By most counts, 2021 was a successful year for the Romanian M&A market. Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii Deputy Managing Partner Stefan Damian, Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen Partner Gabriela Cacerea, Dentons Managing Partner Perry Zizzi, and Wolf Theiss M&A Partner Ileana Glodeanu have many reasons to believe 2022 could be a good year as well, but also quite a few to expect a slowdown in activity.

A quick look at the CEE Legal Matters Index 2021 reveals a considerable number of public procurement (PP) disputes in the Romanian healthcare sector. We spoke with Popovici Nitu Stoica & Asociatii Partner Ramona Pentilescu, who was involved in challenging several such projects, to learn more about the trend.

Did you just glaze over the headline without even registering it? I would have. Of the 30 press releases that last hit my inbox, 26 included – in either the opening paragraph or the last one describing the emitting firm – the phrase “leading law firm.” Indeed, it is such a common trope in the industry that I barely even register it when a firm self-identifies as such.

While the deal looked almost impossible at first, with European Commission officials hawkish about its competition implications, PKN Orlen’s acquisition of Grupa Lotos eventually came to pass. For the two Polish energy leviathans the path towards unification was not an easy one, but that goal became a lot nearer following the EC’s 2020 approval. To learn more about the merger and how it managed to beat the odds we spoke to SMM Legal Managing Partner Maciej Mataczynski and Rymarz Zdort Managing Partner Pawel Rymarz.

In 2021 the Slovakian legal framework was set to be updated with a new FDI screening mechanism, echoing the wave of similar legislative updates throughout the European Union. However, after almost a full year, the proposed draft act has not yet come to pass. CEE Legal Matters spoke with Ruzicka and Partners Banking & Finance Partner Jan Hanko about the process, the draft itself, and its potential consequences on the Slovakian market.

Entering into force on February 19, 2021, the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility aimed, according to the European Commission, “to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient, and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.” CEE Legal Matters spoke with lawyers from Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, and Romania to learn what each country focused on, with its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), and what difficulties lie ahead, now that these plans have been submitted to the EC.

As legal professionals and human beings with empathy, we keep reflecting on recent developments in Ukraine. Our heart goes out to our fellow people, and we trust that history will show us again: an imagined order cannot be sustained by violence. “You can do many things with bayonets, but it is rather uncomfortable to sit on them,” Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord insightfully pointed out. I’d like to believe that violent actions in Ukraine will come to an end or will have already ended by the time of the publication of this issue. Will, however, the impact of this war simultaneously also come to an end? As a result, how will the legal practice in CEE evolve and what developments should we expect?

In December of 2021, I had the pleasure of attending the CEELM Winter Ball, a festive event filled with good food and great discussions. Although I truly enjoyed this opportunity to catch up with old friends, I also found it fascinating to observe lawyers operating outside of their office comfort zone by partaking in the mysterious ritual of networking.

Glovo’s Victor Racariu Talks About the Deal of the Year in Romania - Glovo's Acquisition of Delivery Hero's Operations in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia.

CMS' Slawomir Czerwinski Talks About The Deal of the Year in Poland - InPost IPO.

 Nikola Lazarov Law Office’s Nikola Lazarov Talks About the Deal of the Year in North Macedonia – Interenergo’s and Trigal’s Acquisition of Wind Farm from Euroing.

Dentons' Rob Irving Talks About The Deal of the Year in Montenegro – 4iG PLC’sAcquisition of Telenor Montenegro from PPF Group.

In 2019, the EU introduced the European Green Deal with clear sustainability goals to become climate neutral by 2050. Across industries, investors increasingly accept the high value of more sustainable business practices. ESG sustainability is a central consideration in business decisions in almost all economic areas. ESG covers corporate governance, environment and climate change, social and human rights, and sustainable finance. The question for companies is how they can or even must implement this and use legal instruments. However, the lack of binding law provisions, greenwashing, and the alleged sustainability of investments have undermined the importance of this topic.

In recent years, the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has been extremely active in tackling highly interesting and novel issues in the digital world. The GVH commissioned a pioneer study on the importance of data in e-commerce and brought several decisions against major international players such as booking.com (for using so-classed “dark patterns”) or Apple (for using misleading terms and conditions about its Wi-Fi assistant on iPhones) as well as significant CEE players such as eMag (for misleading promotions on its online marketplace) or Alza (for aggressive commercial practices on its online site). Most of the decisions – especially where large fines were involved – have been challenged before courts, with the most recent high-level judgment coming out in the Facebook case. What happened exactly?

An in-depth look at Tamas Bereczki of Provaris Varga & Partners covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

An in-depth look at Christoph Moser of Schoenherr covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

In the past few years, Hungary has witnessed accelerated merger trends in the fields of TMT, healthcare, and energy, among others. We reached out to several competition lawyers and spoke about Hungarian merger control regulations and the role of the Hungarian Competition Authority (HCA).

All over the world, we feel the effects of global warming and a sense of urgency to take action against it. It is, therefore, a relief that Hungarian solar projects are coming online in an ever-increasing number. In order to ensure that this trend continues, we ought to take account of the challenges of the sector, not just of its opportunities.