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Bulgaria’s Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. has promoted Desislava Krusteva to Partner and put her in charge of the firm’s Privacy and Data Protection Practice Group. In addition, the firm announced that it had promoted “three senior lawyers – Ms. Donka Stoyanova, Mr. Emil Tumbev and Mr. Boyan Ivanov, and two new associates – Ms. Radina Tomanova and Mr. Martin Zahariev” — raising the firm’s total number of “legal staff” to 34.

Krusteva specializes in TMT & Data Protection, IP, and Corporate, Commercial, and Contract Law. She received her law degree from The University of Sofia (St. Kliment Ohridski) in 2003, and joined Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. in December, 2005.

On December 25, 2015, Vasil Kisil & Partners announced that Senior Associate Vladyslav Podolyak had been promoted to Counsellor and Head of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice.

Podolyak specializes in intellectual property law and personal data protection. According to a VKP press release, “he has extensive experience representing domestic and foreign clients in disputes related to consumer rights protection and advising clients on the procedure of personal data processing. Over the past years, Vladyslav has successfully provided legal support for projects in the fields of consumer goods, banking services, Internet services, the automotive industry, etc.”

The press release also stated that “Podolyak participated in projects involving recognition of trademarks as well known and represented clients in courts in the context of infringements of intellectual property rights by manufacturers of counterfeit products,” and that “he actively develops the firm’s practice in the field of protection of copyright to works of art, choreographic works, movies, computer programs.” Finally, according to VKP, “he also provides legal support for projects involving protection of intellectual property rights on the Internet.”

Podolyak has been with Vasil Kisil & Partners since 2008, when he moved over from PWC, where he had spent the previous 15 months. Before that he had spent one and a half years in the Grischenko & Partners law and patent offices, and he began his career with two and a half years at the Doubinsky & Osharova patent and law agency.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Empik Media & Fashion S.A. on the sale of shares in Learning Systems Poland S.A. to Bookzz Holdings Limited.  

Empik Media & Fashion Group, which has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1997, is a leading distributor of media and entertainment products. Learning Systems Poland is a network of language schools operating as the Learning Systems Group, which manages 115 schools with over 100.000 learners. Bookzz Holdings is a part of the Penta Investments Capital Group, which shares control of Empik Media & Fashion.  

The Greenberg Traurig Warsaw team responsible for the transaction consisted of Managing Partner Jaroslaw Grzesiak, Senior Associate Anna Cienkus, and Associate Karolina Kubik. The team was supported by Associates Tomasz Denko, Anna Chrabota, Piotr Smolarczyk, Maciej Kacymirow, and Adam Puchalski.

When contacted by CEE Legal Matters, Greenberg Traurig declined to identify counsel for Bookzz.

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Gedik & Eraksoy — the Turkish arm of Allen & Overy — has, along with Allen & Overy’s Singapore office, advised Malaysia’s state electricity utility, Tenaga Nasional Bhd., on its December 11, 2015 acquisition of a 30% stake in Turkey’s Gama Enerji A.S. for USD 243 million. TNB acquired the stake from Gama Holding A.S., the International Finance Corporation, and GIF Holding I Cooperatief U.A. (a fund managed by the IFC Asset Management Company), in the amounts of 22.5%, 5.75%, and 1.75%, respectively. The IFC and GIF were advised by Clifford Chance, while Gama Holding was advised by White & Case and Cakmak Gokce Law Offices.

The partnership will give TNB two seats on Gama Enerji’s board with extensive control rights, as well as the opportunity to place key senior TNB professionals, particularly in finance, operations and maintenance, in Gama Enerji’s management.

Established in 2002, Gama Enerji is a subsidiary of Gama Holding, a prominent Turkish conglomerate with activities in construction, EPC contracting, concessions, trade, and energy/water investment. Gama Enerji is a power and water infrastructure development company which owns and operates a large portfolio of thermal, wind, and hydro assets in Turkey as well as a large water conveyance project in Jordan. Gama Enerji currently has a 840MW natural gas-fired plant and a 45 MW wind power plant under construction in Turkey which will go live in Q3 2016 and Q4 2016 respectively. By 2017, it is expected to have a gross installed capacity of 1,027MW in Turkey. 

TNB Chairman Tan Sri Leo Moggie described his company’s investment as “an important step in TNB’s strategy of expanding into international markets where power demand is rising. It is in line with TNB’s five-year international expansion roadmap to secure new overseas generation capacity. TNB will bring significant engineering and technical expertise, not least in the areas of managing, operating and maintaining large scale power plants. This know-how will give the partnership between TNB, Gama Holding, IFC and GIF a real competitive edge that can maximize opportunities in Turkey and the region.” 

