Andras Mohacsi is the Head of Competition Law and Sanctions at British American Tobacco, where he is responsible for designing, rolling out, and coordinating the implementation of the company’s global competition law and sanctions compliance programs, as well as overseeing the management of any related proceedings against any group company. He first joined BAT in Hungary in 1998. Before that, he worked as Head of Legal of Daewoo Bank Hungary.

Starting or continuing a mining project has always been subject to various licensing requirements. However, an amendment to spatial planning laws that became effective on March 15, 2019 increases the regulatory challenges faced by investors by introducing a completely new condition for obtaining the local municipality’s blessing, even for operations that are already underway. Therefore, the aftermath of the most recent regulatory changes should not be underestimated, as the number of mining sites exceeds 800 in Hungary.

Competition/Antitrust expert Sam Baldwin is a British national in Budapest’s Szecskay Attorneys at Law. Before joining Szecskay he spent eight years as an attorney in Copenhagen with the Gorrissen Federspiel law firm. He has significant experience advocating before national competition authorities and the European Commission and is successful at fending off accusations of wrong-doing on behalf of clients. He has represented companies in national court proceedings as well as at the General Court and European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

In January 2019 CEE Legal Matters reported that Deloitte Legal had advised K&H Bank on long-term non-recourse project financing provided to Photon Energy Group for Photon Energy’s 11.5 MWp proprietary PV power plant portfolio in Hungary. Pontes Budapest advised Photon Energy on the deal. We reached out to both firms for more information.

The number of electric vehicles in Hungary is rising. In response to this, the National Building Regulation of Hungary (OTEK) has established new requirements for the provision of recharging points, with a January 1, 2019 deadline. Although these new rules have had some visible results, there is significant delay in establishing full compliance. Those who fail to meet the requirement may anticipate the imposition of penalties.

The Hungarian Government is considering creating new legislation to cover all kinds of insolvency proceedings, including bankruptcy, liquidation, winding-up, and dissolution proceedings. This move has been roundly welcomed, especially by creditors, as the current law is from 1991, and although it has been amended numerous times, it counts as an outdated and much-criticized piece of legislation.

In honor of CMS Budapest’s 30-year anniversary – the Pearl anniversary, formally, in the city often called the Pearl of the Danube – we reached out to several of the prominent partners to learn a bit more about the changes they’ve seen over the years, and the practices they manage.

As a first-generation lawyer I did not have a profound career perspective when I graduated from law school in the early ‘90s. I saw a job ad in a newspaper – “International law firm looks for junior lawyers” – and even though I had no clue what an “international law firm” was, I had nothing to lose, so I thought it would be worth seeing how a real job interview worked. In the end I was selected and I decided to stay … and I have never regretted that decision.

Ban & Karika Attorneys at Law, the Hungarian member of the Act Legal alliance, has advised the Share Now car-sharing service on its entrance into Budapest. The service will be operated by Wallis Automegoszto Kft., a member of Hungarian investment group Wallis Asset Management Zrt.

„Hungary opposes the introduction of the common corporate income tax base, or a new type of VAT in the European Union, and insists on keeping its competitive tax system” said Hungarian Minister of Finance Mihály Varga in Bucharest at an informal meeting of the European Union’s Financial Ministers on 5 April 2019.

More than a thousand companies have decided to perform the corporate income tax as a member of a so-called corporate taxpayer group, which may result in a total savings of HUF 15 billion for the companies. One of the greatest advantages of the corporate taxpayer groups is the offsetting of positive and negative tax bases, better use of tax incentives, and the non-applicability of transfer pricing rules.

The main amendments to the act on the spatial plan (“területrendezési terv” in Hungarian) of Hungary and certain high priority regions (Spatial Planning Act) entered into force on 15 March 2019 aiming at the reform of spatial planning. The Spatial Planning Act rules and revises the national spatial plan, as well as the spatial plans of the agglomeration of Budapest and the Lake Balaton High Priority Holiday Zone which areas had been regulated in separate acts earlier.

Sarhegyi & Partners has advised the Hungarian Export-Import Bank on a EUR 40 million domestic bond program arranged by ERSTE Investments Hungary, on the issue of the second tranche.

Sarhegyi & Partners has advised GrECo Direct Holding AG on its EUR 15 million acquisition of Hungarian insurance broker portal Biztositas.hu from Netrisk.hu, MCI Private Ventures Fund, and AMC Capital IV Net from Luxembourg.

Sarhegyi & Partners has advised the Ministry of Innovation of Technology of Hungary on the EUR 30 million acquisition of 20% of Hungarian steel products manufacturer Ozdi Steelworks Ltd, a subsidiary of German steel products manufacturer Max Aicher GmbH & Co. KG.

The automotive industry is facing several changes that will shape the future of mobility and production. The car of the future will be electric, connected, and automated, and it will provide benefits for individual consumers and society as a whole. One major message of the recent Automotive in Transition Conference in Budapest was that the automation revolution is bringing challenges, but it is also bringing new opportunities for Hungary to emerge stronger from the transition process.

In The Corner Office we ask Senior and Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: “What is the one skill, ability, or characteristic that fresh law school graduates in your country most commonly lack?”

White & Case has advised Total Eren, a French renewable energy Independent Power Producer, on the acquisition of NovEnergia Holding Company, a Southern European Independent Power Producer. King Wood & Mallesons advised NovEnergia on the deal.