Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Eligo on its acquisition of the Czech branch of Euroserum.

Cobalt has advised Dithmarschen Baltic GmbH on its acquisition of 100% of Dan-Lat Invest and ODK & RB. Actus Q reportedly advised the sellers on the deal.

Dentons has advised TC Capital on its EUR 20 million acquisition of a grain and oilseed farm located in the Romanian town of Buzias from France's Gespie SAS.

Cobalt Latvia has advised two natural persons in an administrative appeal of a decision of Latvia's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs denying them residence permits due to non-compliance with the provisions of the Immigration Law.

Nikolay Kolev has been promoted to Partner at Boyanov & Co. in Sofia.

Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners has helped aluminum producer Rusal register as a new resident of the Special Administrative Region on Oktyabrsky Island in the Kaliningrad region of Russia.

Dentons has advised Vseobecna Uverova Banka and UniCredit Bank on a EUR 105 million loan to J&T Real Estate for the construction of the Eurovea Tower in Slovakia. Relevans reportedly advised the unidentified borrower on the deal. 

Clifford Chance's Warsaw office has advised a consortium of banks including Santander Bank Polska S.A., Bank Millennium S.A., and Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A. on financing in the form of credit facilities and factoring granted to Gemini Polska. CMS advised Gemini Polska on the deal.

Stratulat Albulescu has advised GapMinder Venture Partners and DayOne Capital on their joint investment in Romanian startup Soleadify.

White & Case has advised VTB Capital as the sole global coordinator and bookrunner on PJSC Aeroflot's fundraising of more than USD 1 billion. Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners advised Aeroflot on the deal.

Rymarz Zdort has advised shareholders Mariusz Cieply and Maciej Jarzebowski on the sale of their shares in LiveChat Software S.A. in an accelerated bookbuilding process in Poland.

Gessel has advised the Polish high-tech company DataWalk on the public offering of its new issue of shares to qualified investors via a book-building process. The total value of new issue of shares is estimated at PLN 65 million.

Integrites has successfully represented the interests of AKW Ukrainian Kaolin Company before the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine regarding an alleged infringement by the rail operator in the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine.

Sorainen has helped the Turkey Wealth Fund obtain approval from the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus for the acquisition of control over Belarusian Telecommunications Network CJSC, one of three Belarusian mobile network operators and a member of the Turkcell group.

The Hungarian Competition Authority (HCA) has initiated an investigation against TikTok, the popular social media platform. TikTok's capacity to generate vast amounts of consumer data and shower its users with ads has already sounded several alarm bells as regulators attempt to make sense of the phenomena that is digitalisation. The HCA took the initiative to scrutinise the platform with a focus on consumer protection.

Intersport has appointed JPM Partner Ivan Milosevic the company's Data Protection Officer in Serbia.

Anna Matusiak-Wekiera has joined JDP as Head of Data Protection/Compliance.

JDP has advised Free Now, the owner and operator of a ride sharing app, on compliance matters related to the new set of regulations in Poland applicable to the ever-growing ride share market.

Schoenherr has advised Austrian start-up Carbomed Medical Solutions on a EUR 3 million financing round led by Aws Gruenderfonds. Act Legal Austria WMWP advised Aws Gruenderfonds on the deal.

TGS Baltic has advised Latvia's SIA Tepix on the sale of its carpet rental business to SIA Lindstrom, part of the European textile services Lindstrom Group. Sorainen advised Lindstrom on the deal.

Binder Groesswang, Schiff Hardin, and Hengeler Mueller have advised California-based medical devices and life science instruments manufacturer Paramit Corporation on the acquisition of 100% of shares in Austria's System Industrie Electronic GmbH and its German subsidiary, System Industrie Electronic Deutschland GmbH, from former majority shareholder System Industrie Holding AG (and its ultimate owner, the Filzmaier Private Foundation) and Aws Mittelstandsfonds, a former minority shareholder. Brandl & Talos advised the sellers on the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory clearance in both Austria and Germany.

Wiercinski, Kwiecinski, Baehr has advised E&W, which belongs to Danish Eurowind Energy A/S and Windbud Sp. z o.o., on agreements to construct four wind farms in Poland.

Sayenko Kharenko has advised Elementum Energy on its acquisition of the minority stake in the joint venture company EE had entered into with the Volterra Energy Group.

Dentons has advised international energy group Sev.en Energy on the acquisition of the Pocerady power plant from CEZ. Skils reportedly advised CEZ on the transaction.

