In the past twelve months, energy prices seem to have taken a life of their own. Their continued and, at times, shocking growth has raised concerns across the region and prompted differing responses and policy changes in each country. To get a more accurate picture of recent developments, we reached out to experts in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, and Turkey and asked them about the current energy prices, their impact on local economies, the drivers behind their growth, and whether any plans were in place to address the issue.

BDK Advokati and PRK Partners, working with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, have advised Yokohama Rubber on the acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding from Sweden's Trelleborg AB.

PRK Partners, working with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has advised CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII on Czech and Slovak law aspects of its GBP 767 million takeover of the Stock Spirits Group.

PRK Partners, working with AllBright Law Offices, has advised Shaangu Power (Luxembourg) on Czech law-related aspects of its acquisition of Ekol.

PRK Partners has successfully represented Tosan Park in a building permit dispute before the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic.

Dentons has advised a club of banks led by Erste Group Bank on the refinancing of the Tristone Flowtech Group. Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer reportedly advised Tristone Flowtech.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Boyanov & Co, and Filip & Company have advised Borealis on a binding offer from EuroChem for its nitrogen business. Hogan Lovells, PHH Rechtsanwalte, and Mishcon de Reya advised the EuroChem Group. Savoric & Partners, Oppenheim, and PRK Partners reportedly also advised Borealis.

The ongoing lockdown and changing restrictions as well as prices surging as a consequence of growing inflation are hitting the Czech economy hard, but the country is holding on mightily, according to PRK Partners Partner Martin Aschenbrenner.

There are few people who have not experienced a situation where a builder implements a project that complies with the spatial planning documentation, but is highly incongruous with the prevailing character of the area in which the structure is to be built. Specifically, construction of buildings in the 1990s and early 21st century, which belong to the pseudo-style called “entrepreneurial baroque”, is evidence of grossly insensitive location of buildings, ignoring the character and nature of the existing neighbourhood. Nonetheless, the trend in Czech building legislation over the last decade and a half has been an increasing emphasis on the aesthetic features of new developments and their integration into the urban and architectural environment, whereas individual interests of the builder and his oftentimes wild ideas about the appearance of the structure tend to be sidelined. The key here is the concept of “urban and architectural values in the area”.

Copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights falling under the umbrella of Intellectual Property (IP) law. The purpose of copyright is to protect creative effort carried out by a natural person (author) expressed in a tangible form and which amounts to one of the categories of "work" as defined by the statute, some of which also require the work to be "original". The aim of this article is to draw attention to the issue of copyrightability of works that have been created illegally or that are on the verge of illegality. As this topic and the related issues are quite extensive, this article offers only a brief introduction to the subject and is by no means exhaustive.

In the run-up to Christmas, two interesting opinions were issued by public authorities that address some controversial matters frequently encountered in practice regarding cookies and telemarketing.

PRK Partners has advised Vermont on the development of an Alzheimer's centre facility and its transfer to Penta Hospitals.

Contributed by PRK Partners.

PRK Partners has advised sole book runner, transactional advisor, and financing arranger J.P.Morgan on the financing of Draslovka’s acquisition of a mining solution business from Chemours’ for USD 521 million, subject to cash, debt, and working capital adjustments. 

The possibility of the employer to investigate whether its employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 was subject of heated debate in Slovakia. The prevailing view was the employer could not request such information from them as allegedly there was no legal basis for it in the Labour Code or other regulations. Surprisingly, such view was also supported by the Slovak National Inspectorate of Labour that claimed it should be up to the employees whether they inform the employer about their vaccination. There were also discussions whether obtaining such information by the employer complies with the GDPR.

Havel & Partners has advised Ptacek - Sprava on the acquisition of 100% shares in Prumyslovy Park Harfa from unidentified Czech sellers who were reportedly advised by PRK Partners.

On May 25, 2018, the personal data protection rules in the Czech Republic were substantially changed. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council – the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR – became directly applicable law in all EU Member States, after a two-year transition period. Thus, the principles of personal data protection in the Czech Republic, the rights, duties, and processing requirements are regulated primarily by the GDPR. 

Most of our readers might be familiar with Roman Pecenka as a Partner at PRK Partners. For years though, he has also been serving as the Vice Mayor of Podolanka. CEE Legal Matters spoke with him to learn more about his life in elected office.