“Generally speaking,“ Tine Misic, Partner at ODI Law says, “the Slovenian market and the economy are doing well, our long-term debt has been upgraded to AA- by S&P, which means Slovenian bonds are highly ranked, and the GDP is growing at about 3.1%, [which is] relatively high compared to other EU countries.“

CMS has advised German eye-wear company Fielmann AG on its acquisition of 70% of the shares in Optika Clarus, Slovenia's largest retail optician and optometrist, from Planeta d.o.o. and Okulistika Clarus d.o.o.

ODI Law in Slovenia and the LTA Legal Tax Audit firm in the Czech Republic have advised the Czech Ministry of Finance and IMOB and PRISKO, the Ministry's two state-owned subsidiaries, on the cross-border sale of a majority stake in VIPAP VIDEM KRSKO, the largest paper mill in Slovenia, as well as on the sale of claims against it, all to Czech-based RIDG Holding. RIDG was advised by Schoenherr.

Schoenherr Ljubljana has advised Immofinanz AG on its purchase of a real estate portfolio consisting of five shopping centers from Centrice Real Estate, which was advised by Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners.

ODI has advised Slovenia’s MSIN Group on its sale of a majority stake in Keko Varicon to Bourns Limited. Jadek & Pensa advised Bourns on the deal.

Pharmaceutical products have been in the spotlight of the Council of the European Union’s Product Liability Directive since its adoption in 1985. Despite the amount of time that has passed, some legal uncertainties remain that strike directly at the notion of defectiveness, as well as the causal link between the defect and the damage (which proved to be even more important in the case of pharmaceutical products). Establishing such causal link in cases involving vaccines is notoriously difficult, especially from the perspective of a lay consumer. This has led some EU member states, such as France, to introduce case law aimed at facilitating the burden of proof in specific sectors.

Structural changes are being proposed to Slovenia’s agricultural land policy to incentivize young farmers to purchase and lease agricultural land and increase food self-sufficiency. Many companies strongly oppose some of these proposals.

ODI has represented AIK Banka and Societe Generale's Slovenian entities on a EUR 36 million cross-border syndicated debt refinancing of the Don Don Group. Selih & Partnerji assisted Don Don on the deal.

In The Corner Office we ask Managing Partners across CEE about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: How do you do performance reviews, and how important are they to the planning and management of the firm?”

ODI has advised Slovenia's MSIN Group on its sale of a majority stake in Keko Varicon to Bourns Limited. Jadek & Pensa advised the buyer on the deal.

Dentons has advised Slovenian state-owned Slovenski Drzavni Holding d.d., on the sale, made through private placement to institutional investors via an accelerated bookbuild process, of an aggregate of shares and global depository receipts representing 1,999,999 shares in Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d.  Ulcar & Partnerij advised the Republic of Slovenia on Slovenian law aspects and Shearman & Sterling reportedly advised the syndicate of banks, including Deutsche Bank as sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner with Citigroup. Wood & Company acted as Co-Lead Manager.

Doklestic Repic & Gajin is advising Slovenian airline Adria Airways in relation to its challenge to State aid granted to Air Serbia.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Ionity, a Munich-headquartered joint venture of the BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford, and the Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche, on opening its first 350 kW charging stations in Slovenia.

Suzana Boncina Jamsek has been promoted to partner at ODI, making her the firm's tenth partner across its four offices.

Bojovic Draskovic Popovic & Partners and the other members of the South East Legal Alliance have become official partners of Italy's Grimaldi Alliance.

“It has been busy in the business arena,” says Marko Ketler, Senior Partner and Attorney at Law in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners, citing ongoing consolidation in banking sector with the potential sale of Abanka, the third largest bank in Slovenia, and recent major M&A transactions, including the sale of Intereuropa, the largest Slovenian logistics company, to Posta Slovenije. "We can expect a busy summer with several large M&A deals pending."

Resentment by domestic law firms in CEE markets against the international and regional firms that have moved in on their once exclusive domain is a common, though perhaps diminishing, refrain. How do domestic law firms in Slovenia feel about the foreign firms that have opened up shop next door?

After a few troublesome years during the global financial crisis, it seems like Slovenia is on a positive economic route again. On December 14, 2018, S&P Global Ratings affirmed an “A+/A-1” credit rating for Slovenia with a positive outlook. Slovenian GDP has grown in the last two years between three and four percent annually, with a growth forecast for 2019 of 3.4 percent.