Efrim, Rosca & Associates has advised the Moldovan Government, acting through the Agency for Public Property, on its sale of 63.8865% of the authorized capital of Moldindconbank to Bulgaria's Doverie United-Holding AD. Gladei & Partners reportedly advised Doverie United on the deal, which had received preliminary approval on January 22 from the National Bank of Moldova.

According to Oleg Efrim, the Managing Partner at Moldova’s Efrim Rosca Asociatii law firm, the primary topic of interest at the moment in the Moldovan legal community is the country’s newly modernized Civil Code which will become effective on March 1, 2019. According to Efrim, the new Code will be a significant upgrade to the existing law, which entered into force in 2003 as the country’s first following the fall of the Soviet Union. “It’s a substantial amendment,” Efrim reports, pointing out that the number of articles is increasing from the existing 1624 to 2671, and he says that "it is, indeed, a modernization of the Code.”

CMS and Turzan Cazac have advised the OTP Bank Group on the acquisition of 87.85% of shares in Mobiasbanca from the Societe Generale group. Schoenherr, working with lead counsel Jones Day, advised Societe Generale on the sale. 

Mariana Stratan, Iulia Furtuna, Ana Galus, and Vadim Taigorba have been promoted Partner at Moldova's Turcan Cazac.

CMS Kyiv has advised a consortium consisting of the EBRD and private equity firms AB Invalda INVL and Horizon Capital on their acquisition of a 41.09% stake in B.C. Moldova Agroindbank S.A, Moldova’s largest commercial bank, at an auction held by Moldova’s Public Property Agency.

Gladei & Partners has advised the EBRD and private equity firms AB Invalda INVL and Horizon Capital on Moldovan law matters related to their acquisition of a 41.09% stake in B.C. Moldova Agroindbank S.A. at an auction held by Moldova’s Public Property Agency. The EBRD was advised on English-law matters by CMS. Moldova Agroindbank and Moldova’s Government was represented by Efrim, Rosca & Associates.

“This fall Moldova is facing parliamentary elections and so, for the moment, we are just coping with the current political reality and trying to keep a record of all the new legislation – which the Parliament is passing at quite a fast pace,” reports Vladimir Iurkovski, Managing Attorney at Law at Schoenherr Moldova.

Generally, foreigners in Moldova have the same rights and freedoms as Moldovan citizens. This general rule applies, inter alia, to acquisitions by foreigners of immovable assets. In other words, Moldovan legislation does not require that foreign individuals or legal entities obtain any permits to acquire land plots in the country beyond those required for Moldovan citizens. However, certain exceptions and requirements apply when it comes to land acquisition.

Schoenherr has represented the Republic of Moldova in front of an ICSID Tribunal, which on June 28, 2018, dismissed the bulk of damages sought by a group of US investors in a claim filed against the country under the state's bilateral investment treaty with the USA.

The winners of the 2017 CEE Deal of the Year Awards were announced at the first ever CEE Legal Matters Deal of the Year Awards Banquet last night in Prague. The biggest smiles in the joyous and music-filled celebration of CEE lawyering, perhaps, were on the faces of Partners from Avellum and Sayenko Kharenko, which, along with White & Case and Latham & Watkins, won the award both for Ukrainian Deal of the Year and CEE Deal of the Year for their work on the 2017 Ukraine Eurobond Issue (a story initially reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 2, 2017).

Although Moldova is not part of the European Union, the country strives to stay in-line with EU regulations, Andrei Caciurenco, Partner at ACI Partners says, so the GDPR is as hot a topic there as it is elsewhere.

Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii and Turcan Cazac have advised Eurotransgaz SRL, a company established by Transgaz in Chisinau, on the full acquisition of S.E. Vestmoldtransgaz, a company that manages the Moldovan side of the Iasi-Ungheni gas transmission pipeline, from the Public Property Agency of the Republic of Moldova.

On January 26, 2018, CEELM reported on a joint investment by Banca Transilvania and the EBRD to acquire more than 66% of shares in Victoriabank, the third largest bank in the Republic of Moldova. Bogdan Plesuvescu, the Executive Director and Chief Legal Officer for Banca Transilvania agreed to provide some insight on the transaction, which remains contingent on approval by local authorities.

RTPR Allen & Overy has advised Purcari Wineries Public Company Limited on its IPO and admission to trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange under the WINE symbol, with retail investors oversubscribing more than four times over. Leroy si Asociatii advised the IFC on the listing, representing 49% of the Purcari Wineries share capital. The offer was managed by Raiffeisen Bank and Swiss Capital, advised by CMS.

“Due to a very sudden and controversial parliamentarian decision that changed the competence of the Courts of Appeal on solving insolvency cases, all work concerning insolvency has stopped recently in Moldova,” reports Cobzac & Partners Partner Daniel Cobzac, “with most of the transactions being suspended.” Simultaneously, to advance the country's EU-integration plans, a lot of new reforms are being made in order to harmonize the country’s legislation with European norms.

The Republic of Moldova is a small Eastern European country with a market economy in development. Since its independence, Moldova has been keen to open its borders to foreign investment to vitalize its economy. To this end, Moldova has passed numerous legislative reforms to protect investments and encourage cross-border transactions.

Turcan & Cazac and Vernon David & Associates have advised Banca Transilvania and the EBRD on Moldovan matters related to their joint acquisition of a stake of over 66% in Victoriabank, the third largest bank in the Republic of Moldova. In the Netherlands and UK, the EBRD was advised by CMS and Banca Transilvania by Freshfields.  

The commercial legal markets of Central & Eastern Europe didn’t appear automatically. They didn’t develop in a vacuum. They were formed, shaped, and led, by lawyers – visionary, hard-working, commercially-minded, and client-focused individuals pulling the development of CEE’s legal markets along behind them as they labored relentlessly for their clients, their careers, their futures.