The Hungarian Government submitted a bill on environmental protection product charges to the Hungarian Parliament in September 2017. The bill implements the changes of Directive 2012/19/EU on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, which targets to make easier the payment of the charge and to reduce the administrative burden of the undertakings.

Hungarian lawyer Peter Paroczi is the Director Counsel at Harman International, the US-based consumer electronics company. He joined Harman in Budapest earlier this year, after spending four years in private practice and then another seven in-house, first with Samsung Electronics, then at E.On. He agreed to answer some of our questions about his career.

Pro bono is a Latin phrase meaning “for the public good,” and, in the lawyering context, it refers to legal services provided free of charge, generally to indigent clients or charities or other public interest institutions unable to afford standard legal fees. The practice, which in its current form was developed first in Western legal markets, has seen a significant increase in recent years in CEE as well. Hungary is among the countries leading the way.

Szabo Kelemen and Partners has advised Adony Logisztikai Kozpont Kft. on the purchase of Hungary’s largest granary, located in the central Hungarian town of Adony. The firm also advised  the purchaser with the financing for the transaction.

In The Corner Office we invite Managing Partners at law firms across the region to share information about their unique roles. The question this time around: What is your favorite question when interviewing a job applicant, and why?

Jeantet has advised Accor-Pannonia Hotels Zrt., a subsidiary of the Orbis Hotel Group, on the execution of a EUR 75 million sale and management back transaction with controlled subsidiaries of Starwood Capital Group regarding the iconic Sofitel Budapest Chain Bridge Hotel, located in the heart of the Hungarian capital.

Each year hundreds of billions of dollars are lost by companies due to cybercrimes committed by criminals. These attacks vary from sophisticated hacking to primitive fraud attempts. 

On Thursday, November 30th, leading legal practitioners from across Central and Eastern Europe gathered in Prague to help CEE Legal Matters celebrate its fourth successful year as the leading chronicle of the legal industry in the region, participating in an expert Round Table conversation about the year just concluded and enjoying an evening of dinner, drinks, and bonhomie. 

CEE Attorneys has expanded into two new markets, with the December 1, 2017 addition of the Stadler & Bellak Law Office in Hungary and Semper Legal Attorneys at Law in Ukraine.

According to a new decision of the Constitutional Court of Hungary, the right of the real estate owners to ask for compensation cannot be excluded in case a water line easement is established in favor of the state or local municipalities on the private property.

DLA Piper has advised the OTP Property Fund Management on its acquisition of the BSR Center office building on Vaci ut in Budapest from a real estate fund managed by GLL Real Estate Partners. The seller was advised by Lakatos, Koves and Partners.

Kinstellar Hungary has advised a syndicate of banks consisting of Erste Group Bank AG, Erste Bank Hungary Zrt., K&H Bank Zrt., UniCredit Bank Hungary Zrt. and UniCredit SpA – led by Erste – in connection with a EUR 335 million credit facility to Granit Polus for refinancing existing loans and providing a capex credit line for the WestEnd City Center shopping mall in Budapest. EY Law advised the borrowers on the deal.

Noerr, working alongside global counsel Mayer Brown, has advised IDI Gazeley on the USD 2.4 billion acquisition of its European division, Gazeley, by the Singaporean warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties. GLP acquired Gazeley from the portfolio of the Canadian real estate investor Brookfield Asset Management.

At the beginning of October 2017, a new ministerial decree entered into force on the classification of arable lands.

Szabo Kelemen and Partners has successfully represented Berlington Hungary kft. and several other Hungarian gambling operators against the Hungarian State in their claims for damages caused by the Hungarian legislation, which, in 2012, banned the operation of slot machines in arcade halls without providing a transitionary period and without indemnification. 

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised the Agrofert Group on the October 31, 2017 acquisition by group member DEZA a.s. of Polish chemical company Petrochemia-Blachownia S. A. from BorsodChem Zrt after two years of negotiations. Szecskay Attorneys at Law advised DEZA on Hungarian matters, Wardynski & Partners advised on Polish matters, and Bouchon & Partner advised on German matters. Baker McKenzie advised BorsodChem Zrt. 

The Hungarian Parliament has recently adopted three new procedural laws: Act CXXX of 2016 on the Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”), Act I of 2017 on the Code of Administrative Litigation (“CAL”), and Act CL of 2016 on Administrative Proceedings, which will all enter into effect on January 1, 2018. These new procedural laws come on the heels of the recodification of many substantive laws such as the Civil Code and the Criminal Code. This article aims to give a brief overview of these new procedural laws.

HBK Partners has advised Konzum Group on a public takeover bid for Appeninn Holding Plc.