According to Branko Gabric, General Counsel at Air Serbia in Belgrade, we are living in historic times. He reports that the unprecedented pandemic, as well as the subsequent vaccination process, has greatly affected not only the aviation industry, but also the legal sector in his country.
Abolishment of Roaming Charges In the Western Balkans From 1 July 2021
Roaming charges in the Western Balkan region will be abolished from 1 July this year, in accordance with the Regional Roaming Agreement (“Agreement”) signed in 2019 at the second Western Balkans Digital Summit in Belgrade.
New Regional State Aid Regulation in Serbia
The Serbian government has continued to upgrade the legal framework for granting State aid, having recently adopted a Regional State Aid Regulation. A new State Aid Control Act has been in force in Serbia since early 2020 and the process of harmonising bylaws with the new law is underway.
Schoenherr Advises Liechtenstein Group on Investment in PV-Invest
Schoenherr has advised the Liechtenstein Group on an unspecified investment in PV-Invest, a renewable energy company active in Austria and Southern and Southeastern Europe.
Checking In: Data Protection Compliance in CEE
For our Checking In feature, we reach out to partners and heads of practice across CEE to learn how specific practice areas are faring in their jurisdictions. This time around we asked Data Protection experts: Overall, how compliant would you say economic agents are with relevant local regulations on data protection, and what are the main gaps that have yet to be addressed?
Growing Industrial Cannabis in Serbia – Promising but Underutilised Business Potential
Growing industrial cannabis as a business activity in the Republic of Serbia is not a new phenomenon. The act that specifically regulates this area is the Law on Psychoactive Controlled Substances adopted in 2010 with its amendments in 2018 (“Law”). Besides the aforementioned Law, the Rulebook on Growing Industrial Cannabis adopted in 2013 (“Rulebook”) regulates it in more depth, meaning the business of growing industrial cannabis has been in the books for around a decade.
Karanovic & Partners Advises Continental Teves on Lease, Land Acquisition, and Construction in Serbia
Karanovic & Partners has advised Continental Teves, a German multinational tire manufacturer and supplier, on various state incentives and on the lease of land, lease agreements, construction contracts, and design and project management agreements.
Bojanovic & Partners Successful for Football Player Milos Jokic against PAS Lamia
Bojanovic & Partners has successfully challenged a FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber decision in a dispute before the Court of Arbitration for Sport between its client, Serbian football player Milos Jokic, and Greek football club PAS Lamia.
Brexit and GDPR – Dealing with the Consequences of Departure
Ever since the United Kingdom (“UK”) announced its departure from the European Union (“EU”), there were a lot of speculations about which rights and obligations will remain applicable to its citizens upon (Br)exit. Naturally, as negotiations were ongoing since 2016 referendum, question of whether the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) will remain applicable was still left open, until recently.
NKO Partners Advises CTP on Acquisition of Land in Serbia
NKO Partners has advised CTP on the acquisition of 27.5 hectares of land close to Belgrade's city center from the Roaming Group and Robne Kuce Beograd. Zdravkovic & Partners advised the sellers on the deal.
BDK's Legaltech Launches Draftomat
BDK Advokati's sister company, Legaltech, has launched Draftomat, a new document-automation and knowledge-management solution.
The Most Important Facts Each Commercial Subject in Private Sector Should Know For Exercising Its Right to Direct Payments
Very similar to the Regulation on Fiscal Reliefs and Direct Payments and accompanying Conclusion from 2020 under which Serbian Government, among other forms of state aid, granted direct payments to commercial subjects in private sector (first for the trimester March-May 2020, and then additionally for the period June-July 2020), the new Regulation on Determining Programme of Direct Payments from the Budget of the Republic of Serbia to Commercial Subjects in Private Sector in order to Mitigate Economic Consequences caused by Epidemic of Covid 19 Disease caused by SARS COV-2 (the “Programme”) that came into force on 13 February 2021, grants commercial subjects with the right to obtain another cluster of direct payments, now for the accounting period February-April 2021.
Karanovic & Partners Advises Fortaco Group on Acquisition of Rapp Zastava in Serbia
Karanovic & Partners, working with Advokatfirmaet Selmer, has advised the Fortaco Group on its acquisition of marine industry supplier Rapp Zastava.
Bojanovic & Partners Successful for Nemanja Nikolic in CAS Arbitration Case
Bojanovic & Partners has successfully represented football player Nemanja Nikolic in CAS arbitration between him and Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Law on Determining the Origin of Property and the Special Tax
Law on Determining the Origin of Property and the Special Tax, the law which attracts a lot of public attention for two reasons, begins to apply on 12 March. General public attention is attracted given that this law was announced from time to time by various political parties which were in power during the last 20 years, while attention of competent public is attracted given the solutions provided for in the law.
Ketler & Partners Advises ARX Equity Partners on Acquisition of Instrumentation Technologies
Ketler & Partners, member of Karanovic, has advised ARX Equity Partners on its acquisition of Instrumentation Technologies and Red Pitaya, a handheld electronics lab, from its founders. The sellers were advised by Acuity Advisors.
The Competition Commission Expands Price Investigation in Consumer Electronics to Retailers
Back in September 2020, the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition (the “Commission”), following an internal review of the market dynamics and dawn raids at key players, initiated a formal investigation against three major undertakings active in both wholesale and retail of consumer electronics – Roaming Electronics d.o.o., Tehnomanija d.o.o. and Comtrade Distribution d.o.o. The Commission had, per publicly available pricing information and upon review of comparative practice, cited concerns that the undertakings involved were acting in concert, as well by potentially enforcing a resale price maintenance policy.
Deal 5: Frontier Pharma Managing Director Kiren Naidoo on Zdravlje Leskovac Acquisition
On January 15, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that BDK Advokati had advised Frontier Pharma and the Baystone investment group on the acquisition of Zdravlje Leskovac, a Serbian pharmaceutical company owned by Actavis, which is itself a subsidiary of Israel's Teva. CEEIHM spoke with Kiren Naidoo, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Frontier Pharma, to learn more about the acquisition.