Since the cessation of the widely-used LIBOR benchmark has become a realistic prospect, due to the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s announcements that it will stop supporting this benchmark at the end of 2021, the question of what will take its place has become a hot topic for lenders and lawyers drafting credit agreements.

In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time: “What one ongoing pro bono initiative or project or charity/volunteering project that your firm is involved with has the most meaning for you personally, and why?”

Penkov, Markov & Partners has helped CEZ a.s. obtain approval from the Bulgarian Energy and Water Regulatory Commission for its disposal of 67% of its shares in CEZ Distribution Bulgaria to Eastern European Electric Company B.V. (which is part of the Eurohold Group).

The dynamic and challenging 2020 somehow distracted the attention of the EU citizens and businesses to the fact that on 31 January last year the United Kingdom made its important step out of the European Union. The transitional period, that was agreed to cover the whole 2020, ensured no changes to the way the day-to-day business was done during the past year. That came to its end on 1 January 2021, when the UK effectively left the European Union and the free movement of workers between the EU member states and the United Kingdom was officially over.

"The majority of us will be more than happy to see 2020 behind us,” laughs Stefana Tsekova, Local Partner at Schoenherr Sofia. “But luckily for us at Schoenherr, it was a good year, especially for big ticket deals. We advised on the Vivacom deal, valued at 1.3 billion euros, making it the biggest deal ever on the Bulgarian market. It started before the Covid crisis hit, but luckily it continued. We actually advised on another big transaction on the energy sector as well — the acquisition by Enery Development of the biggest photovoltaic plant operational in Bulgaria, with 50 MW installed capacity [as reported by CEE Legal Matters on September 15, 2020]. So in terms of deals we were lucky.”

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.

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

Contributed by Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski.

Contributed by Gugushev & Partners, Member of PONTES