Djingov Gouginski Kyutchukov & Velichkov has advised Unicredit Bulbank, DSK Bank, and United Bulgarian Bank on their approximately EUR 160 million financing for Maxcom, Chipolino, and Maxbike.

This seems like a relevant question in Bulgaria in the summer of 2022. While the chatter has been intensifying lately, it has been mostly taking place in specialized business-oriented media and, by far, not as much in any mainstream source of information for the general public.

Several legislative updates will support the legal profession in Bulgaria, according to Gugushev & Partners Partner Dafinka Stoycheva, with the push toward green energy, (another) pending government change, and a landmark CJEU decision also at the top of the agenda for lawyers in the country.

Tokushev and Partners has advised on Bee Smart Technologies' initial public offering of shares on the Beam growth market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. The First Financial Brokerage House acted as lead broker on the deal.

On July 11, 2022, Kinstellar announced that KBC Bank’s acquisition of Raiffeisenbank in Bulgaria (reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 25, 2021) had closed.

Komarevski Dimitrov & Partners has advised the Bulgarian subsidiary of the Kone Corporation on its acquisition of Liftkom Service.

Djingov Gouginski Kyutchukov & Velichkov has advised Maple Bear on its EUR 100 million investment program for the CEE region through a partnership with Vantage Capital. MFW Fialek advised Vantage Capital on the partnership. Boyanov & Co reportedly advised Vantage as well.

As a result of standard monitoring of public procurement procedures contracts, in July 2021, the Bulgarian government announced that in the past two-and-a-half years, roughly BGN 8.6 billion (EUR 4.4 billion) were spent on in-house awards of public procurement contracts in Bulgaria.

Entering into force on February 19, 2021, the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility aimed, according to the European Commission, “to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient, and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.” CEE Legal Matters spoke with lawyers from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, and Romania to learn what each country focused on, with its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), and what difficulties lie ahead, now that these plans have been submitted to the EC.

Amid political turmoil, Bulgaria is trying to catch up with a backlog of parliamentary work, according to Penkov, Markov & Partners Chairman and Senior Partner Vladimir Penkov.

As the usage of remote work tools increases, so does the demand for distance communication between employer and employee. Many would say that this is already a fact and on-going employee issues are easily addressed by sending an e-mail or making an entry in the company’s human resources management system. Yet the question remains if this is permissible under Bulgarian labor law and if it would be accepted by the Bulgarian state authorities in case of a dispute.

Eversheds Sutherland has announced it is combining with Sofia-based "long-standing relationship firm" Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners, as of June 22, 2022.

Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners has advised on the preparation of the new Bulgarian Covered Bonds Act. 

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Savoric & Partners, and Filip & Company have advised Borealis on a binding offer for its nitrogen business from the Agrofert group. Wolf Theiss advised Agrofert. Oppenheim, Boyanov & Co, and PRK Partners reportedly advised Borealis as well.

Baker McKenzie has advised Palfinger on establishing its European Works Council. Babic & Partners, Djingov Gouginski Kyutchukov & Velichkov, Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen, and Jadek & Pensa advised Palfinger on Croatian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Slovenian law-related matters, respectively. Bech-Bruun, Arntzen de Besche, and PBBR reportedly advised on Danish, Norwegian, and Portuguese law-related matters.

Deloitte Legal has advised Kongsberg Digital and the shareholders of InterConsult Bulgaria on the acquisition of the company from ICB founders Stoyan Dobrev and Atanas Dobrev. Yordanov and Dobrev reportedly advised the sellers.

CMS has successfully defended hydropower producer Kooperatsiya Parallel 2000 in a post-privatization dispute initiated by Bulgaria’s Public Enterprises and Control Agency.

Energy prices have been a salient issue in CEE for the past year. Part 1 of this article covered just how high the energy prices had climbed in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, and Turkey, the impact of those prices on people, businesses, and governments, as well as the reasons why some countries fared better than others. Then Russia’s war against Ukraine changed everything, making a new energy pricing normal seem more distant than ever. In Part 2 we look at what energy experts believe could alleviate the situation and whether the war has impacted those plans.