Turkey’s Competition Board (the “Board”) rendered two significant decisions last year concerning online sales restrictions that provide a view forward for many undertakings. In its decisions, the Board scrutinised the commitment packages offered by BSH and Arcelik, two of the major small and large household appliances manufacturers in Turkey. The investigations against the companies (the “Investigations”) concerned whether Arcelik and/or BSH violated Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”) by preventing their authorised resellers from selling online and/or interfering with resellers’ resale prices. The Board accepted the commitment packages, which Arcelik and BSH revised after an initial review of the Board, and thus closed the Investigations with respect to the online sales restrictions contemplated by Arcelik and BSH.

August 2023 – The first part of 2023 continued last year's trend of substantial changes to Romanian labour legislation, which is of real interest to both employers and employees. As such, both Law no. 53/2003 on the Labour Code (“Labour Code”) and Law no. 367/2022 on social dialogue (“Law on Social Dialogue”) have undergone several changes, some aimed at clarifying legal issues identified in practice and others at promoting flexibility at work and work-life balance.

Linklaters has advised NREP on its acquisition of an 80% stake in Polish logistics developer 7R, with the buyer aiming to invest approximately EUR 200 million into the company. Rymarz Zdort Maruta advised 7R. Kinstellar reportedly advised NREP. Kancelaria Kurek Wojcik i Partnerzy reportedly advised 7R.

Bulgaria's economic landscape appears to be evolving rapidly, driven by a proactive government and a series of long-overdue legislative reforms, according to Kinstellar Partner Nina Tsifudina. From changes in the available company forms to alignment with EU regulations and the anticipation of eurozone integration – all these keep the country’s markets buzzing, with movements in the banking and telecommunication sectors leading the charge.

In July 2023, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (the “DPA”) issued a decision, a bulletin and published nine data breach notifications.

In recent years, the statute of limitations for criminal liability in Romania has been the subject of numerous debates among legal scholars and practitioners. 

Kinstellar has advised SFC Solutions Automotive Romania on the sale-and-leaseback transaction for a 20,000-square-meter industrial facility with logistics property developer WDP Romania.

Kinstellar, working with Watson Farley & Williams, has advised South Korea's Yanolja Cloud on its acquisition of Go Global Travel from the AMI Opportunities Fund.

There is still room for optimism in Romania, as the economy is seeing continued investments across a number of sectors, with the energy transition and renewables, automotive, defense, and infrastructure projects driving growth, according to Kinstellar Partner Iustinian Captariu.

Did You Know that 12 firms in Central and Eastern Europe worked on more than 16 client matters reported by CEE Legal Matters in the first half of the year? According to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, two firms worked on more than 40 client matters reported by CEE Legal Matters in the first six months of 2023: Schoenherr, which worked on 42, and Clifford Chance, which worked on 41.

Bulboaca & Asociatii, working with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, has advised the Canpack Group on contracting a new EUR 100 million revolving credit facility from a consortium of banks led by BNP Paribas Bank Polska. Kinstellar, working with Linklaters, advised the banks. 

June 2023 – In May 2023, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority (the “DPA”) published two data breach notifications but did not publish decision.

Kinstellar has advised Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka on its EUR 85 million long-term financing for a retail and logistics real estate portfolio of the CPI Property Group in the Czech Republic. 

Kinstellar has advised Localazy's founder on the approximately EUR 500,000 venture capital investment into the company by Garage Angels, 12Bullets, Lighthouse Ventures, and JIC Ventures. Hladky Legal advised Garage Angels on leading the round. Hladky Legal and, reportedly, KroupaHelan also advised the other investors.

Kinstellar has announced it is strengthening its presence in Serbia by teaming up with the local SOG Law Firm in a strategic partnership.

In The Corner Office, we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. With the first quarter of 2023 wrapped up, we turned to the future and asked: In which practice area do you expect the most growth – in terms of work volume – in the next 12 months?

Kinstellar has advised Danish developer Jantzen Renewables ApS on its sale of the Helios 1 photovoltaic cluster in Romania to OMV Petrom. Schoenherr reportedly advised OMV.

In June 2023, Kinstellar announced that the first step of OTP Bank's acquisition of Ipoteka Bank in Uzbekistan – the acquisition of a 73.71% stake from the state – (reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 22, 2022) had closed.