Ivanov & Tsoncheva has advised Bulgarian startup Quendoo on EUR 750,000 in financing it received from Bulgarian VC fund Vitosha Venture Partners.

DGKV has successfully represented Bulgaria's Mezzanine Partners Consortium before the Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria EAD, the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition, and the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court, in a public procurement tender (and related disputes) for a manager of a BGN 75.4 million (approximately EUR 38.5 million) Mezzanine Fund/ Growth Fund, which is designed to provide financing to small and medium enterprises.

CMS Sofia has successfully represented Bezmer Energy in a dispute against the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria involving the country's feed-In tariff.

As of 1 January 2021, Bulgaria's Commission for the Protection of Competition (the "CPC") will be available for pre-notification discussions. To this end, it has also published bylaws ("Rules") for such contacts (adopted by CPC decision 1005/10 December 2020).

CMS and Arsov Natchev Ganeva have advised contractor Arkad on the completion of the Balkan Stream Gas Pipeline project, which was completed at the end of December, 2020. Dentons’s Dubai office, KPMG Legal and Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski in Bulgaria, and Latham & Watkins in Russia reportedly also advised the contractor on the deal. Linklaters’s London office, reportedly assisted by DGKV in Bulgaria, advised unspecified lenders on financing for the project. 

Kinstellar’s Sofia office has advised Allianz Bulgaria on its lease of office space from Park Lane Developments in Sofia.

On 16 December the Bulgarian Council of Ministers adopted a Decree amending the local Ordinance for exercising the right of access to medical care. It concerns medical activities covered by the National Health Insurance Fund. This is the first attempt at national legislation regulating electronic referrals and prescriptions.

On 19 November 2020 the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition ("CPC") fined Olineza Premium OOD ("Olineza"), one of the biggest Bulgarian food producers, BGN 1,479,040 (approx. EUR 700,000) or 4 % of its 2019 turnover. The fine was imposed for the "misleading use" of the word "homemade" stated on the label of a mayonnaise product, and comes after almost three years of administrative and court proceedings.

The amendments to the Bulgarian Tax and Social Security Procedure Code in August 2019 relating to mandatory transfer pricing (TP) documentation came into effect on January 1, 2020. Thus 2020 is the first year for which TP documentation, including a local file and a master file, should be prepared.

Boyanov & Co has helped Ideal Standard Vidima obtain a loan of EUR 65 million, with EUR 45 million coming the DSK Bank and another EUR 20 million from the United Bulgarian Bank. 

Gugushev & Partners has helped Fr. Lurssen Werft GmbH & Co KG, part of Northern Germany's Lurssen shipyard group, win a public tender for the supply of two multipurpose modular patrol vessels to the Bulgarian Navy.

Boyanov & Co has formed new practice groups in Technology, Corporate Governance and Compliance, and Construction Law. 

Kinstellar has advised GTT Communications on the USD 2.15 billion sale of its business infrastructure in Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe to I Squared Capital. Linklaters advised the buyer on the deal.

Go2Law and Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov have advised Integral Venture Partners on an unspecified "strategic investment" in Bulgarian telecommunications company Bulsatcom. Vedder Price advised selling shareholders Blantyre Capital and the EBRD.

Kinstellar has re-launched its Restructuring and Insolvency practice, with the new iteration to be co-led by Csilla Andreko, Head of Kinstellar's Banking & Finance practice, and Denise Hamer, Kinstellar Head of C/SEE Asset Solutions.

Hristov & Partners has advised MTD Products, an Ohio-based manufacturer of outdoor power and lawn care equipment, on the restructuring of its business operations in Bulgaria. 

An interview with Alice Radu, General Legal Counsel for Romania & Bulgaria at Bosch Group Romania about her background and best practices.

On July 28, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Bulgaria’s Sabev & Partners law firm, working alongside DLA Piper, had advised the Government of Bulgaria on the tender procedure for the 35-year concession agreement for the Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, which was ultimately awarded to SOF Connect Consortium, led by Meridiam and including Munich Airport and Strabag, on its successful bid. We spoke to Sabev & Partners Iskra Neycheva and Boryana Boteva about the firm’s work on the project.