Directive (EU) 2019/633 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 concerning unfair business-to-consumer trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain has recently been transposed into Romanian legislation by Law no. 81/2022, in force since 15 April 2022 ("Law no. 81 /2022").

Considering the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the scale of mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine, on 7 March 2022 the Republic of Croatia officially introduced temporary protection for the displaced persons from Ukraine in accordance with the Act on International and Temporary Protection. The temporary protection is granted to persons displaced from Ukraine as of 24 February 2022 (or just before this date), more specifically, to Ukrainian nationals and their family members as well as to certain groups of stateless persons and certain groups of third country nationals.

The Government of Montenegro passed a Bill of the Law on Electronic Document („Bill“) which is now waiting to be passed by the Parliament of Montenegro. Among other things, the Covid-19 epidemic revealed the weaknesses of the public administration in terms of the digitalization of the public administration but also of the legal framework concerning the creation, usage and archiving of electronic documents both in the public administration as well as in private legal affairs, which makes the adoption of this Bill of great importance for the continuation of the digitalization process.

Sayenko Kharenko, April 20: On 24 February 2022, the life of every Ukrainian has changed forever. The activity of the Charity Fund “Breathe” has also been transformed. The organisation was initially established by Sayenko Kharenko’s partners and Ukrainian businessmen to support medical institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the start of the war, “Breathe” has been raising funds to help Ukrainian hospitals and civilians affected by the disaster. 

From 1 April 2022, substantial changes were made to the provisions of the government decree on the construction and construction-related profession exercising activities, i.e. designers, construction technical supervisors, responsible technical leaders and construction experts.

On March 21, 2022, Member States of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) approved a comprehensive set of amendments to the ICSID’s flagship rules for resolving disputes between foreign investors and their host States, after a five-year long process. This marks the fourth time the ICSID rules have been updated. Also, this is the most extensive review until now, as also explicitly acknowledged by the ICSID. The amendments will come into effect on July 1, 2022 and will apply to arbitrations commenced from that date onwards.

Recently, the European Parliament and Council adopted Directive (EU) no. 2021/2167 on credit servicers and credit purchasers relating to transfer and servicing of the non-performing loans (NPLs) issued by the banks.

The Hungarian Government adopted a decree on 24 February 2022 that allows people fleeing the Russian-Ukraine war to enter Hungary and guarantees ‘temporary protection’ for them. This temporary protection applies to all Ukrainian citizens and refugees who lived in Ukraine and their relatives. The temporary protection, at this stage, is available for one year. In order to get the temporary protected status, after entering Hungary, people must register at the Immigration Authority or at one of its sub-offices at the reception centres located near the Ukraine border. With the temporary protected status Ukrainian citizens are entitled to get accommodation, food, medical care, also dental treatment, maternity care, vaccinations and education for children. They are also entitled for monthly cash allowance for the duration of their protection. The monthly amount of the allowance is HUF 22,800 (approx. EUR 62).

“Banking is essential, banks are not…”(Bill Gates, 1994)

In Turkey, digitalization in corporate law practice has been significantly and gradually increasing in the last few years. Provision of digital signature declarations through the Central Registration System (“MERSIS”), making foreign direct investment notifications through the Electronic Incentive Practices and Foreign Capital System (“E-TUYS”) and receiving electronic notifications from the Social Security Institution (“SSI”) are some of the recent examples and developments of this effort. In this article, we will evaluate these current developments and explain significant points that should be taken into consideration for efficiency.

Russian invasion on Ukraine from 24 February 2022 has brought far-reaching consequences for lives of ordinary people, for international politics and for businesses. This unprecedented act of aggression was met with strong response from the international community. Words of condemnation were quickly followed by introducing some more tangible solutions – economic sanctions imposed on Russia itself and persons companies and institutions known to be Vladimir Putin’s close co-operators. International companies cut their ties with Russian businesses and limited the number of products imported from there.

From February 24, 2022, under martial law, the banking system operates in a special mode.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) released its judgement in Case C-333/20 Berlin Chemie on 7 April 2022. This extremely important ruling might mark the turning point in the controversial VAT fixed establishment topic. Although numerous European courts had already passed decisions on this issue, the approach taken by tax authorities in many EU Member States, including Romania, have been aggressive and inconsistent, with significant tax assessments made against companies mainly due to uncertainties in the existing legislation.

The first article of our own REMIT series is available here. It provides an overview of the REMIT core concepts, including the novelties brought under the latest edition of the ACER Guidance published on 22 July 2021 and the main conclusions of the 2021 REMIT Forum. This second article of our REMIT series presents (i) a more detailed analysis of REMIT in Romania, (ii) a practical perspective on the sanctioning regime applied by various NRAs, including the Romanian NRA, and (iii) the overall conclusions of our analysis.

On 30 March 2022, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (the “AMC“) adopted the guidelines on the merger control procedure during the time of the martial law in Ukraine (the “Guidelines“).

Avellum, April 12, 2022: Today the whole world is witnessing unheard brutality and cynicism of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. The war that Russia started targets not only military facilities in Ukraine, but civil objects, hospitals, schools, residential, and office buildings. The mass genocide of Ukrainians has intensified, Russian invaders no longer even try to conceal their atrocities against civilians and carry them out in front of the entire world.

The phrase "between husband and wife" in Article 278/3 of the Bankruptcy and Enforcement Code No. 2004 [“BEC”] was annulled by the Constitutional Court on March 22, 2022. The annulment will take effect 9 months after its publication, on December 22, 2022.

On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation launched a military aggression against Ukraine. This became the basis for the imposition of the martial law in Ukraine from 24 February 2022, with further extension until 26 April 2022.