Aequo has advised the Cropio Group, an agriculture tech company, on the sale of its business to Syngenta. Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners and Reed Smith reportedly advised Syngenta on the deal.

Alrud has advised Russia's state-owned VTB bank on the acquisition of more than 70% of shares in grain trading company Mirogroup Resources.

BPV Braun Partners has advised CEMOS, a.s. on the sale of shares in the Czech Republic's Unesovsky Statek agricultural company and the transfer of extensive agricultural land to an unnamed buyer. Financial details were not disclosed.

TGS Baltic has helped Latvian hotel operator Mogotel register Melliore Asset Management, an alternative investment fund manager, and Melliore EF 1 closed-end AIF (with two sub-funds, Melliore EF 1 and Melliore RF 1), with Latvia's Financial and Capital Market Commission.

Walless has helped the SumUp Group set up a subsidiary in Lithuania and obtain an electronic money license for it.

As a result of an amendment to the Hungarian Condominium Act, a new register for condominium officers will be set up as of 1 January 2020. The aim of the registry is to keep the data of the officers (common representatives and chairman of the administrative committee) in a national, public and electronic registry, to ensure the transparency of the operation of the condominium and the efficiency of the legal supervision of the city notary over the condominiums, and to facilitate the appropriate communication in the course of authority proceedings affecting the rights and obligations of the condominium and the community.

CMS Hungary has advised Balbec Capital and Momentum Credit Zrt, a Hungarian joint venture owned by Balbec Capital and the APS Group, on the purchase of MKB Bank Nyrt’s non-performing retail mortgage loan portfolio, secured mostly by residential mortgages. MKB Bank was advised by HBK Partners on the transaction.

SBH has advised the EBRD and Zubr Capital on their investment in the Mila group of companies, a wholesale distributor of beauty and personal care products that sells these products through its chain of Mila stores. Revera reportedly advised Mila on the deal and Bird & Bird reportedly worked with both sides.

Sorainen has helped DappRadar, a Lithuanian platform for discovering and analyzing blockchain-based decentralized applications, raise USD 2.33 million in seed funding from Naspers (through its Naspers Ventures division), Blockchain.com Ventures, and Angel Invest Berlin. TGS Baltic advised Naspers on the investment.

White & Case Warsaw has advised Kenbourne Invest S.A. on the accelerated book-building process announced by Kenbourne Invest and Tollerton Investments Ltd. for the sale of shares in Play Communications S.A.

CHSH has advised SPAR on the issuance of bonds with a total volume of EUR 300 million and prepared the public offer prospectus.

Polish Capital Markets specialist Malgorzata Stefaniak has been promoted to Partner at Act BSWW in Warsaw.

TGS Baltic has helped Procyone FZE obtain clearance from the Latvian Competition Council for its acquisition of decisive influence over Smart Aviation Holding, the parent company of SmartLynx Airlines. The merger was authorized on August 22, 2019.

Former A&O Head of Competition in Slovakia Juraj Gyarfas has joined Dentons as a Partner in the firm's Corporate and M&A, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Competition & Antitrust practice groups.

Prica & Partners Co-Head of Competition, Tijana Lalic, has been promoted to Partner at the Serbian firm.

It has been over a year since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation became mandatory across Europe, marking a seismic shift in the way that companies collect, process, and handle personal data. Countries across the European Union and beyond have adapted their national laws to meet the requirements of the GDPR – with many introducing local derogations as permitted by the GDPR.

Zivkovic Samardzic has helped Halkbank a.d. Beograd, a subsidiary of Turkish Halkbank, harmonize its operations with the new Law on Personal Data Protection, including reviewing relevant internal documents and policies and drafting new ones, where necessary.

When it first appeared, the compliance field seemed little more than “regulatory” in new clothes – a fancy name for making sure a company stayed within the ambit of provisions set out in the laws of a country. As time passed, however, more and more companies started treating compliance as a practice in its own right, and as a field of law … that is much more than just law. Compliance became an area of interest not only to seasoned lawyers, but also to scholars, consultants, and in-house counsels – all levels of legal practice became aware of its significance.

The Jalsovszky law firm has advised Hungarian-based integrated business management and administration software distributor Libra Szoftver Zrt. on its take-over of VT-Soft Kft. from Unit4 Software NV. CMS Budapest advised the sellers on the deal.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner Russia has advised Joom SIA on its acquisition of a 10% stake in on-line shopping platform iGooods.

BDK Advokati has advised the United Kingdom's Convex Holding on the sale of 51% of its shares in Trizma d.o.o. to Croatia's Meritus Upravljanje d.o.o. MPRR reportedly advised the buyers on the deal.

