Karanovic & Nikolic has advised the Belgian renewable energy group Elicio NV on the EUR 9.8 million financing its wholly-owned subsidiary Electrawinds Mali WF d.o.o. received from UniCredit Bank Serbia for the development, construction, and operation of the Malibunar wind park.   

Foreigners acquiring ownership of agricultural land in the Republic of Serbia.

Leasing of employees – a situation in which employment agencies hire employees and act as their formal employers and then lease them to perform actual work for their client companies – has become a frequent phenomenon in Serbia the past few years. 

Karanovic & Nikolic has announced that former Peterka & Partners Partner Alexander Poels joined it on September 1, 2017 as Partner and Director of International Relations. 

Karanovic & Nikolic has advised Bulgaria's River Styxx Capital investment fund on the acquisition of 85% of the shares in Telenor Banka. Moravcevic Vojnovic and Partners in cooperation with Schoenherr) advised Telenor on the transaction, which sees the Norwegian telecommunications group keeping 15% of its shares in the online bank.

BDK Advokati, Three Crowns LLP, and Moussas & Partners have successfully represented Greek investor Mytilineos in an investment arbitration against the Serbian state.

Zivkovic Samardzic has advised the shareholders of Tim Kolos d.o.o, the Belgrade-based facility management, construction, and installation services provider, on the sale of 55% of shares in the company to Samsic Holding dejavnost holdingov d.o.o, the Slovenian member of French Samsic Group. Moravcevic Vojnovic and Partners in cooperation with Schoenherr advised the buyers on the deal.

In recent years, many international companies set up its operations in Serbia, in the form of subsidiaries or branch offices, not least due to the generous incentives that have been provided through a number of government schemes.  

BDK Advokati has advised regional private equity firm Blue Sea Cap on the acquisition of 100% of shares in the Dr Cvjetkovic company, which provides healthcare services in Novi Sad, from Drs. Branka Cvjetkovic and Milan Cvjetkovic. The transaction closed on August 14, 2017.

Karanovic & Nikolic Partner Darko Jovanovic is upbeat. "Serbia is once again a hotspot in the region,” he says, “this time not for unpleasant reasons, but for its economic recovery.”

Intellectual property infringement through the circulation and sale of counterfeit goods is still very much both a global and a local issue. As modern day counterfeiting is now acquiring more sophisticated forms involving a plethora of new and usually unsuspected goods (for example, pharmaceuticals) and with the intent of not only existing on the black markets but infiltrating into the legal market flows as well, we are faced with the need for a more aggressive approach requiring first and foremost improved legislation and subsequently more efficient enforcement activities. 

Weil is representing OTP Bank on two major transactions involving its Romanian and Serbian subsidiaries and the National Bank of Greece. Karanovic and Nikolic provided local advice to OTP in Serbia, and Schoenherr provided local advice in Romania. Freshfields advised the National Bank of Greece on both deals.

Zivkovic Samardzic has advised the British Broadcasting Corporation on the incorporation of its representative office and the regulatory aspects of its new digital service in the Serbian language. The BBC's Serbian incorporation followed the announcement of the launch of 12 new BBC World Service language services around the world.

On 12 July 2017, Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition (the “Commission”) enacted a Decision by which it enacted a measure for protection of competition due to implementation of concentration contrary to the legal obligation to notify the Commission of the concentration and to receive its prior approval, even though the legally stipulated revenue thresholds for reporting the concentration in this particular case were met (the “Decision”).

BDK Advokati has advised the Czech company Lach:ner s.r.o., a regional distributor of pure chemicals, specialized services, and innovative products, on the acquisition of 100% of shares in Serbian Proanalytica d.o.o., a distributor of laboratory chemicals. The Lukic law firm advised the sellers on the deal, which closed on August 4, 2017.

Serbian legislation provides for a maternity leave compensation in the amount of the mother’s average salary in the last 12 months before the leave. The compensations is paid from the state budget, but the procedure of ascertaining the right to maternity leave compensation is conducted by local government.

Zivkovic Samardzic is reporting a successful representation of Dan Graf d.o.o. — the publisher of the Belgrade-based Danas newspaper — and Danas' former Editor in Chief against a civil defamation claim brought by Djordje Vukadinovic, a member of the Serbian parliament and Editor of the Nova Srpska Politicka Misao periodical.

Zivkovic Samardzic is reporting that it successfully represented Veran Matic, Chairman of the Serbian Commission responsible for investigating killings of journalists, in a complaint to the Press Council about an article published by Serbia's Politika newspaper.