TNB’s President/Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Ir. Azman Mohd said: “Turkey is one of the largest power markets in Europe and power consumption has shown an impressive six per cent of average annual growth in the last decade. By gaining a presence in this key power market through our investment and long-term strategic partnership with Gama Holding, TNB will be able to significantly grow its power generation assets in Turkey, as well as looking to expand further into the Middle East and North Africa. We will do this by actively pursuing acquisition opportunities of existing power assets, as well as bidding for greenfield projects with Gama Holding in Turkey and the surrounding region.” 

The Gedik & Eraksoy team was led by Partner Hakki Gedik, supported by Associates Naz Tamer and Utku Unver. The Singapore-based Allen & Overy team was led by Partner Barry Irwin, supported by Senior Sssociates James Mythen and Mark Nam.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Paris-based Counsel Marianne Pezant.

Editorial Note: After this article was published, it was announced that the White & Case and Cakmak Gokce Law Offices team that advised Gama Enerji included Istanbul-based Partners Asli Basgoz and Ashley Ballard and London-based Partner Pieta Menon, with support from Istanbul-based Associates Tugce Tatari, Ceylan Kara, and Nesli Sen Ozcelik, Ankara-based Associate Mustafa Durakoglu, and London-based Associates Laura Hoyland and Oliver Clarke. White & Case Tax Consultant Hakan Eraslan and Competition Advisor Sezin Elcin Cengiz — both in Istanbul — rounded out the team, which worked with Gama General Counsel Aybars Yagiz.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner has announced that Austrian lawyer Helmut Kinczel has become a Contract Partner on the firm’s Public Law team.

Kinczel specializes in real estate, environmental, infrastructure and procurement, state aid, and human rights law. He joined FWP in August, 2014, and was admitted to the Austrian bar in 2015. He received his law degree and a doctorate from the University of Graz in 2006 and 2010, respectively. 

Cobalt’s Lithuanian office has advised INVL Technology, an investment company focused on targets in the IT sector, in the acquisition of Algoritmu Sistemos, a leading Lithuanian information systems development company. Glimstedt advised the sellers on the deal.

The acquisition is to be completed in the first quarter of 2016, after permits are issued by the Competition Council and the Lithuanian Commission for the evaluation of compliance of potential buyers to national security interests. Because the value of the deal depends on Algoritmu Sistemos’ financial results for 2015, it will be revealed when the acquisition is completed.

Rimgaudas Zaldokas, the founder and the chairman of the Board of Algoritmu Sistemos, will continue serving on the Board of the company, and current director Elena Vengriene will remain in her position as well. 

Established in 2001, Algoritmu Sistemos develops efficient and reliable information systems for large and medium-sized organizations. The revenue of Algoritmu Sistemos in 2014 was EUR 2.267 million, and the company employs almost 60 people. 

INVL Technology is listed on the Nasdaq Vilnius stock exchange. The company was created after the merger of BAIP group AB and INVL Technology AB.

The Cobalt team included Managing Associate Juozas Rimas, who heads the Lithuanian M&A team, and Associate Audrius Slazinskas.

The Glimstedt team was led by Partner Paulius Gruodis, supported by Associate Michailas Molis.

Avellum Partners has acted as Ukrainian counsel to the City of Kyiv on the restructuring of its USD 250 million 8% Loan Participation Notes due 2015 (the “2015 Notes”) and USD 300 million 9.375% Loan Participation Notes due 2016 (the “2016 Notes”). White & Case advised the City of Kyiv and Linklaters advised Goldman Sachs International, the Dealer Manager on English law matters.

According to Avellum Partners, the City of Kyiv offered its creditors the opportunity to exchange the 2015 Notes and the 2016 Notes for sovereign notes and GDP-linked securities. This eurobond debt restructuring was structured as the exchange offer of 2015 Notes and the exchange offer and consent solicitation of 2016 Notes. As a result of the settlement of the operation, the City of Kyiv’s liabilities were reduced by a total of USD 448,851,000 (USD 148,851,000 from the 2015 Notes and USD 300,000,000 from the 2016 Notes). The debt operation contributes to meeting the specific targets of the IMF-supported Extended Fund Facility agreed on March 11, 2015.  

The Avellum Partners team was led by Partner Glib Bondar, with support from Lead Associates Artem Shyrkozhukhov and Taras Dmukhovskyy and Associates Taras Stadniichuk, Anastasiya Voronova, Pavlo Shevchenko, and Orest Franchuk, among others.

