Former Karanovic & Partners lawyers Dusan Teodosijevic, Jovana Velickovic, and Vedran Ceric have launched a new dispute boutique in Serbia: TCV Legal.

The Milosevic Law Firm has advised Milos and Ruzica Krdzic, owners of Maxim Media Plus, on the sale of their shares in several radio stations in Serbia to Global Media Technology.

Last month, one of the world’s largest messaging apps, WhatsApp, began notifying its users of the new Privacy Policy that would take effect as of 8 February 2021. The users were notified that they would no longer be able to use the app if they do not accept the new Privacy Policy, as of the effective date.

Samardzic, Oreski & Grbovic has helped Delta Motors and Delta Automoto ensure full compliance with the Serbian Data Protection Act as well as the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU.

During the course of last year and with the aim to mitigate the expected difficult economic situation in Serbia caused by COVID – 19 pandemic, the Government of the Republic of Serbia (the “Government”) issued two by-laws – Regulation on Fiscal Reliefs and Direct Payments to Commercial Subjects in Private Sector and Pecuniary Aid to the Citizens in order to Mitigate the Economic Consequences caused by COVID – 19  and accompanying Conclusion of the Government (jointly referred to as the “Relief Regulations”), providing economic aid to the private commercial sector in the form of fiscal reliefs and direct payments.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted a set of amendments to the tax laws and laws on excises, which were published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 153/2020 of December 21, 2020.

Sajic and Kinstellar have advised NLB Bank on its take-over of the majority of shares in Komercijalna Banka a.d. Beograd.

Karanovic & Partners, working with global lead counsel K&L Gates, has advised analytics company SAS Institute Inc on the acquisition of the Boemska technology company.

JPM Partner Jelena Stankovic Lukic on full harmonization with international standards in this area, the obligations of providers of services, and the supervision on providers.

At one of the last sessions, the Serbian Parliament adopted amendments to the tax laws governing the taxation of companies and natural persons, as well as general tax procedures. The main driver for the reform was the introduction of the taxation regime for digital assets and open-end and alternative investment funds.

Alibaba and Oath Inc., a subsidiary of Verizon operating under the Yahoo! brand, have appointed Karanovic & Partners as their data protection representatives in Serbia.

On January 7th, 2021 the Rulebook on detailed conditions for submitting a request for temporary residence approval electronically entered into force.

When Google announced its $2.1 billion merger deal with the smartwatch and fitness-tracker company Fitbit last year (“Deal”), consumer advocacy and anti-trust regulators have expressed concerns over the proposed acquisition. As a consequence, in August last year the European Commission (“EC”) opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the said merger is in line with the EU Merger Regulation.

Kinstellar has advised Austria's KA Finanz on the sale of a Greek municipal loan portfolio to Piraeus Bank.

BDK Advokati has 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. Karanovic & Partners advised the sellers on the deal, which is expected to close in March of 2021.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Pollard Banknote on its EUR 36 million acquisition of the Next Generation Lotteries in Serbia. Canada's Torys law firm reportedly also advised the buyer on the deal.

CMS’s Belgrade office has advised Banca Intesa Belgrade on financing provided to Delta Real Estate for the development of the Delta Planet Nis shopping mall in Nis, Serbia.

Contributed by Karanovic & Partners.