On 17 September, the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition (the “Serbian NCA”) initiated official proceedings against a local pharmacy chain (“Jankovic Pharmacy”), in order to investigate whether it failed to file a mandatory merger notification prior to a reportable acquisition.

Karanovic & Partners has announced the withdrawal of Founding Partners Patricia Gannon and Dejan Nikolic, after a prolonged process.

“Due to a very hefty package of financial aid, at least judging by Serbian standards, our economy shouldn’t suffer a significant drop in GDP,” says Karanovic & Partners Partner Goran Radosevic. "Some estimates show that the drop shouldn’t be higher than 4%, which is much better than what our neighboring countries are expecting.”

Karanovic & Partners has partnered up with Blocknify to launch an electronic signature technology called "k/signing."

According to the newly adopted package of COVID-19 economic measures, financial aid will be provided to Serbian companies registered between 15 March 2020 and 20 July 2020, which were not able to apply for fiscal benefits from April this year. The measure is introduced by Conclusion of Serbian government 05 No. 401-6052/2020 (“Conclusion”). These companies may receive direct aid in one tranche in September, in the amount of 120% of the minimum wage for March (approx. EUR 300) for each employee. These funds can be used until 31 October 2020, and only for the purpose of employees’ salaries.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) is a contracting party to the Energy Community. As such, it has undertaken the obligation to align its energy sector legislation and transpose the Third Energy Package in the gas sector, among others. Such alignment in the gas sector requires the adoption of state and entity-level legislation to ensure unbundling, third party access, the liberalization of the wholesale market, end-consumer protection, and adequate interconnectivity.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the energy sector is critical to mitigating climate change. Studies have shown that the electricity sector will play a key role in this mission, primarily through decarbonizing electricity production, which is heavily dependent on the massive deployment of renewable energy.

The National Bank of Serbia (“NBS”) announced that it adopted the decision concerning temporary measures for Serbian banks (the “Decision”) on 17 August 2020. The Decision is aimed at facilitating an easier access to financial sources for purchasing residential real estate in Serbia by its citizens.

Karanovic & Partners has provided its analysis of the Serbian railway freight transport market to the World Bank Group and the Serbian Competition Commission. The firm's analysis — conducted in partnership with the Compass Lexecon consulting company — was provided as part of the Program for Improving the Business Environment in Serbia.

On 27 July 2020 the National Bank of Serbia (“NBS”) adopted further decisions concerning emergency measures to facilitate the position of citizens and businesses in servicing debt towards local banks and financial leasing companies in times of the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic crisis, specifically:

Companies around the globe are having to make urgent decisions to keep their employees safe and ensure business continuity in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. In order to fulfil these goals, companies need to find the right balance between providing a safe working environment and respecting their employees’ privacy, which can prove to be quite difficult in practice.

Milena Pejovic, the Head of the Montenegro practice at Karanovic & Partners, has been promoted to Partner at the firm.

The Rulebook on preventive measures for safe and healthy work to prevent the occurrence and spread of an epidemic of infectious diseases (the “Rulebook”) was adopted on 29 June 2020. The Rulebook closely regulates preventive measures that employers are obliged to apply in order to prevent the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases and eliminate the risks for safe and healthy work of employees, as well as persons found in the work environment, when the competent authority declares an epidemic of infectious diseases.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2019 CEE Deal of the Year Award winners – the most important, complicated, significant, and valuable deals across Central and Eastern Europe.

Franka Baica has been promoted to Partner at Croatia's Ilej & Partners in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners.

Karanovic & Partners have advised Serbian IT company 3Lateral on its EUR 7.7 million acquisition of a 6,500-square-meter lot from the City of Novi Sad.

Serbia counts more than 12,000 blind and visually impaired people, who are struggling to reach texts and other visual content. To improve their position, Serbia adhered to the Marrakesh Treaty, which is in force as of 24 May 2020.

Cultivation of medical cannabis has become a lucrative business in recent years. Countries around the world have started legalizing this controversial crop, approving medical cannabis in particular in some capacity. In 2018, Canada made history by passing the Cannabis Act, thus becoming the first industrialized nation in the world (and second overall, after Uruguay) to pass legislation allowing adults to purchase marijuana. In addition, over 33 states in the USA have made the use of cannabis legal for medical purposes.