The Linklaters team was led by US Capital Markets Partner Cecil Quillen and included Managing Associates Arjun Muddu and Olga Fedosova.

White & Case did not respond to an inquiry on the matter.

Editor’s Note: After this story was published Fieldfisher announced that it had advised Kyiv Finance plc, a bond issuer, on the USD 300 million debt restructuring for the city of Kyiv. The Fieldfisher team was led by Partner Gonzalo Fernandez, supported by Partner Alex Campbell. The team was instructed by Law Debenture Corporate Services Limited, which provided corporate services to Kyiv Finance.

Subsequently, Sayenko Kharenko announced that it had acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to Goldman Sachs in its capacity as dealer manager on the restructuring of the 2015 Notes and 2016 Notes. The firm’s team was led by Partner Nazar Chernyavsky and included Counsel Anton Korobeynikov, Senior Associate Olexander Olshansky, and Associates Marta Lozenko, Taras Shyb, and Dmytro Vasylyna.

Wierzbowski Eversheds has announced that Patryk Galicki has been hired as Of Counsel, and that he will head the firm’s real estate practice going forward. Galicki moves to Eversheds from K&L Gates, and brings Associate Kamil Lewandowski over with him from the American firm.

Galicki has over 15 years of experience in a range of real estate and corporate law, and according to Eversheds, “he has advised on dozens of multi-million-dollar transactions involving purchase and sale of office, industrial and retail properties throughout Poland, including real estate sale-and-leaseback transactions. He has supported clients in financing and refinancing of real estate projects as well as restructuring processes. He has also conducted a range of M&A deals.” 

Galicki spent the past year and a half at K&L Gates, before which he spent 5 years at Bird & Bird, where he climbed to Partner, and headed the firm’s Warsaw Real Estate and Corporate/M&A practices. He was a named Partner at Galicki Litwinski Chechlinska Los Radcowie Prawni Spolka Partnerska from 2007-2009, and began his legal career with six years at Barylski T., Olszewski A., Brzozowski A. Kancelaria Prawnicza. He received his law degree from the University of Warsaw in 2001.

“I am pleased to take on the task of leading the real estate practice at Wierzbowski Eversheds,” said Galicki. “The combination of the excellent skills of the real estate team with my own extensive experience and the possibilities provided by the global Eversheds network enables us to offer Polish and international clients comprehensive legal support of the highest quality.” 

Krzysztof Wierzbowski, Managing Partner of Wierzbowski Eversheds, commented: “Patryk Galicki will lead a practice of ours which over the years has developed a strong market position. I believe that thanks to both these new lawyers, we will continue to strengthen the practice, expanding the services offered to our current clients, many of whom we also support in the real estate field, and gaining cooperation with new clients. We are inspired to be joined by such experienced specialists, highly regarded by clients. Reinforcement of our real estate practice is one of a series of recent major changes at our firm. Near the end of 2015 we launched our regulatory risk and compliance practice and gained a new head of the competition practice.”

Lawyers from the Warsaw office of Clifford Chance have advised mBank S.A. as the arranger of the secured bond issuance programme of Griffin Real Estate Invest Sp. z o.o. — which was advised by Chajec, Don-Siemion & Zyto.

The issuer is a Griffin Real Estate Group entity which was established for the purpose of the bond issue. The Griffin Group was created in 2006 and is currently the most active investor on the Polish real estate market, managing assets worth more than EUR 1.7 billion. Between June and October 2015 the Griffin Group and PIMCO acquired the majority shareholding (65.99%) in Echo Investment S.A. – one of the largest Polish real estate developers (with assets of PLN 6.9 billion). According to Clifford Chance, “this was the largest corporate transaction on the Polish real estate market to date.”

Pursuant to the documentation of the bond issuance program Griffin Real Estate Invest Sp. z o.o. can issue secured bonds up to a maximum amount of PLN 300 million. The bonds are to be introduced to the alternative trading system of the WSE or BondSpot. The first series of the bonds, with a value of PLN 147 million, was issued on December 29, 2015.

The Clifford Chance team working on the transaction was led by Partner Grzegorz Namiotkiewicz, and included Counsel Grzegorz Abram and lawyers Anna Miernik and Pawel Zagorski.

Herbst Kinsky has represented the province of Lower Austria in a lawsuit initiated by a political party in the region. The Supreme Court of Justice confirmed (in its decision of November 18, 2015), the decisions of the lower courts rejecting the action against the province of Lower Austria.

According to Herbst Kinsky, the subject of the proceedings was a dispute over the granting of party funding in Lower Austria. 

The Herbst Kinsky team was led by Stephan Lenzhofer.