandra Ksiezak.

  • JPM Jankovic Popovic Mitic Creates Special Partnership with Vukmirovic Misic in Montenegro

    Serbia’s JPM Jankovic Popovic Mitic has entered into a special partnership with the Vukmirovic Misic law firm in Montenegro.

    According to an article on the JPM website, “for JPM Jankovic Popovic Mitic, [which] has a long tradition of working closely with first-rate firms throughout the region and around the world, this partnership will enable us to provide top-notch legal advice on the Montenegrin market with strong local lawyers’ expertise.”

    A JPM representative explained that, while local bar regulations preclude formal integration of firms in Serbia and Montenegro, its relationship with Vukmirovic Misic “means a bit less then exclusivity and more then best friends, with joint market development and marketing efforts. With the law firm of Lana Vukmirovic Misic we have found a trustworthy partner who speaks the same professional language and shares the same values we at JPM have been abiding for 30 years. We look forward to developing this partnership as much as possible …. For the time being we want to show this partnership for what it really is, and that is two independent firms from two jurisdictions working hand in hand in close partnership while remaining independent.”

  • Deloitte Legal and LeitnerLaw Advise Hoerbiger on Cross-Border Merger

    Deloitte Legal Lithuania and LeitnerLaw have advised Hoerbiger on the cross-border merger of Lithuanian entity Hoerbiger LT UAB into Austrian entity Hoerbiger Wien. 

    According to Deloitte Legal, “Hoerbiger is a leading player in the fields of compression technology, drive technology and hydraulics.”

    Deloitte Legal’s team included Local Partner Tomas Davidonis and Managing Associate Tomas Mieliauskas.

    LeitnerLaw’s team included Attorneys Vedran Obradovic and Matthias Herzog.

  • New Partner Promotions at Nazali Tax & Legal in Turkey and Ukraine

    Murat Demir has been promoted to Regional Partner and Dogus Gulpinar to Partner at Nazali Tax & Legal in Turkey and Ukraine, respectively.

    Murat Demir began his career at EY in Izmir, Turkey, in 2003. After 15 years with the firm, he joined Nazali Tax & Legal in 2018. He obtained his Master of Laws in Public Law from the Bahcesehir University in 2014.

    Before joining Nazali Tax & Legal Services in the spring of last year (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on March 26, 2020), Dogus Gulpinar practiced with the D&M law firm from 2015 to 2019 and with GoLaw from 2019 to 2020. He received his Bachelor of Laws from the Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University in 2015.

  • Schoenherr and Dentons Advise on Ventus and Sky Logistica’s Acquisition of Skyport

    Schoenherr has advised Ventus LLC and Sky Logistica on the acquisition of Skyport, a cargo operator based in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, from the Czechoslovak Group, a.s.. In a parallel transaction, Schoenherr also advised Elite Partners Capital on the acquisition of the Skyport RE cargo property company from the Czechoslovak Group. Dentons advised the Czechoslovak Group on the parallel deals.

    Ventus is a private equity company operating in Atlanta, USA that focuses on investments in airport infrastructure.

    Elite Partners Capital Pte. Ltd operates as an asset management company. The company serves clients and investors worldwide with assets under management of more than USD 1 billion.

    The Czechoslovak Group, founded in 2014, is a holding company covering an industrial and technological group of companies operating in aerospace, the railway industry, the automotive industry, and the production of special vehicles and precision engineering. 

    Schoenherr’s team included, in Prague, Partner Vladimir Cizek, Attorneys Jiri Marek, Michal Jendzelovsky, Rudolf Bicek, Claudia Bock, Eva Bajakova, Viktor Pakosta, Matej Sarapatka, Stanislav Bednar, Marie Gremillot, and Associates Libuse Docekalova and Jachym Bem; and in Slovakia, Attorneys Peter Devinsky, Jan Farbiak, and Tomas Silhanek, and Associate Alexandra Adamickova.

    Dentons’ team included Prague-based Partners Jan Prochazka and Ladislav Storek, and Associates  Vojtech Novak, Kristyna Noskova, Petr Muller, Adam Prerovsky, and Jakub Nosek.

  • Glimstedt, Fort Legal, and Ellex Advise on Office Building Sale in Riga and Vilnius

    Glimstedt and Fort Legal have advised real estate company Vastint on the sale of office buildings in Vilnius and Riga to Eastnine for EUR 35.5 million. Ellex advised Eastnine.

    Vastint Lithuania and Vastint Latvia belong to Interogo Holding AG. 

    Glimstedt’s team in Lithuania included Partner Arturas Baksys, Senior Associates Jurgita Zakarauskiene, Petras Navardauskas, and Jolita Cesne, Associate Laura Tunkeviciute, and Expert Giedre Rimkunaite-Manke.

    Fort Legal’s team in Latvia included Partner Janis Likops and Associates Vita Rancane and Laila Pudule.

    Ellex’ team included Riga-based Partners Ivars Pommers and Inita Jurka, Senior Associate Zane Miglane, and Associate Ineta Kanepe.

  • New Legal Network Launched By Romanian Legal Portal

    Romanian legal portal avocatura.com has announced the launch of the WOLEP international network.

    As part of the announcement, WOLEP – which stands for World Online Lawyers with Excellent Practice – produced an open call for lawyers to join its network with the aim of facilitating professional cooperation through client sharing and cooperating on joint projects while offering online legal consultation tools, including invoicing and fee collection.

    “New technologies can make a substantial contribution to the professional success of lawyers,” explained a WOLEP press release. “The Internet is also a market for legal services and, at the same time, an important tool that facilitates the professional cooperation of lawyers.” 

    The avocatura.com portal was founded by Romanian lawyer Romeo Cosma of Cosma & Associates. It originally operated as a legal publication and later transitioned to an online legal services marketplace.

  • Ellex Advises Eesti Energia on MoU with Orsted

    Ellex has advised Eesti Energia on its entrance into a memorandum of understanding with Orsted for the development of a large-scale offshore wind farm and the movement towards delivering the first offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Riga.

    According to Ellex, “as part of the MoU, Eesti Energia and Orsted intend to establish a joint venture for the development of offshore wind opportunities in the Baltic countries, including the Liivi offshore wind project (in the range of 1000 to 2000 MW) in the Gulf of Riga. In September 2020, the Latvian and Estonian governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a joint offshore wind farm.”

    Ellex Raidla’s team in Estonia consisted of Partner Martin Kaerdi and Counsel Triin Frosch and Ellex Klavins’s team in Latvia consisted of Senior Partner Raimonds Slaidins and Senior Counsel Iveta Ceple.

    The firm did not reply to our inquiry about the deal.

  • Adriatic Firms Form New Rivet:Net Law Firm Alliance

    A new law firm alliance has appeared in the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

    Rivet:net — which its members describes as “a network of leading independent law firms in the Adriatic region, providing comprehensive legal support across the region” — was founded by North Macedonia’s Bona Fide, Slovenia’s Fatur Menard, Kosovo’s Hodaj & Partners, Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Milanovic-Lalic and Suljovic, Croatia’s Vukmir and Associates, and Serbia’s Zivkovic Samardzic (which will also cover Montenegro).

    According to a story on the Zivkovic Samardzic website, “the main purpose of Rivet:net is to enhance the regional capabilities of members of the network, and to enable their clients to approach high-quality, uniform, and efficient legal support throughout the entire Adriatic region.”