The Buzz in Serbia: Interview with Milos Velimirovic of Samardzic, Oreski & Grbovic

Milos Velimirovic, Partner at Samardzic Oreski & Grbovic in Belgrade, declares that "two things are hot right now in Serbia: the matter of Kosovo and the Parliamentary elections that are in April.“

Over the recent years, we have witnessed a huge rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies on the global stage. This phenomenon is present in Serbia as well and recently became a trending topic in general public.

BDK Advokati Announces New Employment Template Database Service

BDK Advokati has announced the launch of a new service – blinkdraft| – a database of employment law-based templates which the firm says can be converted into “custom-made, ready-to-use, legal documents through an easy and highly intuitive process.”

After much rescheduling and protraction, the long-awaited new Trademark Act was finally adopted on 24 January 2020 and came into force a week later. The new law introduces a number of fundamental changes, eliminating certain shortcomings of the previous law, allowing for more efficient protection and further harmonisation of Serbia's legislation with EU law.

NKO Partners Advises Mercata on Merger with Veletabak

NKO Partners has advised Mercata, a Serbian distributor of fast-moving consumer goods, on its merger with Veletabak, a local tobacco and consumer goods distributor. Veletabak was advised by solo practitioner Zeljko Marovic.

Kinstellar Advises Nova Ljubljanska Banka on Acquisition of Serbia's Komercijalna Banka

Kinstellar has advised Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d. on the conclusion of a share purchase agreement with the Republic of Serbia for the acquisition of an 83.23% ordinary shareholding in Komercijalna Banka a.d. Beograd, which will result in the third largest bank in Serbia.

Zivkovic Samardzic Advises on Amazon's Acquisition of Sizmek

Zivkovic Samardzic has advised Israeli company Sizmek Technologies Ltd. on Serbian aspects of Amazon's acquisition of Sizmek’s ad serving and dynamic content optimization businesses.

Throughout its history, Serbia, located as it is at the intersection between major trading centers, has been recognized as a point of utmost importance in terms of transportation, and it remains so today. This requires constant improvement in transportation conditions and compliance with European Union regulations. In order to meet these requirements, the General Master Plan for Transport in Serbia (TMP) was adopted in 2009, providing the guidelines and plans for each transportation sector until 2027. The TMP is also the platform for current and future transportation-related projects, irrespective of the funding modality.

With the last Amendments to the Income Tax Law, at the end of 2019, new rules have been introduced that aim to test whether the relationship between an entrepreneur and principal can be considered independent.

Zivkovic Samardzic has advised Serbia’s national commercial broadcaster B92, a subsidiary of the Kopernikus Corporation, on its transformation from a joint-stock company into a limited liability company.

Former Prica & Partners Partner Milos Vulic has established a new firm in Belgrade – Vulic Law.

Serbia recently reworked its Law on Trademarks, coming into force on 1 February 2020. What has changed? In local parlance: “Everything and nothing”. The changes are not extensive, but concern key features of the local trademark rules.

A new law firm — MPartners Legal — has opened its doors for business in Belgrade.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia launched Project ePaper in 2016 with the aim of simplification of administrative procedures and modernizing public administration (“Project”). The Project aims to reduce the administrative expenses by 15-20% – from 3.46% to 3.0 % of GDP by 2021.

Milos Gledovic has been promoted to Partner at Samardzic Oreski Grbovic.

Nemanja Jovovic has joined Bojanovic & Partners as the firm's new Head of Competition.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Sweden's Backer AB on the acquisition of shares in Serbia's Elektrotermija d.o.o.

“The main thing, politically, is the upcoming Parliamentary elections set for this April,“ says Dragoljub Cibulic, Partner at BDK Advokati in Belgrade. “We’re entering a period of increased political instability, especially given the announced boycott of the elections by the major opposition block. The boycott is rooted in the imbalance on the Serbian political scene, which is heavily dominated by the ruling party. Opposition parties are cut-off from the mainstream media, the ruling party wields tremendous financial power from close ties with the privileged local business caste, and state institutions crucial for a functioning democracy have been hijacked and submitted to the interests of the ruling party.“