Although, like many other CEE jurisdictions, Slovenia experienced major COVID-19-related market turbulence in the first half of 2020, the market has nonetheless seen some interesting developments as well – and more activity is likely to follow in Q3 and Q4.

On 23 September 2020, the Slovenian government decided that price control measures in the field of fuel products are no longer necessary, meaning that the retail fuel market will be fully liberalised from October 2020.

On July 9, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that ODI Law had advised Hranilnica Lon on a new issuance of shares. CEEIHM spoke with Imre Balogh, President of the Management Board at Hranilnica Lon, to learn more.

According to Andrej Kirm, the Managing Partner of Ljubljana’s Kirm Perpar law firm, things are going pretty well in Slovenia. “It’s pretty much business as usual, apart from the Covid-19 crisis,” he says. Indeed, he says, while most larger transactions were put on hold from March to June, “now a lot of things are progressing, and we hope this will continue through the end of the year.” According to him, “we are quite optimistic, and business is surviving better than we expected back in March.

Former Karanovic & Partners Partner Patricia Gannon has announced the establishment of Gannon Advisory, which she describes as "a holistic strategic advisory business."

Eisenberger & Herzog, Milbank, and Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners have advised the Sartorius Group on its acquisition of BIA Separations and the merger of is into its subgroup Sartorius Stedim Biotech. Schoenherr advised the unidentified majority shareholder on the sale.

ODI Law and Praljak & Svic have advised Tokic, a Croatian auto parts retail chain, on the acquisition of all shares in Slovenian tire distribution company Bartog from private individuals Jasna Bartolj Kotar and Darija Bartolj Umek. The sellers were advised by solo practitioners Mihael Prcic and Janez Tekavc.

The SEE Legal law firm alliance has announced the formal launch of two new practice groups, one dedicated to Employment and Immigration, headed by Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli Counsel Maral Minasyan, and one dedicated to Intellectual Property, headed by Selih & Partnerji Partner Natasa Pipan Nahtigal.

Karanovic & Partners has announced the withdrawal of Founding Partners Patricia Gannon and Dejan Nikolic, after a prolonged process.

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 firm Energy experts: What, in your view, is the most effective scheme currently in place in your jurisdiction to attract investments in renewable energy? If you had to pick one, what additional step from the regulators do you believe would have the most positive impact?

As Europe begins a tentative re-opening following several difficult months of quarantining, social distancing, and working-from-home, we spoke to CMS’s Warsaw-based Employment Partner Katarzyna Dulewicz and Vienna-based Dispute Resolution Partner Daniela Karollus-Bruner for their perspective on the process.

Efficient energy consumption, reducing CO2 emissions, and energy from renewable sources have been in the spotlight of the European Union for a while now. Although the Republic of Slovenia has not attained the goals envisaged by the EU by 2020 – i.e., a 20% share of energy produced from renewable sources (i.e., 20% increase in energy efficiency and 20% reduction in CO2 emissions) – it remains above the EU average in that regard. Renewable energy sources amount to less than 3% of the overall energy produced in Slovenia, with the rest acquired through nuclear power (40%), fossil fuels (33%), and hydro energy (25%), allowing for substantial growth of the former in the future.

Rymarz Zdort and Prica & Partners have advised Innova Capital on the sale of 100% of the shares of subsidiary Trimo d.o.o. to Kingspan Group plc. Jadek & Pensa reportedly also advised Innova Capital on the deal, which remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Over the past few years CMS advised the OTP Bank Group on an extensive series of acquisitions across Bulgaria, Moldova, and former Yugoslavia. This series of separate deals was shortlisted for CEE Legal Matters’ CEE Deal of the Year in each of the countries involved, actually winning the 2018 Deal of the Year for Bulgaria and the 2019 Deal of the Year Award for Montenegro. We reached out to Eva Talmacsi, who led CMS’s multi-jurisdictional team, to learn more about the firm’s impressive work on OTP’s behalf.

Stay informed about the latest developments in competition law in Central and Eastern Europe with Schoenherr's multi-jurisdictional newsletter. Each issue offers insight into developments in merger control, anti-trust, as well as public and private enforcement in the region.

ODI Law has advised Hranilnica Lon on a new issuance of shares.

After operating under the brands Andersen Tax, Andersen Legal, and Andersen Tax & Legal, the member firms of Andersen Global in Europe, will now operate under a single brand: "Andersen".

It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2019 CEE Deal of the Year Award winners – the most important, complicated, significant, and valuable deals across Central and Eastern Europe.