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.

On June 30, 2022, CEE Legal Matters hosted the fifth edition of the CEELM Budapest Law Firm Bowling Challenge: A competition of four-person teams from leading law firms in Hungary, with all proceeds going to the previous winner’s charity of choice. A total of 13 law firms competed for the trophy – and the bragging rights that go along with it.

Schoenherr has announced that Croatian cooperating firm Mandaric & Einwalter's Partners Vice Mandaric and Ivan Einwalter have been appointed as Local Partners with Schoenherr’s Croatian office.

Have you ever wondered whether you can modify a registered community design ("RCD") that is challenged by an application for declaration of invalidity by removing certain prohibited design elements to maintain the registration?

Schoenherr has advised Wienerberger on its acquisition of Vargon. Buterin & Partneri reportedly advised the sellers on the deal.

MPR Partners has advised GreenVolt subsidiaries V-Ridium Solar 45 and V-Ridium Renewables on their EUR 83 million acquisition of a photovoltaic project from the Samsung C&T Corporation. Schoenherr and, reportedly, Herbert Smith Freehills advised the seller. CMS reportedly advised a consortium of banks on financing the acquisition.

Schoenherr, working with Noerr, has advised the BTV Multimedia Group on its acquisition of STW Spleisstechnik West. Solo practitioner Georg Justich reportedly advised STW.

Wind power plants and photovoltaic (PV) plants might affect the landscape. To what extent is in the eye of the beholder.

Once upon a time, two eminent Hungarian scientists made a mathematical breakthrough. They developed the first convex, homogeneous, mono-monostatic object, which they named the "Gomboc" after the famous Hungarian folk character. The Gomboc always returns to its single stable equilibrium point no matter how you put it down, without using any weights. The Gomboc also has one unstable equilibrium. It is possible to balance the body in this position, but the slightest disturbance makes it fall.

Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic & Krka has advised Unconditional and its majority owner Edvard Varda on the sale of a stake in the company to the Fressnapf Group. Schoenherr reportedly advised the Fressnapf Group on the acquisition.

Dentons has advised GeneProof founders Radek Horvath and Milos Dendis on the company's merger with the American Laboratory Products Company, leading to the establishment of the ALPCO Group. Glatzova & Co and Sidley Austin advised the Silicon Valley Bank on financing the merger. Goodwin Procter and Schoenherr reportedly advised Ampersands, the owner of ALPC.

Schoenherr has advised Red Bull and Arbeitsgemeinschaft Teletest (AGTT) on the establishment of a joint venture.

Trademark professionals have noted growing interest in protecting trademarks for "virtual goods". This leaves trademark specialists as well as IP offices grappling with how to correctly classify these goods. 

Schoenherr has advised the sellers on the sale of ARZ Allgemeines Rechenzentrum to Accenture. Baker McKenzie advised the buyer. 

On 4 June 2022 the Hungarian government issued a decree introducing special taxes affecting several sectors, among others banking, insurance, energy, telecommunications and airlines.

With the world slowly reaching what many scientists label “a point of no return” for climate change, countries worldwide are doing their best to combat environmental damage. To that end, the European Union has developed climate and energy targets for the upcoming decade, stating that it is “vital that we direct investments towards sustainable projects and activities.”

Energy prices have been a salient issue in CEE for the past year. Part 1 of this article covered just how high the energy prices had climbed in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, and Turkey, the impact of those prices on people, businesses, and governments, as well as the reasons why some countries fared better than others. Then Russia’s war against Ukraine changed everything, making a new energy pricing normal seem more distant than ever. In Part 2 we look at what energy experts believe could alleviate the situation and whether the war has impacted those plans.

The Supreme Court confirmed parties' freedom to contractually modify any of the prerequisites for set-off under Bulgarian law, thus permitting various quasi-security arrangements in commercial and financial contracts that creditors may avail themselves of.