In 2021, the President of Ukraine had signed two laws establishing a special legal and tax regime for the digital economy called Diia City. It has become effective from January 1, 2022, after the law shaping the taxation regime of Diia City has become effective.

An effective judiciary forms a cornerstone of a successful state that upholds the rule of law.

2021 was indeed an active year for the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU). It seems that antitrust enforcement did not slow down during another pandemic year but even, in fact, accelerated. The agency closed a number of investigations, having imposed million-dollar fines on players from a variety of markets. Below you may find the top trends in Ukrainian antitrust enforcement. They are worth keeping an eye on, especially for companies having or planning a business presence in Ukraine.

The Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (Tax Authority) had already issued its first extensive guidelines regarding cryptocurrency taxation in 2017. According to the guidelines, capital gains generated from trading in virtual currencies by a natural person outside the scope of performing a business activity are not subject to personal income tax (PIT). Nevertheless, any income generated by a natural person as part of a business or entrepreneurial activity associated with cryptocurrencies is taxable.

In Turkey, 2021 continued to be dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the various legal difficulties and ambiguities that it brought. This raised several questions on how to apply the Turkish data protection law and related legislation, in particular about how to properly process data on health, vaccination status, and PCR tests.

Despite uncertainty due to the pandemic, the pace of merger activity in Turkey has not decreased and merger control is still one of the Turkish Competition Authority’s (TCA) key enforcement areas. The Law on Protection of Competition (Competition Law) amendment in June 2020 was a milestone for merger control in Turkey as it changed the substantive test for assessment of mergers. Below are some observations regarding the adoption of the new test and the TCA’s recent approach to merger control and remedies.

Crowdfunding is a new generation funding and investment system which allows different individuals to invest in a project in exchange for shares or interest. Crowdfunding offers an alternative funding market that creates a win-win situation for entrepreneurs and investors.

Turkey is the world’s tenth largest agricultural producer and a hub for many top global players in food production. The country is accelerating the integration of sustainability principles into the sector’s growth strategies.

It is not often that a CEE law firm decides to expand beyond the borders of its home market. Seeking out clients abroad and maintaining a standard of quality service is not only taxing but may also prove harmful – if not planned correctly.

When much was happening around the world, especially with the global pandemic, we decided to start our firm – Guleryuz & Partners – in September 2020. We made a major investment ignoring all the current challenges, including COVID-19 and the sluggish Turkish economy.

On December 7, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Lakatos, Koves and Partners had successfully represented Facebook Ireland in a dispute with the Hungarian Competition Authority before the Kuria – the Hungarian supreme court. CEELM spoke with LKT Partner and Co-Head of Competition Eszter Ritter, who led the team, to learn more about the case.

In the past year, Danish company Flugger has begun a significant expansion across Europe and Russian-speaking parts of the world. We reached out to Flugger General Counsel Torben Schwaner Dehlholm to learn more about the company’s business and expansion, as well as its M&A strategy and in-house legal dynamics.

Jalsovszky Law Firm’s Managing Partner Pal Jalsovszky interviews Prologis Legal Counsel CEE Ildiko Kollar.

January is always a good time to look back, take stock, and make plans. And 2021, while a complicated year, was in no way uneventful. Across CEE, we’ve had lawyers and law firms variously reporting on – besides the obvious pandemic-related restrictions and increased work flexibility – a record year for M&A transactions, growing green energy, effervescent capital markets, a surprisingly solid real estate sector, ascendant ESG practices, a renewed focus on infrastructure, and TMT going from strength to strength.

Practicing IP has always been a tricky matter, given the complexity and the diversity of this area of law. We reached out to experts from several IP-focused law firms – Hungary’s SBGK, Serbia’s Petosevic Group, and Greece’s Drakopoulos – to learn more about their origins, specializations, structures, and operations.

The legal profession in Greece has changed and been upgraded in recent years in the context of providing legal services and support across a spectrum of economic, social, and technological developments. Modern lawyering is directly linked to the needs of the client in very specific areas (such as economy, energy, health, immigration, personal data, and artificial intelligence). In the past 30 years, Greece has witnessed the establishment of the institution of law firms, the transition to a new era of cooperative action, and the gradual abandonment of the legal office as the sole dominant model of legal practice. Law firms that form a structured group and provide a comprehensive package of services operate in a dynamic manner, evolving in line with market requirements. This is also a guarantee for young lawyers who seek better working conditions, remuneration, and career prospects.

Almost ten years ago, in 2012, major changes were introduced in Hungarian employment law, including a new Employment Code. The updated rules had a significant impact on market practice and, consequently, on the volume of employment litigation. The latter number was further influenced, however, by the new Code of Civil Procedure, which came into effect in January 2018. In this article, we offer insight and explanation for the possible causes of the decreasing number of employment lawsuits.

Picture a situation where a company divests a part of its business to create a new company. Employees are transferred to the spin-off company too. Based on Article 75 of the Employment Relationship Act (ZDR-1), the provisions on the transfer of an undertaking (change of employer) then apply. The article governs the joint and several liability of both the transferor and transferee company; however, it limits liability solely to the claims of employees who were actually transferred.