In “The Corner Office” we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. With summer having just passed, the question this time: What is your one favorite yearly activity to disconnect?
Trends and Prospects for Energy in Latvia
The energy market in Latvia is in a constant process of development, on both the regulatory and business sides. The following highlights suggest the energy sector will remain active in the foreseeable future, providing new opportunities for potential investors.
International Franchise Handbook: Focus on Latvia
Franchising may be an attractive proposition for many companies wishing to expand internationally. Take a look at this overview to discover the applicable franchise law in Latvia, covering the essentials for franchisors, the relevant areas of law, selected aspects such as fees, and dispute resolution and applicable law.
In a League (Table) of Their Own: A Look at Baltic Firms’ Volume of Client Matters
Regional periodical league tables ranking M&A activity through the lens of the law firms advising on the deals are often dominated by Baltic law firms, with the CEELM Index special issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine reflecting the same trend. To better understand why that is so, we spoke with several Partners – from both Baltic firms and other CEE jurisdictions.
ICC International Court of Arbitration Appoints Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka as Vice-President
CMS' Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka has been appointed as Vice-President of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Aside from Surdek-Janicka, 33 lawyers from CEE were appointed as members and alternate members of the court.
Deal 5: Evernord CFO and Board Member Arnas Vedeckis on Acquisition of Novira Plaza in Riga
On April 22, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that TGS Baltic had advised the Evernord Real Estate Fund III, managed by Vilnius-based investment firm Evernord Asset Management, on its acquisition of a 65% stake in Riga's Novira Plaza business center. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Arnas Vedeckis, CFO and Member of the Board at Evernord, to learn more about the deal.
Foreign Direct Investment in Central Europe: Latvia
The global pandemic has impacted all markets, with subsequent ramifications for M&A. Investors are now seeking greater protection against general lock-downs and supply-chain disruptions, while governments aim to protect critical supplies and services by imposing new regulations on foreign investment in crucial or strategic industries.
Real Estate and Project Development News
During the last few months number of laws and regulations have been passed in Latvia which have an impact on construction processes, investment in the Latvian real estate and project development.
Deal 5: Practica Capital Co-Founding Partner Donatas Keras on Investment in Biomatter Designs
On January 18, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Cobalt had advised Practica Capital on its investment in Lithuanian start-up Biomatter Designs – part of the latter's EUR 500,000 investment round. CEEIHM spoke with Donatas Keras, Co-Founding Partner at Practica Capital to learn more about the matter.
Latvia: Navigating the Jungle – Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Compliance
In February, 2020, the Latvian authorities breathed a sigh of relief after the Financial Action Task Force voted against adding Latvia to the so-called “grey list” of jurisdictions with strategic anti-money laundering deficiencies. Prior to that, MONEYVAL, the permanent monitoring body of the Council of Europe entrusted with the task of assessing compliance with the principal international standards to counter money laundering, found that Latvian financial institutions had failed to introduce sufficient methods to identify suspicious funds primarily associated with clients from the former Soviet bloc countries.
No Blues in the Baltics: Irmantas Norkus Leads Cobalt to Success
In 2015, the word Cobalt took on a new meaning in the legal markets of Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, when a new pan-Baltic law firm with that name opened its doors, immediately entrenched in the top tier of the region’s legal markets. That firm owes much of its success and reputation to the Managing Partner of its Lithuanian office and Chairman of the firm-wide Management Board, Irmantas Norkus.
The Corner Office: Most Meaningful Charity or Pro Bono Commitment
In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time: “What one ongoing pro bono initiative or project or charity/volunteering project that your firm is involved with has the most meaning for you personally, and why?”
Employee Stock Options in Latvia – Spring is in the Air
Tax Exemption for Employee Stock Options
Legitimate Expectations of Energy Producers in Latvia Disregarded
The mandatory procurement of electricity (a “feed-in tariff,” or FIT) is one of the main schemes implemented in Latvia to support the production of renewable energy. FIT is a guaranteed right to sell a certain annual amount of electricity to the public entity for a fixed period of time at a price that exceeds the market price. The advantageous system is made available to combined heat and power (CHP) plants of high efficiency and producers using renewable energy. FIT is an important component of each renewable energy project, as renewable energy production without these rights is uncompetitive.
Marketing Law Firm Marketing: Childhood Dreams
We decided to lighten the mood this time around by asking our Law Firm Marketing experts from across the region a non-law-firm related question: “What did you most want to be when you were little?”
Latvia: A Solution to Insufficiencies in Supply of Medicines in Latvia
In accordance with statistical data from 2018 and 2019, Latvia’s State Agency of Medicines concluded that there is a high risk of unavailability of state-reimbursed medicines in the Latvian pharmaceutical market, mainly as a consequence of the behavior of the wholesalers. The same conclusion was reached by the Competition Council of the Republic of Latvia which, in late 2018 and 2019, published two reports on the availability of medicines. Accordingly, it was concluded that the existing regulatory framework was unable to provide an effective market protection mechanism to reduce the risk that patients in Latvia might not have access to state-reimbursed medicines, because after these medicines are made available in Latvia by producers or importers, they are exported to third countries or other EU member states by other market participants.
Guest Editorial: Leaving Kitchen Justice Behind
In August 2007 crime fiction admirers in Latvia were thrilled to read a book, Kitchen Justice, describing an influential litigation attorney, the trial cases his office handled, and his secret relationship with judges and public figures. The protagonist was immediately recognized by readers, and the legal community was able to identify heroes less known to the public: the judges in the legal proceedings, who were privately communicating with the prominent attorney about the cases they were working on. It was apparent that the disguised author had based his fictional novel on a real-life characters and cases, and without delay, Latvia’s Chief Justice convened an extraordinary session of Supreme Court judges to set up a special panel of five reputable judges with a mandate to investigate the novel’s plot. The commission interviewed dozens of judges who had been identified in Kitchen Justice.
Better for Business?
Latvia’s Leading Commercial Lawyers Consider the Country’s New Economic Affairs Court