CEE Legal Matters
In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets
With the world slowly reaching what many scientists label “a point of no return” for climate change, countries worldwide are doing their best to combat environmental damage. To that end, the European Union has developed climate and energy targets for the upcoming decade, stating that it is “vital that we direct investments towards sustainable projects and activities.”
CEE Legal Matters spoke with CMS Partners Agnieszka Skorupinska, Kostadin Sirleshtov, and Varinia Radu about the impact of ESG on the energy sector in CEE.
The trend towards ESG issues has increased markedly on the Slovakian commercial real estate market. More and more Slovak companies are behaving responsibly and sustainably – under pressure from tenants, employees, contractors, customers, regulators, and investors who involve ESG in their decision-making.
In most countries, the energy consumption of buildings reaches very high levels, making their energy efficiency potential high. Buildings play an important role in energy efficiency and make a significant contribution to combating climate change and energy consumption. Therefore, it is important to align the process, from the buildings’ design to their final completion and exploitation, with the pertinent green standards.
CMS has advised Medicover on its acquisition of McFit Polska from RSG Group. Baker McKenzie advised the seller.
CMS has advised FAS Energy on the acquisition of a solar power plant being developed in the Kyiv region, with an expected capacity of 112 megawatts, from an unidentified Ukrainian developer.
Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, Dentons has worked on the most deals reported on the CEE Legal Matters website this year: a remarkable 44 as of May 24, 2022. CMS is in second place with 33 deals reported on the website, with Clifford Chance (31), Sorainen (29), and Allen & Overy (25) rounding out the top five.
As reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 24, 2022, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang announced that the firm has appointed Vitaliy Radchenko as a new Managing Partner in Kyiv, replacing Graham Conlon who held the role for five years. CEELM sat down with Radchenko and CMS CMNO CEE Managing Director Dora Petranyi to discuss the appointment and the firm's outlook for the future of the Kyiv office.
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang has appointed Vitaliy Radchenko as the new Managing Partner of its Kyiv office, taking over from Graham Conlon who oversaw the firm's operations in Ukraine for the past five years.
CMS has advised Portugal's MGI Capital on the sale of Bezmer Energy to Philicon-97.
It’s been a good start of the year for Polish law firms. Indeed, Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELM Direct website, Dentons Warsaw Partner Bartlomiej Kordeczka has worked on the most deals reported on the CEE Legal Matters website so far this year – eight – placing him just ahead of fellow Warsaw lawyers Andrzej Stosio and Blazej Zagorski, of Norton Rose Fulbright and CMS, respectively, both of whom have worked on 7?
CEE Legal Matters spoke with CMS Partners Alexander Rakosi, Horea Popescu, Philipp Mark, and Tetyana Dovgan about the impact the rise of ESG is having on the M&A landscape.
In “The Corner Office” we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. The question this time: Who was your favorite professor in university and why?
According to the CEE Legal Matters CEE By The Numbers report, between 2019 and 2021, Ukraine saw a large decrease in the number of ranked law firms and lawyers at ranked firms. While in 2019 the number of Ukrainian law firms ranked by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 was 95, in 2021 the same number decreased to 69. Similarly, the number of ranked-firm lawyers decreased from 1,579 in 2019 to 1,338 in 2021. The decreasing trend is particularly visible in comparison to other CEE countries.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the Slovak Labor Code has changed several times. In 2021, five amendments were adopted, and new changes are expected in 2022. Although we observe progressive changes, the labor code remains quite rigid. Its provisions on remote work do not distinguish between blue-collar and white-collar jobs, which makes their implementation more demanding. Remote working, constant changes to COVID-19 pandemic rules, vaccination, health and safety, data protection, and employment termination rules – these have been the most pressing issues that have led employers to turn to their legal advisors.
The Slovakian legal market has, for quite some time, been a vibrant landscape of international law firms. Given the positioning of the central European country, and the proximity of major markets such as Austria, Poland, and Ukraine, Slovakia has been able to maintain the high number of international law firms, especially relative to other CEE jurisdictions. Taking a deeper dive into the reasons behind the persistence of such a high number of major international law firms, we reached out to legal professionals who work in Slovakia to get their insights.
The taxation of dividends in Poland is a complex issue. Moreover, relevant regulations have recently been changed as part of a wider 2022 tax reform.
Non-resident owners of property in Croatia who have plans to rent it out should consider domestic and double tax treaty rules on taxation of permanent establishments.
CMS Sofia is a full-service law firm, the largest international law firm in Bulgaria and one of the largest providers of legal services in the local market as a whole. The breadth and depth of our practice means that our lawyers are specialised, with a level of specialisation that few of our competitors can match.
CMS Sofia is the Bulgarian branch of CMS, a top ten global legal and tax services provider with over 5000 lawyers in 43 countries and 78 offices across the world.
CMS entered the Bulgarian market as one of the first internationally active law firms in 2005 and is now among the most respected legal advisors in the country. We have 7 partners, 4 counsel and over 30 lawyers in our office in Sofia.
Our legal experts, who are rooted in Bulgaria’s local culture, can also draw on years of experience in foreign countries and are at home in several legal systems at once. We know the particularities of the local market just as well as the needs of our clients and combine both to achieve optimum solutions. Our lawyers are Bulgarian qualified and we also have English qualified experts – all of them regularly working on cross-border mandates.
In our work, we focus on M&A, Energy, Projects and Construction, Banking and Finance, Real Estate, Media, IP and IT law, Tax, Employment law, Competition, Procurement and any kind of Dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation. What’s more, we also take care of the entire legal management of our clients’ projects.