Earlier on 23 June 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (the „Court”) issued a decision in the case Vladimir Kharitonov v. Russia (Application no. 10795/14), in which the Court reiterated that blocking access to a website may constitute a violation of freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the „Convention”).  Prior to this, the Court had ruled on this matter in other relevant cases, i.e. Ahmet Yıldırım v. Turkey (no. 3111/10, ECHR 2012) and Cengiz and Others v. Turkey, nos. 48226/10 and 14027/11, ECHR 2015) and the Court’s new decision reminds us of some of the principles stated before. The decision was issued along with other three cases, OOO Flavus and Others v. Russia (application nos. 12468/15, 23489/15, and 19074/16), Bulgakov v. Russia (no. 20159/15), and Engels v. Russia (no. 61919/16) all of which concern various forms of website blocking.

Balazs Sahin-Toth, Counsel in the Budapest office of Allen & Overy, working pro bono in conjunction with Peter Gardos from Hungary's Gardos Mosonyi Tomori Law Firm and Hungarian solo practitioners Adel Kegye and Eleonora Hernadi, has persuaded the Hungarian Supreme Court to uphold the lower court's decision that the Hungarian segregation of Roma students between 2003 and 2017 provided a lower level of education.

Vasil Kisil and Partners has successfully represented the interests of the applicant, Czech national Vasil Sadocha, in a case against Ukraine before the European Court of Human Rights.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer the EBRD, SACE, DEG, IFC, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Barings, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, Akbank, Isbank, and the Turkish Industrial Development Bank on the EUR 1.1 billion restructuring of the PPP agreement related to the development, construction, maintenance and operation of the Ankara Etlik Integrated Health Campus.

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen's Public Procurement team has been running at 115% this year, according to NNDKP Partner and Co-Head of Public Procurement and PPP, Adina Chilim-Dumitriu. And she has reasons to be optimistic that the practice will continue to grow in the foreseeable future.

CMS Sofia and Doklestic Repic & Gajin have advised Balkantel on its participation as part of a consortium with the Trace Group in a EUR 60 million modernization and rehabilitation project of the Nis-Brestovac railway in southern Serbia. The Trace Group was advised by Eurolex Bulgaria and Andric Law Office.

If a company has fulfilled its purpose, its further existence is unprofitable, or if there are other justifying reasons, it is usually best to dissolve such a company and have it deregistered from the commercial register. Where the company has no legal successors to which its assets could be transferred, it must, however, first go into liquidation.

Baker McKenzie’s Warsaw office has launched a Restructuring & Insolvency Practice, co-led by Counsels Karol Czepukojc and Pawel Dlugoborski.

Noerr has advised Michael Jaffe, the insolvency administrator of Wirecard Sales International Holding GmbH, on the sale of all shares of its subsidiary Wirecard Romania SA to SIBS.

New amendments to the Labour Code (Law no. 53/2003) have come into force, including an optional conciliation procedure for individual labour disputes.

The SEE Legal law firm alliance has announced the formal launch of two new practice groups, one dedicated to Employment and Immigration, headed by Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli Counsel Maral Minasyan, and one dedicated to Intellectual Property, headed by Selih & Partnerji Partner Natasa Pipan Nahtigal.

Former Wolf Theiss Counsel Walter Poschl has joined Taylor Wessing.

Schoenherr has advised Austrian start-up Carbomed Medical Solutions on a EUR 3 million financing round led by Aws Gruenderfonds. Act Legal Austria WMWP advised Aws Gruenderfonds on the deal.

B2RLaw has advised KnowledgeHub on its EUR 1 million investment in Genomtec. Solo practitioner Jakub Kapica advised Genomtec on the deal.

B2RLaw has advised the Life Science Innovation Fund on an unspecified investment in telemedicine startup Aidlab.

Triniti Jurex has successfully helped Termolink obtain damages from a general contractor for work the company performed as a constructor on an unspecified project.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has successfully defended Ilya Averyanov, the former owner of the Menshevik Confectionary in South-Eastern Moscow, in a trial involving charges that he murdered a guard at the factory.

CMS has successfully represented ASM-BG Investicii in a dispute with ESO EAD, Bulgaria's state-owned electricity transmission system operator, heard by the Arbitration Court of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

White & Case has advised VTB Capital as the sole global coordinator and bookrunner on PJSC Aeroflot's fundraising of more than USD 1 billion. Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners advised Aeroflot on the deal.

