The Tirana office of Wolf Theiss has advised the European Investment Fund on its EUR 25 million loan to Albania's Alpha Bank.

Sabina Lalaj, who has led Deloitte Legal in Albania and Kosovo since 2015, has been promoted to Local Legal Partner at the firm.

“The political situation in Albania is currently overcharged,” says Wolf Theiss Partner Sokol Nako, commenting on the opposition’s decision to leave the parliament earlier this year, which led to widespread protests.

Bojovic Draskovic Popovic & Partners and the other members of the South East Legal Alliance have become official partners of Italy's Grimaldi Alliance.

Tonucci & Partners advised Union Bank on the acquisition of the International Commercial Bank in Albania, and Wolf Theiss provided legal advice to Union Bank during the regulatory approval phase.

Kalo & Associates has advised the YURA Corporation, a South Korean auto-supplier, on launching the first stage of the operation of its plant on a 4.9 hectare site near Fier, in southwest Albania.

Law firm members of the SEE Legal Group, acting on behalf of Netlog Logistics, have completed a due diligence analysis of the Intereuropa group of companies, upon the announcement of a banking consortium that it is selling 72% share capital in Intereuropa d.d.

Kalo & Associates and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, both acting on behalf of the Republic of Albania, have persuaded an ICSID arbitral panel to dismiss a case brought by the Anglo-Adriatic Investment Fund, which was claiming about EUR 220 million for foreign investment expropriation.

Boyanov & Co., Kalo & Associates, and Hugh Owen of Go2Law have advised Albania Telecom Invest, a joint venture of entrepreneurs Spas Roussev and Elvin Guri, on its EUR 50 million acquisition of Telekom Albania from OTE (Deutsche Telekom). White & Case and Wolf Theiss advised the sellers on the deal, which remains subject to closing conditions, including the approval by the competent local authorities and financing, and is expected to be completed within the first half of 2019.

“Nothing really big is happening at the moment,” says Anisa Rrumbullaku, Partner at CR Partners in Tirana. "Not much has happened recently — it’s been pretty stable for the past three months.”

Arcliffe has assisted Yazaki on corporate and labor-related matters related to the company's activity in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Croatia. ODI Law supported Arcliffe in the Adria region countries.

BDK Advokati and Kirkland & Ellis have advised BC Partners on its agreement to acquire a majority stake in United Group B.V. from KKR, which retains a substantial minority stake. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the transaction is subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

October 30, 2018, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Belgrade

We are excited to announce that registration for the 2018 Balkan General Counsel Summit is now open. The event will take place in Belgrade’s Hyatt Regency Hotel on October 30, 2018.

CMS has acted with lead counsel Jones Day in advising the OTP Bank Group on its acquisition of Societe Generale subsidiaries SG Expressbank Group, Sogelife Insurance Company, and SG Banka Albania, for over EUR 600 million. Schoenherr's Sofia office and Kalo & Associates in Tirana advised Societe Generale on the sale.

“As part of Albania’s new judicial reform, in the beginning of 2018 a vetting law entered into force, which stipulates that about 800 judges and prosecutors will undergo a professional and ethical re-evaluation,” reports Alban Caushi, Managing Partner at CR Partners. “As a result, there is an impasse in the judiciary system: The Constitutional Court does not have a quorum to take over cases and the Supreme Court is paralyzed.”

Wolf Theiss has advised the Chinese home appliance producer Hisense on its takeover offer for 95% of the shares in Slovenian white-goods manufacturer Gorenje. Jadek & Pensa advised Gorenje on the sale. The transaction value exceeds EUR 250 million.

The winners of the 2017 CEE Deal of the Year Awards were announced at the first ever CEE Legal Matters Deal of the Year Awards Banquet last night in Prague. The biggest smiles in the joyous and music-filled celebration of CEE lawyering, perhaps, were on the faces of Partners from Avellum and Sayenko Kharenko, which, along with White & Case and Latham & Watkins, won the award both for Ukrainian Deal of the Year and CEE Deal of the Year for their work on the 2017 Ukraine Eurobond Issue (a story initially reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 2, 2017).

“In Albania we have a hospitable climate for foreign investors, not just from a legal perspective, but from a business perspective as well, and we are trying to do the best to implement the laws as they are written,” reports Jonida Skendaj, Partner at Boga and Associates.