Akin Gump, Bogdanovic, Dolicki & Partneri, Maric & Co, Isailovic & Partners, Harrisons, Zdolsek Attorneys at Law, Boga & Associates, Popovski & Partners, and Forgo Damjanovic & Partners have advised Croatian conglomerate Fortenova Grupa d.d., on the EUR 615 million sale of its frozen food business to Nomad Foods. Norton Rose Fulbright, Lakatos, Koves & Partners, and five firms from the SEE Legal alliance advised Nomad Foods on the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

The Budapest office of Kinstellar, working together with the Goodwin law firm, has advised the Creandum fund on its EUR 10 million Series A round investment into Hungarian fraud-detection startup SEON Technologies Ltd.

Schoenherr and PRK Partners have advised B&B Hotels on the sale of properties in Hungary and the Czech Republic to Primonial REIM. Clifford Chance and Szecsenyi & Partners advised the buyers on the deal, which included a leaseback by B&B Hotels.

For our Checking In feature, we reach out to partners and heads of practice across CEE to learn how specific practice areas are faring in their jurisdictions. This time around we asked Tax experts: What are the most important changes to the Tax laws in your country since January 2020 and what has their impact been? 

On December 15, 2020 CEELM gathered legal experts from across the region for its annual Year-in-Review Round Table conversation. In a wide-ranging discussion, participants shared opinions and perspectives on their markets, on strong (and less-strong) practices across the region, and the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on both, as well as on how technology is changing the legal industry, and what the industry will look like in 2021.

“The third wave of the pandemic, and unfortunately the most severe, has dominated the developments of the past month in Hungary,” says SBGK Partner Peter Lukacsi. He says that severe restrictions have been imposed in the country to combat the uptick in the numbers of newly infected people, including the closings of lower grade schools and kindergartens. “Courts have been closed as well,” he says, “and no personal hearings have been held in both civil and commercial matters since March 8.”

For our Checking In feature, we reach out to partners and heads of practice across CEE to learn how specific practice areas are faring in their jurisdictions. This time around we asked Data Protection experts: Overall, how compliant would you say economic agents are with relevant local regulations on data protection, and what are the main gaps that have yet to be addressed?

According to a Government Decree passed on 9 February 2021, lessees do not have to pay rent for a property owned by the Hungarian State or the local municipality (or by companies which are controlled by these) for the specified five-month period (February - June 2021). The decree specifies a list of 25 types of activities which are to be alleviated from paying rent, which includes:

Jalsovszky has advised Hungarian energy and real estate developer Callis Energetika Zrt. on its sale of an 8,300-square-meters plot to Atenor Hungary. CMS advised the buyer on the deal.

Kinstellar has helped the Business Lease Group B.V. and its CEE subsidiaries obtain a EUR 242 million refinancing loan in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia from a syndicate of ABN Amro Bank N.V., ING Bank N.V., and Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A. Clifford Chance reportedly advised the lenders.

Noerr has advised oil and gas company MOL on its acquisition of the Hungarian operating company of Marche. Baker McKenzie Zurich reportedly advised the seller, Marche International.

In February 2021 the State Secretary of Labour of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology announced a new measure to fight black employment. The amendment of the Act on the Service and Support to Subserve the Employment, and on the Supervisory of Employment (Act) is already in effect since 1 March 2021.

The rules of obligatory invoice data supply were modified as of 4 January 2021 in a way that the data of such invoices, modifying or annulling invoices, which are subject to the invoicing requirements of the Hungarian VAT Act, must be supplied to the tax authority. As a result, the invoices issued for domestic or foreign natural persons, legal persons or organisations not subject to VAT as well as for not domestic persons subject to VAT are affected by the obligation of invoice data supply from 4 January 2021.

The Act Legal alliance has announced that all of its offices are being integrated under a new common brand.

Ex Works (EXW) is an international trade term and is one of the 11 current Incoterms Rules, a set of standardized international trade terms that are published by the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce). EXW means that the seller fulfils his obligation to deliver when he has made the goods available at his premises (i.e., factory, warehouse, etc.) to the buyer. The buyer bears all costs and risks involved in taking the goods from the seller's premises to the desired destination.

Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) established that for bad debt relief limitation period must begin to run not from the date of performance of the payment obligation initially provided for, but from the date on which the debt became definitively irrecoverable.

2021 could greatly simplify the parcelling of jointly owned arable land. Also, the new rules will settle the status of land registered in the name of unidentifiable owners. At the same time, a clearer and more transparent title structure could not only enhance farming efficiency but also boost greenfield investments.

Lakatos Koves & Partners has advised European logistics and semi-industrial real estate developer VGP on the construction of the new VGP Park Gyor Beta, in Gyor, Hungary.