When establishing a company in Montenegro, the new legal requirement which refers to the registration of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO) should be considered. The Revenue and Customs Administration of Montenegro established the UBO Register within the Central Registry of Business Entities, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in 2021. 

Serbian law firms seem to have carved out a considerable share of the Montenegrin legal market. CEE Legal Matters looks at the interplay of these two formerly linked legal markets and explores in what respects they are complementary, where they clash, and how this reflects on the work of lawyers.

Since January 1, 2022, the Europe Now program has been in place in Montenegro, setting strategic goals for the country’s economic policy. Ten months into its tenure BDK Advokati Partner Luka Popovic and Harrisons Head of Montenegro Milan Keker look at what has been accomplished so far.

At the end of 2020, there were 26 banks operating independently from other banks in Serbia. At the end of 2021, there were 23 such banks.  A few merger processes are still ongoing and will lead to that number shrinking to just 19 before the end of 2022. 

Although there are several incentives for renewable energy projects supported by the state, there also seem to be several factors that could impede Serbia’s potential for renewables and deter further investments in the sector. Kinstellar Belgrade Managing Partner Branislav Maric, JPM Jankovic Popovic Mitic Senior Partner Jelena Gazivoda, and Gecic Law Partner Ognjen Colic weigh which will carry a stronger impact.

Global economic movements have led the real estate and construction sectors across CEE to face several issues: supply chain problems, rising construction material prices, and labor shortages, to name but a few, have made it difficult for real estate and construction projects to be completed with the same efficiency as before. Bojovic Draskovic Popovic & Partners Partner Marija Bojovic, SOG Law Firm Partner Milos Gledovic, and Andrejic & Partners Partner Aleksandar Andrejic look at the extent to which these issues are reflected in the Serbian real estate market. 

The technology start-up sector in Serbia has, for a while now, been quite rewarding and attractive for investors from all walks of business. Looking at the past few years, the Balkan country has seen investments ranging from early-stage and entry-level all the way to complete buyouts, to the tune of several hundred million euros. With all this funding flowing into the country, Bojanovic & Partners Managing Partner Vladimir Bojanovic and Zivkovic Samardzic Partner Igor Zivkovski talk about where does it go afterward, and what kind of effects is it producing?

There is a growing concern, across CEE, about a potential wave of insolvency and restructuring proceedings. Given the economic aftermath of COVID-19, coupled with the ramifications of rising inflation and interest rates, energy crisis concerns, and the war in Ukraine – the road ahead seems bumpy at best.

Regional networks are a big deal in CEE of late, and one of the fastest growing alliances is Alliott Global Alliance. We sat down with AGA CEO Giles Brake to learn about the alliance’s history, strategy, and plans in CEE. We also reached out to AGA law firms across the region to find out more about what drew them in, what benefits they’ve been reaping, and their role as members of a global network.

“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.” – Ralph Waldo Emmerson. Choosing a profession is always a pivotal point in everyone’s life. Once we set our minds and find our path, we try to dedicate all our energy and effort to making the best of it. The 21st century, however, has already left a mark on all our careers with its constant demand for adapting to new needs, circumstances, and business and work climates. 

You know the Rock, Paper, Scissors game. That game people play to make such life-altering decisions as who goes out to buy the milk, who picks the kids up from kindergarten, or who gets to write this editorial. It’s all pretty straightforward and there’s even a World Rock Paper Scissors Championship. 

In the past few years, Turkey has experienced a veritable tech miracle. A swath of start-ups, primarily in the gaming and e-commerce sectors, has attracted multi-billion-dollar investments and achieved record valuations. Two companies have even reached decacorn status – a valuation of over USD 10 billion.

In Bulgaria, one ordinary and two extraordinary parliamentary elections were held in the span of eight months in 2021, and the country is now preparing for yet another extraordinary election on October 2, 2022. Which outstanding legislative packages are critical – considering the absence of regular parliamentary activities – and what are their implications for the country?

With the war in Ukraine raging for more than six months, law firms across the region have reported increased workloads in corporate and M&A, tax, employment, immigration law, and inquiries on the sanctions regimes in relevant jurisdictions, noting that companies from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus are variously looking for a new home. Whether to avoid sanctions or escape the war, those companies consider a variety of factors in determining where to go.

2018 saw the introduction of the Romanian movie production cash rebate system and a subsequent uptick in movie productions seeking to develop in Romania. The ambitiously outlined rebate system seemed quite appealing, initially. However, over the past three years, it failed to live up to its original goals.

The legal landscape has changed remarkably since 2008 when I made the jump from being an in-house lawyer at the Central Bank of Albania to a legal associate at a law firm. At the time, for a lawyer working in two small-sized non-EU countries such as Albania and Kosovo, work was predominantly focused on the local markets, with no or little exposure to international activities. This started to change as the CEE region became more attractive to foreign investors, who were looking at opportunities often spread across several countries. The legal work in M&A, privatization processes, and energy investments often involved teams from various law firms, both in CEE and in Western Europe or the US, and was my gateway to gaining knowledge of the regional market and understanding the space for growth there.

The Polish media market finds itself in an interesting position. Following a streak of market moves and reshufflings, the media landscape seems to have, to an extent, polarized. To get an insight into the market ins and outs, as well as expectations for the future, we reached out to Wiercinski Kwiecinski Baehr Partner Agnieszka Wiercinska-Kruzewska.

On January 1, 2022, a “historic tax reform” – as referred to by the Polish government – came into force, with major changes implemented into Poland’s tax system. Just a few months later, another tax reform package, now known as the Polish Deal 2.0, was introduced. We spoke with Penteris Head of Tax Artur Plutowski and PwC Legal Partner Katarzyna Komorowska to learn what was the driving force behind the update and how it will impact the business sector in Poland.