CEE Legal Matters In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets 
American actor Jim Belushi met with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to discuss the Albanian government’s initiative to legalize cannabis and the possibilities of exporting this product for medical purposes.
On 16 March 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) published its judgment on Towercast’s appeal against the French Competition Authority’s decision in Towercast’s case (Case No. C-449/21), confirming that abuse of dominance rules may equally apply ex post to transactions in which national and EU merger control thresholds were not met.
The Parliament of Republika Srpska adopted the amendments of the Company Law of Republika Srpska which entered into force on 2 March 2023. This is the sixth time that the Company Law has undergone changes since it was enacted, whereas the recent amendments brought significant novelties, rather than cosmetic ones.
In January 2023, the Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy initiated the procedure for the amendments to the Law on the Use of the Renewable Energy Sources (“Amendments”) whose purpose was, among others, to limit the installed power of the prosumers.
The Commission for Protection of Competition of Serbia (the “Commission”) announced on 3 May 2023 that it initiated an antitrust investigation against the companies KTG Solucije d.o.o. Subotica and Eco Sense d.o.o. Subotica due to alleged restrictive agreement – colluding in public procurement procedures (bid rigging).
Ilej & Partners in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners has advised the mandated lead arrangers on the restructuring of facilities granted for the Istrian Y motorway concession project.
Contributed by Karanovic & Partners.
The European Commission launched a Call for Evidence, which entails asking for feedback from the business community and the general public on adopting new Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance.
An administrative novelty comes early this year from the Serbian Business Registers Agency (“SBRA”) by introducing electronic registration with the Registry of Bidders.
Serbian Minister of Finance issued the Rulebook on interest rates that are considered to be in line with the arm’s length principle for the year 2023 (the Rulebook), which enters into force on 6 April 2023.
Ketler & Partners, a member of Karanovic, and Ilej & Partners in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners have advised the Volution Group on its acquisition of I-Vent in Slovenia and Croatia for EUR 25.2 million on a debt-free cash-free basis from Milan Kuster. Zagorc & Partners advised Kuster on the sale.
On 6 January 2023, the new Law on Capital Market started to apply in Serbia (except for certain provisions delayed further until the accession of Serbia to the EU). This law is adopted as a part of a comprehensive reform of the capital market legal framework in Serbia and introduces a completely new set of rules in line with the relevant EU regulations governing markets in financial instruments (MiFID I and MiFID II), prospectus, investor-compensation schemes, transparency, securities settlement, and market abuse.
Former Senior Counsel Ivana Rackovic has been promoted to Partner at Karanovic & Partners.
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.
BDK Advokati has advised the Abu Dhabi Capital Group on its sale of The Capital Plaza in Podgorica to BIG Shopping Centers. Karanovic & Partners advised the buyer.
When calculating the cost of running a business, companies typically tend to analyze factors such as labor cost, operating expenses, marketing and advertising, inventory, insurance, and taxes. Only, what happens when unexpected costs occur, such as a security data breach exposing the customers’ personal data to unauthorized parties? And is it still reasonable to consider such costs as unexpected?
Zavisin, Semiz & Partneri and Dentons have advised a banking consortium on their EUR 155 million financing for the 103.3-megawatt Krivaca wind farm project co-owned by Serbia’s MK Group and Slovenia’s ALFI Green Energy Fund. Karanovic & Partners advised the Axpo Group on its market-terms long-term PPA with the Krivaca project company.
The “digitalization” buzzword can easily be found in the 21st century’s most-frequently-used vocabulary section. Something all businesses aspire to, digitalization can, depending on the specific area, represent a multitude of things, always being an inexhaustible power drive on a journey towards a modernized and efficient business playground.
Karanovic & Partners is a regional legal practice in Southeast Europe with a tradition spanning over 25 years and cooperating offices in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania. With more than 150 attorneys at law working together across the region, we take pride in our work, dedication, and understanding of our clients' industries and needs.
We work with some of the most respected and reputable businesses in the world, banks, as well as governments, state-owned entities, start-ups, and NGOs. We see our clients as long-term partners. We focus on straightforward solutions and tailor-made advice. Lawyers cooperating with us are fully immersed in our clients’ culture and industry to ensure that the work is delivered intelligently and reliably.
In our company culture, excellence is a must. We are reliable, adaptive, and fast. We operate under the “one team” principle, combining our regional reach and local know-how to deliver coordinated legal advice necessary for achieving our clients’ goals.
We are ambitious to propose innovative legal solutions and we are at the forefront of legal developments in Southeast Europe, pioneering new areas of the law and paving the way for new practices and regulations.