The Budapest office of Noerr has advised Polish pesticide distributor Chemirol on its acquisition of a 10% shareholding in Hungary's Chemark Zrt.

After more than a year of the Covid pandemic, there is hope that vaccinations will allow us to beat the virus and get back to normal life. We will be able return to our workplaces, meet our colleagues face to face and work together more efficiently. However, this is not yet possible, since not all of us are vaccinated or have existing immunity to Covid.

The Supreme Court of Hungary recently put an end to a long debate amongst legal practitioners and academia. In its decision No. 1/2021 PJE, the court confirmed that an agreement cannot be considered null and void only because it was signed on the basis of a power of attorney by:

Government Regulation 261/2011 brought with it considerable changes with effect from 1 January 2021, shifting control and reporting obligations for transport into and out of Hungary to consignors/consignees. The new law has caused uncertainties on the market. Based on initial experience with the new law and discussions with the responsible authority by the Noerr Commercial Trade and Digital Business team, some light can now be shed on the proper application of the new regulation.

Law No. 58/2021 approving GEO no. 211/2020 and amending GEO 132/2020 was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No. 345 of 5 April 2021 and will enter into force on 8 April 2021 (the “Law”).

On 29 March 2021, Emergency Government Ordinance 19/2021 (“EGO 19”) implementing certain fiscal measures was published in the Official Gazette no. 315/29.03.2021.

Noerr has advised facility services provider ISS on the divestment of its main subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, and Hungary to Hungarian facility management company B+N Referencia Zrt. Havel & Partners advised B+N Referencia on the transaction, which remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Kambourov & Partners, Latham & Watkins, Shearman & Sterling, NautaDutilh, Noerr, and Bar & Karrer advised private equity firm Silverfleet Capital on its acquisition of a majority stake in the entity resulting from the recent merger of Bulgarian software company Bulpros and German CRM company ec4u. Financing was provided by Ares, which was represented by Ashurst.

After more than 4-5 years from the initiation of the proposal made by the business environment and long discussions of the tax forums with the legislators, including at level of the Coalition for the Development of Romania, the fiscal consolidation in the field of corporate income tax was formalized by Law no. 296/2020 at the end of 2020.

Noerr has advised oil and gas company MOL on its acquisition of the Hungarian operating company of Marche. Baker McKenzie Zurich reportedly advised the seller, Marche International.

New Agreement might be a new chapter in protection of unique European products between the EU and China.

Former Schoenherr Managing Tax Director Theodor Artenie has joined Noerr’s Bucharest office as Head of Tax.

Emergency Government Ordinance (EGO) no. 13 dated 24 February 2021, which amends Law 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code and Accounting Law no. 82/1991, was published in the Romanian Official Gazette, issue no. 0197 dated 26 February 2021.

After simplifying the procedure for VAT registration in 2020 (i.e. risk analysis by the taxpayer after VAT registration instead of on the submission date of application for VAT registration), the Romanian tax authorities approved another simplification of the VAT registration procedure at the beginning of this week.

Although Romanian law established criminal liability of organisations in 2006, thus adopting a liability model very similar to that of France, Belgium and Portugal, there is still a lot of confusion when it comes to determining when an organisation is to be held criminally liable. From what we see in our day-to-day activity, the courts are still struggling to determine when offences committed by the management of an organisation can also trigger the criminal liability of the organisation itself.

Noerr has advised the Aluminium Rheinfelden Group on the sale of its assets to Russian aluminum manufacturer RUSAL, in the form of an asset-reorganization deal.

What changes must employers expect with respect to employee alimentation, working from home, employee intragroup assignment, or employing teenagers before their completion of compulsory education? The latest amendment of the Slovak Labour Code introduces several changes, establishes a new ground for dismissal, and also significantly modifies the regulation of collective labour relations.

On 13 January 2021, new provisions regarding the minimum gross salary guaranteed at national level were announced in the Romanian Official Gazette.