White & Case and Lakatos Koves and Partners have advised Mid Europa Partners on the sale of 24% of the issued share capital of Waberer's International Nyrt to Trevelin Holding Zrt, the Hungarian-based member of Indotek Group. Deloitte Legal reportedly advised Trevelin Holding on the deal.

CMS Sofia and Doklestic Repic & Gajin have advised Balkantel on its participation as part of a consortium with the Trace Group in a EUR 60 million modernization and rehabilitation project of the Nis-Brestovac railway in southern Serbia. The Trace Group was advised by Eurolex Bulgaria and Andric Law Office.

Sayenko Kharenko has advised the Orexim Group on the sale of Ukraine's Everi port terminal to Renaisco B.V., a subsidiary of Glencore Agriculture Limited. Baker McKenzie’s Kyiv and London offices reportedly advised the buyers on the deal.

Ilyashev & Partners has successfully defended the interests of Danube Shipping and Stevedoring Company LLC in a dispute with the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority over the use of the berth and berthing infrastructure at the Mykolaiv Sea Port.

Kinstellar has advised Qatari port operator Qterminals and its Ukrainian subsidiary, Qterminals Olvia, on its entrance into a 35-year concession agreement for the Olvia port with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. EY Law reportedly advised the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Sea Ports Authority on the deal.

Schoenherr has advised Austrian start-up Carbomed Medical Solutions on a EUR 3 million financing round led by Aws Gruenderfonds. Act Legal Austria WMWP advised Aws Gruenderfonds on the deal.

B2RLaw has advised Apis Venture on an unspecified investment in the Polish video games developer Byte Barrel.

B2RLaw has advised KnowledgeHub on its EUR 1 million investment in Genomtec. Solo practitioner Jakub Kapica advised Genomtec on the deal.

Working pro bono, White & Case has successfully represented a Crimean applicant in his request for asylum in the United States.

Havel & Partners, working pro bono, has helped the Plant-for-the-Planet organization establish its presence in the Czech Republic.

Kochanski & Partners is representing Polish tennis player Katarzyna Kawa pro bono in her dispute against the International Tennis Federation and the French Tennis Federation.

Dentons has advised Vseobecna Uverova Banka and UniCredit Bank on a EUR 105 million loan to J&T Real Estate for the construction of the Eurovea Tower in Slovakia. Relevans reportedly advised the unidentified borrower on the deal. 

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner has advised Immobilien Holding on the sale of its shares in Arwag Holding to the Fund for Temporary Housing in Vienna.

Decisive Worldwide Szmigiel Papros Gregorczyk has advised France’s Nexity Group on an agreement to work on an unspecified development project with Erbud.

Due to the extended economic effects of the coronavirus epidemic, the October tax package announced by the Hungarian Government was aimed to stimulate the investing climate. According to the Hungarian ‘economic protection operational body’, there are three different ways to revive the economy (i.e.: tax reduction, simplification of the administration, boosting investments).

Economic recovery in Budapest (and Hungary) is predicted to follow an elongated L-shape curve, meaning that the effects of the pandemic are to be present and felt until at least 2023. As a kind of crisis management contribution by the sectors that were less affected by the pandemic, companies operating in these sectors would be expected to be temporarily more involved in public burden-bearing to alleviate the negative economic effects of COVID-19 in Budapest.

Reclaiming VAT on bad debts under the new 2020 rules may well conjure up images of a TV show obstacle course.  Initial experiences suggest that anyone trying to reclaim VAT will be up against the wall. But the undertaking isn’t unfeasible.

B2RLaw has advised Apis Venture on an unspecified investment in the Polish video games developer Byte Barrel.

B2RLaw has advised KnowledgeHub on its EUR 1 million investment in Genomtec. Solo practitioner Jakub Kapica advised Genomtec on the deal.

Sorainen has advised Splunk Inc., a US-based global provider of the Data-to-Everything Platform, on the acquisition of Estonian tech startup Plumbr. Eversheds Sutherland advised Plumbr's selling shareholders on the deal.

Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has successfully defended Ilya Averyanov, the former owner of the Menshevik Confectionary in South-Eastern Moscow, in a trial involving charges that he murdered a guard at the factory.

TGS Baltic lawyer Violeta Zeppa-Priedite has become Head of the White Collar Crime & Corporate Investigations practice in the firm's Latvian office.

Romania's Mares & Mares law firm and Moldova's Dolea & Co have entered into a strategic alliance aimed at, according to Mares & Mares, “providing integrated legal services in Romania and the Republic of Moldova in the field of white-collar crime, investigations, international disputes, as well as commercial and investment arbitration."