Background

Serbia currently has around 250 exploitation fields where mining activities are undertaken, in addition to around 100 exploration fields where some of the world’s largest mining companies are present. Foreign mining companies invest between $10mil and $100mil on a yearly basis on geological explorations in Serbia.

Wolf Theiss Belgrade has advised Atterbury Europe on its acquisition of a one-third stake in a EUR 259-million gross asset value portfolio of seven Serbian shopping centers with MPC Properties.

CMS has advised Polish private equity fund Innova Capital on the acquisition of Slovenia's Trimo Group, a leading European provider of complete solutions for building envelopes and steel facade systems. The sellers are nine banks, including Slovenia's largest bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB). The transaction is subject to merger control approvals and is scheduled to close in Q1 2016, once conditions precedent have been fulfilled.

The Republic of Serbia cannot boast of a speedy and successful transition. Privatization, creating a predictable business environment and forming a stable legal system began with Serbia already lagging significantly behind other countries in the region.

The Cathay Associates network of law offices, which was launched by the Chinese boutique Kejie Law Office in September 2015, reports 9 CEE members. The network was initiated to offer global coverage, with a special focus on China and cross-border matters.

After number of consultation rounds with relevant institutions and professional bodies, having undergone both parliamentary and media scrutiny, followed by the acceptance of an amendment relating to a contentious provision in its original version, the Draft Law on Investments was passed by the Serbian Parliament on October 23rd.  (“the Law”)

The amendments and supplements provide for further compliance of the Act with the EU Directive 2014/24 and simplify planning and execution of the public procurement procedures.

Serbia’s new Energy Law was enacted in December 2014. The principle aim of the new legislation is harmonization with the aquis communautaire and liberalization of the market, ensuring the freedom to conduct business activities and free access to the system for all third parties. The law also imposes an unbundling obligation and prescribes deadlines for harmonization of the operations of the companies active in the energy sector with the new law.

According to reliable sources requesting anonymity, Paris-based Gide Loyrette Nouel Partners (and long-time CEE veterans) Francois D’Ornano and Karl Hepp de Sevelinges are leaving Gide to join the French law firm Jeantet, with Gide's Budapest and Kyiv offices likely to follow.

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati and Macedonia’s Polenak law firm have acted as joint counsel to Telekom Austria Group in connection with the merger of its subsidiary VIP Operator Dooel Skopje with One Dooel Skopje, a subsidiary of Telekom Slovenije Group, both operating in the Republic of Macedonia. Baker & McKenzie Italy advised Telekom Slovenije Group on the deal.

The new Law on Payment Transactions which will come into force on October 1st, 2015, will introduce significant novelties into the payment services market in Serbia, and will supersede the current Law on Payment Operations. Among other matters, it will regulate the use of electronic money, and the new organization of the payment system in the Republic of Serbia.

On July 16, 2015, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia enacted the Law on Conversion of Right of Use into Ownership of Construction Land with a Fee.

On May 7th 2015 the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed the Law on Protection of the Right to a Trial within a Reasonable Time (hereinafter: “the Law”). The Law will enter into legal force and be applied starting from January 1st, 2016. The reason for this delay in the Law's coming into force is to give the judges time to prepare for compliance with the Law.

The majority of criminal behaviours are quite universal, but what usually differs, among different jurisdictions, are the punishments and procedures of detection and the processing of the crimes. In that sense, the understanding of white collar crimes (WCC), as a group of specific crimes, is universal.

By execution of the Single European Act , the EU member states have undertaken to establish the single market, without borders, which would ensure a free flow of the goods, services, capital and people.

Expansion of the IT sector in Serbia has lead to an increased engagement of local IT experts by foreign IT companies. In practice so far, four models of engagement of the local experts by the foreign IT companies have surfaced, each of them having its advantages and disadvantages.

On 18 December 2014 the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted a new Insurance Law ("Official Gazette of RS“, No. 139/2014), continuing the reformative process of improving the market of financial services in Serbia and harmonizing with European Union law, and ensuring the necessary conditions for additional liberalization of the market of insurance services, whereby significant changes were made as compared to the legislative solutions so far:

Under the Energy Community Treaty from 2005, to which the Republic of Serbia is a party, the contracting countries are obligated to harmonize with the necessary Directives of the EU in the field of energy.