Asters, working with Brodies LLP, has advised the Export Credit Agency of Ukraine on developing a new war risk insurance mechanism for the international export of Ukrainian goods through the Black Sea. Watson Farley & Williams reportedly advised the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. Norton Rose Fulbright reportedly advised arranger Marsh Limited.

Kinstellar, working with Watson Farley & Williams, has advised South Korea's Yanolja Cloud on its acquisition of Go Global Travel from the AMI Opportunities Fund.

On the evening of April 25, 2023, the Deal of the Year Awards Banquet brought together, under the same roof, top-tier lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe's leading law firms and ILFs active in the region in Istanbul.

BPV Braun Partners, working with Watson Farley & Williams, has advised the Creditas Group on the acquisition of British energy group InterGen. Herbert Smith Freehills reportedly advised the sellers.

The Lambadarios Law Firm and Watson Farley & Williams have advised lead arranger Piraeus Bank on the EUR 425 million project financing for the Thessaloniki Eastern Ring Road to be developed by Avax and Mytilineos following their PPP agreement with the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

Reed Smith has advised Alpha Bank on the EUR 32 million financing for a 27-megawatt onshore wind project developed by Valorem subsidiary Anatoliko Askio-Magoula of Greece. Watson Farley & Williams reportedly advised Valorem.

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised Club Med SAS on the EUR 70 million sale and leaseback transaction for the Gregolimano Village resort on Evia with Hova Hospitality, acting on behalf of Primonial REIM France. Watson Farley & Williams advised Hova.

Herbst Kinsky, working with Watson Farley & Williams’ Munich office, advised software and IT service provider Mait on its acquisition of enterprise resource planning specialist Nittmann & Pekoll. The Wiener Advocatur Bureau reportedly advised sellers Christian Nittmann and Angelika Pekoll-Sarica.

White & Case has advised Energean Oil & Gas S.A. on the provision of a loan from the Black Sea Trade Development Bank, which is supported by a guarantee and subordinated loan from the Greek State. Watson Farley Williams reportedly advised BSTDB on the deal.

January is always a good time to look back, take stock, and make plans. And 2021, while a complicated year, was in no way uneventful. Across CEE, we’ve had lawyers and law firms variously reporting on – besides the obvious pandemic-related restrictions and increased work flexibility – a record year for M&A transactions, growing green energy, effervescent capital markets, a surprisingly solid real estate sector, ascendant ESG practices, a renewed focus on infrastructure, and TMT going from strength to strength.

Over the course of our seven years, CEE Legal Matters has interviewed most of the British lawyers working on the ground in Central and Eastern Europe as part of our recurring “Expat on the Market” feature. We reached out to them recently and asked them to bring us up to speed on what they’re doing and/or share their thoughts on the ramifications of Brexit or the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

I have been working as real estate lawyer in CEE for the past 20 years and at no time during that period have I been asked about one topic so much. Of course, I am talking about the b-word: Brexit. Questions range from “is it still going to happen?” to “how is the UK going to cope with what seems likely to be a ‘hard’ Brexit?” No matter what the question, it has been very interesting to gauge what the potential effect of Brexit will be on the CEE market and, in particular, on foreign institutional investment into the region.

Virginia Murray is a partner in Watson Farley & Williams’ International Project & Structured Finance Group and is Head of the Greek law Corporate, Projects and Finance practice in the firm’s Athens office. She graduated from Cambridge in 1989 and moved to Greece and qualified as a Greek lawyer in 1998. She is fluent in Greek.