CMS Sofia has advised Global Biomet on the acquisition of the Resen photovoltaic project, with installed capacity of 5 MW, from Austria's Novasolar GmbH. The deal, which is valued at almost EUR 10 million, closed on September 16, 2019.

Clifford Chance has advised the Baikal Mining Company on an agreement with Renaissance Heavy Industries for the construction of the Udokan Mining and Metallurgical Plant. Baker McKenzie reportedly advised Renaissance on the deal, which is valued at approximately EUR 380 million.

WKB has advised the CEZ capital group on Polish aspects of its acquisition of a majority of shares in Euroklimat, a provider of building installation services, from its founders and shareholders. The Czech Republic's Skils law firm was lead counsel to CEZ, and Grant Thornton advised Euroklimat and its shareholders on the deal.

The Maric & Co Law Firm has represented former employees of Aluminij d.d. Mostar in an ethnic discrimination case against the company and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Clifford Chance, acting pro bono on behalf of LGBTQ Groups in Poland, has persuaded a Polish court to order the conservative Gazeta Polska newspaper to halt the distribution of "LGBT-free zone" stickers.

Avellum has successfully represented a UK citizen in Ukraine's Supreme Court in a dispute regarding the return of a wrongfully retained child.

CMS Bulgaria has helped Robert Bosch, a subsidiary of the German Bosch Group, secure a multi-million public procurement contract with EVN Bulgaria District Heating for the supply, installation, and operation of 19+1 MW water heating boilers.

Raya Maneva has been promoted to Head of Projects at CMS Sofia.

Counsel Adriana Mierzwa-Bronikowska and Senior Associate Agnieszka Chylinska have moved from Hogan Lovells to DLA Piper in Warsaw, with Mierzwa-Bronikowska assuming the role of Head of Projects/PPP.

The St. Petersburg office of Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has successfully deflected a claim submitted by the bankruptcy trustee in the Transaero bankruptcy case, which the firm describes as "one of the biggest bankruptcy cases in modern Russian history."

Averus has advised the bankruptcy administrator of BUAB Lietuvos Juru Laivininkyste on the successful completion of bankruptcy procedures and the removal of the company from the Register of Legal Entities.

McDermott Will & Emery has advised German automotive supplier Borges on its restructuring. Latham & Watkins acts as coordinating counsel to the bank syndicate on the restructuring, with the Prague and Warsaw offices of Clifford Chance advising the syndicate and Dentons lawyers in Frankfurt and Berlin advising Bank Ceska Sporitelna.

The Maric & Co Law Firm has represented former employees of Aluminij d.d. Mostar in an ethnic discrimination case against the company and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina.

A common solution to the chronic workforce shortage seen in the entire region nowadays is that one company provides labour to another. However, one should be careful with these agreements: depending on the circumstances, the tax authority (NAV) may reclassify these contracts, which could result in major tax expenses.

Georgiev, Todorov & Co has advised Gazprom Export LLC on the termination of employment contracts with some of the company's employees in Bulgaria.

Act BSWW has advised the Kliny Hospital in Krakow, Poland, on its purchase of an online training simulator from Intuitive Surgical for surgeons performing procedures with the da Vinci robot. The SimNow simulator is the first online training tool of its kind in Poland.

The enforcement of pharmaceutical patent rights in Russia is a multi-aspect issue. One such aspect, well known to the industry and patent owners, is the attempt to prevent pharmaceuticals that may infringe on prior patent rights from being registered by the Russian healthcare authorities.

In late 2018, the Competition Council of the Republic of Latvia published the final report on its most recent in-depth sector inquiry on the distribution practices of reimbursed medicines on the wholesale market and potential competition restrictions therein. The sector inquiry had lasted for almost two years, during which the Competition Council gathered information from both the public and the private sectors, approaching seven producers, twelve wholesalers, and several public institutions, such as the State Agency of Medicines and the Health Inspectorate, among others. Although the Competition Council proclaimed that the main goal of the sector inquiry was to analyze potential competition restrictions on the wholesale market, which could be apparent because of the vertical integration of wholesalers and leading pharmacy chains and the exclusivity status of the wholesalers, no infringements proceedings were initiated as a result. Notwithstanding the lack of subsequent infringement proceedings, however, some crucial conclusions were drawn.

Andris Lazdins has been promoted to Associate Partner as Ellex Klavins and will Co-Head the firm's Dispute Resolution practice in Latvia with Partner Daiga Zivtina.

Former A&O Head of Competition in Slovakia Juraj Gyarfas has joined Dentons as a Partner in the firm's Corporate and M&A, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Competition & Antitrust practice groups.

Vasil Kisil & Partners' Partner Oleg Makarov has resigned his position with Vasil Kisil & Partners after being elected a Ukrainian MP and sworn in as a member of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament).

