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Romanian Competition Council’s report on competition developments in key sectors
On 27 November 2014, the Romanian Competition Council (‘RCC’) presented its Annual Report on Competition Developments in the Key Sectors of the Romanian Economy. The report addresses general matters such as a brief description of the evolution of the national economy and competition policy, as well as information concerning future reforms of the legal framework. The main body of the report contains an analysis of the competition that exists within various industries of the national economy by using the Aggregate Index of Competitive Pressure (AICP), a working tool used by the RCC since 2013. This year’s report includes the following sectors: life insurance, banking, telecom, renewable energy and the State aid granted
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014: Progress, stagnation and setback in CEE/SEE
Transparency International (‘TI’) just published its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index (‘CPI’). It comes a little over a month after the publication of TI’s annual progress report on the OECD anti-bribery convention (‘Progress Report’), which tracks enforcement activity in countries that have ratified it.* For countries in our region of operation – Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Kazakhstan – the results are an unsurprising mix of modest progress (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan), stagnation (Hungary and Romania) and setback (Serbia and Turkey). Czech Republic The country bettered its standing in this year’s CPI. It now sits at
Changes in rules governing contracts for work in the Czech Republic
The new Czech Civil Code provisions governing contracts for work, in effect since 1 January 2014, have introduced several important changes that contractors should be aware of. Payment liability regardless of defects Under the old rules, in the event of any defects or delay in the completion part of the works a contractor could not claim payment of the contract price, as the work was not deemed to have been completed. This presumption applied irrespective of the nature of the defects in question, and even if the client accepted or took delivery of the works. This interpretation was used (and abused) by employers to evade payment even in cases of minor or trivial defects. As a result, standard contracts for work
CCB failure triggers amendments to Bulgarian Banking Regulations
On 6 November 2014 the Bulgarian National Bank announced that it withdraws the banking license of the Bulgarian Corporate Commercial Bank AD (“CCB”). As a next step an application for initiation of insolvency proceedings shall be filed with the competent Bulgarian court and a receiver shall be appointed. At the end of June 2014 CCB and its wholly-owned subsidiary Commercial Bank Victoria EAD were placed under a conservatorship regime due to the depletion of CCB’s liquid assets. Since that time, depositors in both banks have been prohibited from withdrawing their deposits. Under the current Bulgarian Bank Deposits Guarantee Act depositors are entitled to receive the guaranteed portions of their deposits only after
Kinstellar bolsters its presence in Emerging Europe with a new office in Sofia, Bulgaria
Kinstellar, Emerging Europe and Central Asia’s leading independent law firm, is pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Sofia, Bulgaria, in early November, and the appointment of Diana Dimova as Partner. The launch in Sofia, coinciding with our 6th anniversary and following our opening in Almaty, Kazakhstan last year, underscores our commitment to further strengthen the firm’s ability to meet client needs across emerging markets. The office’s core team has been working together for several years at an international legal practice in Sofia and has gained substantial experience on a wide variety of cross-border and domestic transactions. The Sofia office will launch with an initial team of ten
Hungarian Competition Authority imposes fine for deleting evidence during dawn raid
According to its press release, the Hungarian Competition Authority (“HCA”) has recently imposed a fine on an investigated company (ÉTER-1 Kft.), after employees deleted files from the company’s computers during a dawn raid carried out by the HCA for suspected bid rigging in 2012. The HCA investigation is still ongoing and the company has appealed against the fine. The imposition of a procedural fine for improper conduct during a dawn raid (and a subsequent press release) is an unusual, if not unprecedented step by the HCA. The Hungarian Competition Act authorizes the HCA to impose a procedural fine in the maximum amount of 1% of the investigated company’s net turnover in the preceding year in the event
CSR rankings in Prague
Kinstellar has once again nominated its community investment programme for the Czech Republic’s Top Responsible Company Award. This year, we are very pleased to be ranked 13th in the Social Beneficial Project category, and 25th in the Top Responsible Corporation category (links in Czech only). The latter ranking is two spots better than our ranking last year, and we fared better than major companies with CI budgets beyond our reach and imagination, such as Procter & Gamble, Metrostav and Johnson & Johnson. For more information about Kinstellar’s Community Investment Programme, contact Juraj Bobula, Regional Community Investment Coordinator, ator +421 2 5929 1135.
Kinstellar partner speaks at Romania Trade & Export Finance Conference
The prestigious Trade and Export Finance Conference organised by Global Trade Review, the leading international trade finance magazine, took place on 30 October in Bucharest. Over 100 representatives from leading trade bodies and companies of all sizes as well financial institutions attended the event. Bogdan Bibicu, partner at Kinstellar Bucharest, was a speaker in a panel discussing the role that trade and export financiers can play in supporting the diversification and growth of Romania’s corporate sector, together with Alecsandra Valasuteanu (UniCredit), Daniel Bolschun (EBRD), Ion Sclifos (Orange Romania), Lubor Prochazka (Banca Comerciala Romana) and Jochen Anton-Boicuk (Commerzbank) as moderator. The discussions
EC Communication on progress towards completing the internal energy market
Kinstellar’s Energy Law Update provides a timely overview of recent developments in energy policy and energy market regulation in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, Turkey and Central Asia. In addition to regulatory updates, reports on market and legislative developments, our Energy Law Update also presents our experts’ views gained from their deep knowledge of the energy markets in Emerging Europe and Central Asia. As such, it has an element of subjectivity – which we hope will make it interesting for our readers. This issue provides information about the recent communication of the European Commission on the progress towards completing the internal energy market. You can access this edition of
International sanctions and the compliance obligations of Czech banks and financial institutions
On 16 October, Kinstellar’s Prague office hosted another in its series of Compliance, Risk and Sensitive Investigations Breakfast Seminars, which this time focused on the impact of international sanctions on Czech financial institutions. Among the expert panellists was Martin Pros, Czech Deputy Minister of Finance responsible for international relations. The discussion focused on the international sanctions currently applied by the European Union and the United States in response to the political situation and tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Punitive measures introduced by the European Union and the US include the imposition of travel restrictions and asset freezes on those who have been blacklisted. This
Kinstellar partner speaks at 3rd Annual Nuclear Energy Development Summit
The prestigious 3rd Annual Nuclear Energy Development Summit taking place in Budapest on 2-3 October 2014 will gather a significant number of prominent industry leaders and government officials from Central and South-Eastern Europe. It aims at sharing know-how, strategies and technologies for state-of-the-art nuclear energy infrastructure in the region. Kristóf Ferenczi, partner and head of Kinstellar's Energy practice, will discuss various legal challenges relating to new nuclear power plant projects in Europe, including the provision of long-term state commitments to nuclear new builds, capacity markets in light of EU law, state aid law aspects and long-term investment security issues. The address will also cover
New Kazakhstan bankruptcy law
This article presents an overview of the main provisions of the recently enacted insolvency legislation applicable to businesses other than banks, insurance companies, pension funds and certain other entities. This summary is not comprehensive and does not constitute legal advice. The reader should obtain separate legal advice with respect to the issues addressed herein. The new Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy” came into force on 26 March 2014 (the “New Bankruptcy Law”). The New Bankruptcy Law replaced the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Bankruptcy” dated 21 January 1997 (the “Old Bankruptcy Law”). Concurrently with the New Bankruptcy Law, the Law of the Republic