On October 25, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Karanovic & Partners had advised the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia (IF) on launching the Katapult start-up accelerator in Serbia. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Mladjan Stojanovic, Program Manager at the Innovation Fund, to learn more about the matter.

On November 16, 2021, amendments to the Law on Free Access to the Information of Public Importance (the “Law”) entered into force, as they had been published in the Official Gazette of the RS no. 105/2021 of November 8, 2021, whereby they were passed for the purpose of alignment with relevant regulations adopted in the meantime, such as the Law on Data Secrecy and the Law on Personal Data Protection, and international standards in the respective field, as well as introduction of mechanisms to ensure that the authorities act in accordance with their legal duties, and that information seekers enact their rights under the Law exclusively for the purposes stipulated therein.

In 2020 and 2021 there were no developments towards the adoption of the new law and bylaws regarding competition/antirust (a process that started in 2017), probably due to the coronavirus pandemic. Certain changes in respect to the enforcement of competition rules were introduced during 2020, due to COVID-19, such as a new manner of communicating with the Serbian Competition Commission, a prolongation of the deadlines during the state of emergency in Serbia, etc. However, all subject changes have been put out of force and are being restored to the state prior to COVID-19.

Karanovic & Partners Head of Real Estate Ana Lukovic has been appointed as a Partner with the firm.

Karanovic & Partners, working with Corrs Chambers Westgarth, has advised Volt Resources Limited on its acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Asena Investments Beograd-Stari Grad.

Andrejic & Partners has assisted Israel-based attorney Lior Dagan as the insolvency trustee appointed to Michael David Greenfield in the takeover process of EGFE Hungary.

Radovanovic Stojanovic & Partners has advised the Soravia Group on the sale of the New Mill office building located in Belgrade, Serbia. 

The Government of Serbia has recently adopted the Proposal for Amendments to the Companies Law (the “Proposal”), which official text states that its primary goal is to promote the protection of minority shareholders, in accordance with measures provided by the Action Plan of the Program for Improvement of Position of the Republic of Serbia on the World Bank’s Business List – Doing Business for the period 2020-2023. In addition, the respective novelties imply other changes as well, the most significant being those referring to the position of entrepreneurs, and court protection in case of business address abuse.

The Law on Amendments to the Law on Tax Procedure and Tax Administration (Official Gazette of RS, no. 96/2021) (the “Law”) was adopted on October 16, 2021. The novelties introduced by this piece of regulation particularly include those referring to the filing of tax application for calculated mandatory social insurance contributions for company founders and/or shareholders, deferral of interest payment for settled obligations, replacement of insurance instruments for collection of due taxes, and issuance of additional record.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia has recently proposed amendments to the tax laws, including amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax (‘PIT Law’), Law on Mandatory Social Contributions (‘SSC Law’) and the Law on Corporate Income Tax (‘CIT Law’).

The Labour Law contains only 2 articles related the non-competition clause.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Elicio Ali VE on the refinancing of its Alibunar Wind Farm from UniCredit Bank Serbia.

For the last decade or so, the video gaming industry has been witnessing an emergence, and then almost a mainstream adoption of a revenue-generating mechanic similar, if not outright identical, to gambling.

Independent attorney-at-law Mirjana Mladenovic has joined the Deloitte network and will lead the firm’s M&A Legal Advisory practice in Serbia.

Andrejic & Partners has advised the Embassy of Brazil in Serbia on its lease agreement with Dipos for the embassy's headquarters.

BDK Advokati, working with lead counsel Allen & Overy in London, has advised DoorDash on the acquisition of Finnish food-delivery company Wolt Enterprises for EUR 7 billion. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Avance Attorneys also advised the buyer. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Roschier advised Wolt on the deal.

On October 9, 2019, the Court of Appeal of Brussels passed judgment 2019/AR/1006 whereby it established, pursuant to and in accordance with Article 16 of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), that banks are obliged to use correct diacritics when spelling clients’ names, since these are personal data, and therefore subject to accurate writing.

Radovanovic Stojanovic & Partners and Cerha Hempel have advised AIK Banka, Gorenjska Banka, and Agri Europe Cyprus on their acquisition of Sberbank Europe’s shares in six CEE banks. Noerr advised the buyers on Hungarian law, while Maric & Co, Zuric and Partners, Tos & Partners, and Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners reportedly advised the buyers on Bosnian, Croatian, Slovenian, and Russian matters, respectively.