03
Tue, Dec
29 New Articles

In The Debrief, our Practice Leaders across CEE share updates on recent and upcoming legislation, consider the impact of recent court decisions, showcase landmark projects, and keep our readers apprised of the latest developments impacting their respective practice areas.

In The Corner Office, we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. Given the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the legal profession, we asked: What is the one critical skill that you’re investing time and energy in to develop within your team, and why?

Permitting of any projects is a long-standing problem in the Slovak Republic. In international surveys, Slovakia ranks at the bottom, as it takes an average of 300 days to permit a simple building such as a family house. This problem becomes much more acute in the case of constructions that are more complicated and require the assessment of several administrative bodies or may have a significant impact on the environment.

Kinstellar has advised Dutch aircraft maintenance provider SAMCO Aircraft Maintenance on the acquisition of Austrian Airlines Technik – Bratislava. CMS, working with Netherlands-based BarentsKrans, advised Austrian Airlines on the sell side.

The requirements for the Whistleblowing Officer’s (WO) role are covered by various guidelines that have been published by the Slovak Office for Protection of Whistleblowers over the past several months. The multitude of information sources now requires clarification, as the role of the WO leading internal investigations of reports is becoming increasingly prominent. 

The first comprehensive Slovak foreign direct investment (FDI) screening regime entered into force on 1 March 2023. Now that the first year of this new FDI regime is behind us, below we summarise the key takeaways based on our practical experience with this law.

The question is not "if" you will face a cyberattack, but "when". Ensure your cyberspace is resilient to security risks early. New cybersecurity regulation will impact many Slovak companies this year and next.

1 March 2024 marks the date when the Transformations Act No. 309/2023 came into force in Slovakia. This regulation comprehensively outlines the procedures for national and cross-border mergers, divisions, and conversions of companies and cooperatives, moving away from the previously scattered provisions in the Commercial Code.

There are few healthcare reforms that could be called revolutionary. Even fewer have been initiated in the courtroom. Case C-412/23 could be one of those rare cases. On July 5, 2023, the European Commission brought an action against the Slovak Republic for allegedly infringing Directive 2011/7 on combating late payment in commercial transactions by continuously failing in 2015, 2016, 2017, and from 2018 onward to ensure that public entities providing healthcare pay their commercial debts within a maximum period of 60 calendar days.

Recently, Slovak legislation underwent a significant change with the adoption of the Act on Transformations of Commercial Companies and Cooperatives. Effective as of March 1, 2024, the act marks a departure from previous regulations within the Slovak Commercial Code, which had grown rather inflexible and outdated in the area of corporate transformations.

In The Debrief, our Practice Leaders across CEE share updates on recent and upcoming legislation, consider the impact of recent court decisions, showcase landmark projects, and keep our readers apprised of the latest developments impacting their respective practice areas.

Allen & Overy has advised Raiffeisen Bank International and a syndicate of lenders on their EUR 100 million financing package for ITIS Holding to support the acquisition of Vitronic Machine Vision. BBH reportedly advised the borrowers.

Slovakia is witnessing an increased number of vital amendments across legal sectors, from construction to cybersecurity, tax law, and criminal law, according to Legate Managing Partner Peter Vrabel, who posits that these changes aim to streamline processes, enhance transparency, and bolster investor confidence.