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Kinstellar advises BIG Mega Renewable Energy on a EUR 92 million financing with EBRD and OTP Bank for the construction and operation of the Urleasca wind farm in Romania
Kinstellar has successfully advised leading developer BIG Mega Renewable Energy on a EUR 92 million financing agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and OTP Bank to build and operate the 102 MW Urleasca wind farm in Brăila county, Romania. The milestone project marks BIG Mega Renewable Energy’s first renewable investment in Romania, with the signing of the financing agreement highlighted as a crucial milestone for the company’s expansion strategy in Romania and the Balkans. The Urleasca wind farm is expected to make a significant contribution to Romania’s renewable energy goals, with generation capacity of 292 GWh per year. The financial closing is expected mid-2024. Kinstellar’s
Update on the ESG reporting obligations in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia
CSRD implementation: regional progress uneven as deadline draws near As the 6 July 2024 deadline for implementation of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (the "CSRD") approaches, a new landscape of reporting standards is beginning to take shape across Central and Eastern Europe ("CEE"). Three of the six countries in CEE (the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania) adopted legislative acts in the beginning of 2024 that, at least partially, implement the CSRD into national legislation. The progress in Slovakia, Bulgaria and Croatia however has been slower. Our third status update on the CSRD implementation in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia is available here. For
Kinstellar announces new promotions to Counsel
February 2024 – Kinstellar is delighted to announce the promotions to Counsel of: Yerlan Akhmetov, Kuanysh Shekerbekov (Almaty, Kazakhstan), Cătălin Dinu, Cătălin Graure (Bucharest, Romania), Barnabás Sági (Budapest, Hungary), Yulia Eismont, Maksym Tesliar (Kyiv, Ukraine), Michal Forýtek (Prague, Czech Republic), Andrijana Kaštelan, Vedran Kopilović, Marija Vuchetich (Zagreb, Croatia). ALMATY Yerlan Akhmetov focuses on banking and finance, M&A and capital markets matters. Having been with the Firm for nine years, Yerlan has earned a reputation for cultivating strong client relationships, demonstrating leadership qualities and making significant contributions to our firm's success. He has played a key role
Update: ESG reporting obligations in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia
With the 6 July 2024 deadline for the implementation of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (the "CSRD”) looming, Member States across the EU have been moving at different speeds to adopt their respective local implementing legislation. Our second status update on the CSRD implementation in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia is available here. At the time of writing, three of the six countries in Central and Eastern Europe that we have been following – the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania – have already adopted legislative acts that, at least partially, implement the CSRD into national legislation. Slovakia has brought a draft act to parliament
Provisional agreement reached on the Ecodesign Regulation and its impact on the fashion sector
As of 5 December 2023, the Council and European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement regarding a „Regulation establishing a Framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products“. The upcoming EU sustainability legislation is crucial as it affects a substantial part of the Consumer & Retail sector. It is of particular importance in the field of fashion and luxury industry as the points which the provisional agreement addresses have been among the hot topics of recent years in this sector. As we are closely monitoring the legislation process, click here or on the image below to explore the overview of key points of the adopted provisional agreement.
Kinstellar expands its Corporate M&A practice in Bucharest with a new senior hire
Kinstellar is pleased to announce that Claudia Popescu has joined the firm’s Bucharest office as Special Counsel in its Corporate M&A practice. Claudia will strengthen the office’s capabilities and will generate further support for the team in responding to the growing need for corporate and M&A projects in Romania. Claudia Popescu is specialized in M&A, Corporate and Private Equity and has more than 20 years of experience in strategically advising reputable companies on acquisitions and divestments, mergers, intra-group restructurings, regulatory and commercial matters, public offerings of securities, private equity, privatisations and other investment-related matters, including in regulated sectors.
Kinstellar advises Evelixon Trading in two transactions in the Serbian wind power sector
Kinstellar advised Evelixon Trading Limited on the acquisition of a 100% share in the project company Grand Wind Park from Windvision Serbia Holding. The project, known as the WN NBT WIND 1 wind farm, is currently in the early stages of development. Located in the city of Pančevo, the farm is planned to have an installed power capacity of 120 MW. Evelixon Trading Limited has a few projects in their portfolio in Serbia in the early stages of development or nearing "ready-to-build" status. Kinstellar’s team provided comprehensive legal advice throughout the transaction – performing a legal due diligence, drafting the transaction documents - including the SPA, and assisting with the signing and closing processes.
ESG reporting obligations in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia
Since the ESG reporting obligations in the EU, i.e. the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) entered into force earlier this year, the transposition clock has been ticking for Member States with a deadline expiring on 6 July 2024. Kinstellar’s ESG team is closely monitoring the implementation process in all EU countries where we are present. Our first status update on the CSRD implementation in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia is available here. At the time of writing, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have proposed draft laws implementing the CSRD, while Bulgaria and Croatia have set up working groups to prepare draft legal acts. In any event
“Green Claims” in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary
On 22 March 2023, the European Commission published a proposal for a Directive on Green Claims. The proposed Directive aims to tackle false environmental claims by ensuring that consumers receive reliable, comparable and verifiable environmental information on products and services across the European Union. By laying down clear criteria on how companies should evidence environmental claims, along with mandating an EU labelling scheme and new enforcement procedures to secure compliance, the Directive on Green Claims is designed to enable better environmental decision-making by consumers and to reduce so called “green washing” (spurious environmentally friendly claims). However, it will likely still be some time before
Transposition of the CSRD in the Czech Republic
Directive (EU) 2022/2464 on corporate sustainability reporting (the “CSRD”) was adopted at the end of 2022 and entered into force in January 2023, with a transposition deadline of 6 July 2024. The Czech Republic has opted for a phased-in transposition process in two stages corresponding to the implementation timeframe under the CSRD: This first phase, carried out as a minimum transposition, is already underway, namely in the context of the draft legislation on the consolidation of public budgets (the “Consolidation Package”). The Consolidation Package, among other legislative measures, introduces legislative provisions on sustainability reporting, to the extent corresponding to the first phase of reporting
Legal aspects of the use of sustainable finance instruments in Bulgaria
The Banking, Finance and Capital Markets team in our Sofia office carried out a training session on the legal aspects of the use of sustainable finance instruments with a focus on green loans, social loans and sustainability-linked loans. The variety of ESG financing instruments allows for some flexibility in the choice of targets and KPIs; still ESG loans should follow the clearly established sustainable finance principles to avoid the risk of declassification or greenwashing claims. In addition to contributing to sustainability goals, these instruments have a wide range of advantages, including economic and reputational benefits. As they are becoming increasingly popular, we will continue monitoring the legal and regulatory
EU publishes new regulation on alternative fuel infrastructure
At the end of September, the long-awaited Regulation (EU) 2023/1804) on the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure, and repealing Directive 2014/94/EU (“AFIR”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Though the entry into force of AFIR is 13 April 2024, it is worth reviewing the key takeaways that the AFIR introduces as part of the EU’s Fit for 55 package. The AFIR sets binding national targets for the development of adequate EU alternative fuel infrastructure. The new regulation also establishes common technical specifications and requirements regarding the information to vehicle users for the provision of data and payment requirements. The AFIR includes detailed regulations regarding