Kambourov & Partners has assisted international cargo operator Fleet Air International Kft. on the incorporation of its Bulgarian subsidiary and the relocation of Fleet's air fleet to Bulgaria.

Dentons has advised Stadler Polska on its agreement to build and sell 12 FLIRT electric multiple units valued at approximately EUR 230 million to PKP Intercity. The contract also provides for maintenance of the train units for 15 years.

Weinhold Legal has advised mobility company Transdev on the acquisition of the 3CSAD group from CIDEM Hranice. CIDEM Hranice was advised by Hladky Legal.

Kambourov & Partners has assisted international cargo operator Fleet Air International Kft. on the incorporation of its Bulgarian subsidiary and the relocation of Fleet's air fleet to Bulgaria.

Divjak, Topic Bahtijarevic has advised Energia Naturalis on its mandatory public offer for all outstanding shares in Luka Ploce.

Wolf Theiss has advised Swiss logistics group Kuehne & Nagel on the takeover of Austrian freight forwarding and transportation company Joebstl. RPCK Rastegar reportedly advised Joebstl.

Wierzbowski Eversheds Sutherland has advised EEC Magenta, the largest corporate venture capital fund on the Polish market, on its investment in the TakeTask platform. The Porebski i Wspolnicy law firm reportedly advised TakeTask on the series A financing round.

Glimstedt has assisted an unnamed private investor and the KUB Business Angels Fund II, managed by UAB Business Angels Fund Management UAB, on their agreement to invest approximately EUR 1 million into optical coating company UAB Optonas. Legitus reportedly advised Optonas on the deal.

DLA Piper has advised Lasker Cross-Media on the entrance of three unidentified new investors.

Clifford Chance, acting pro bono on behalf of LGBTQ Groups in Poland, has persuaded a Polish court to order the conservative Gazeta Polska newspaper to halt the distribution of "LGBT-free zone" stickers.

RASK attorney-at-law Siret Saks has provided pro bono advice to the Estonian National Culture Foundation, helping it resolve issues concerning the will and testamentary estate of Tiiu Alliste, important to the launch of the new Harmatali scholarship fund dedicated to the support of Estonian children’s literature.

Dentons Prague is providing pro bono assistance to the Eduzmena Endowment Fund regarding its establishment and rules of operation.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Credit Suisse Asset Management Global Real Estate on the acquisition of the Astoria Premium Offices in Warsaw from Strabag, and on the financing of the acquisition. Act BSWW reportedly advised Strabag on the deal.

Walless has advised the Baltic Horizon Fund on its EUR 20.7 million acquisition of the North Star business center in Lithuania from the UAB Prosperus Strategic RE Fund. Cobalt reportedly advised the Prosperus Strategic RE Fund on the deal.

Ellex Valiunas has represented Norwegian real estate investment company EECP on a EUR 40.5 million loan granted by Luminor that EECP will use to refinance the ten premises where Maxima stores are currently located.

It has been clear for some time that Hungary is in breach of EU law by not allowing the refunding of VAT on bad debts. The fact that cases of Hungarian taxpayers have now been brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has forced Hungarian lawmakers to move on the issue. While the package of tax amendments submitted last week provides an opportunity to reclaim such VAT, in certain cases – due to the planned administrative restrictions – it will still only be possible to enjoy this right with reference to EU law.

Tax specialist Aleksandra Wos and Corporate/M&A lawyer Tomasz Ciecwierz have joined NGL Legal in Warsaw as partners.

The Pepeliaev Group has advised the Netherlands' Cupol Ventures Limited — a member of Canadian gold-mining group Kinross Gold — on tax matters related to its USD 283 million acquisition of the Chulbatkan gold project in Russia from N-Mining.

White & Case Warsaw has advised Kenbourne Invest S.A. on the accelerated book-building process announced by Kenbourne Invest and Tollerton Investments Ltd. for the sale of shares in Play Communications S.A.

Aurelija Rutkauskaite has been promoted to Partner and Head of Data Protection & TMT at Triniti in Lithuania.

CMS has advised the owners of Kino Swiat, a film distributor in Poland, on the sale to ITI Neovision S.A, the operator of the nc+ platform. Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka advised ITI Neovision on the deal, which remains contingent on the approval of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Ukrainian lawyer Yevgeniy Solodko has merged his white collar criminal defense boutique with Sayenko Kharenko.

Jan Rysinski has been promoted to partner at Laszczuk & Partners in Poland.

Rokas Daugela and Mindaugas Bliuvas have been promoted to Partner and Eva Suduiko and Arturas Kojala have been promoted to Associate Partner at Cobalt in Lithuania.