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Kristóf Ferenczi is appointed Firm Managing Partner of Kinstellar
Kinstellar is delighted to announce that Kristóf Ferenczi has been appointed as new Firm Managing Partner effective from 1 January 2024. He will succeed Patrik Bolf, who will take on a new position within the Firm focusing on certain firm-wide projects, after having spent a very successful six years in the role. Kristóf Ferenczi has extensive executive management experience having served on Kinstellar’s Firm Management Committee since 2018 and as the Managing Partner of the Firm’s Budapest office. With over 20 years of experience, Kristóf has been with Kinstellar since the Firm’s foundation 15 years ago, and prior to that with Linklaters and DLA Piper. Kristóf is a very well-regarded energy sector specialist
Romania transposes the ECN+ Directive, further strengthening the Competition Council’s investigative powers
Facing EU infringement concerns, Romania has finally adopted an ordinance amending the Competition Law no. 21/1996 (the “Competition Law”), aimed at fully transposing into local law EU Directive 1/2019 to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market (the “ECN+ Directive”). This was carried out through Government Emergency Ordinance no. 108/2023 (“GEO 108/2023”), published in the Official Gazette on 6 December 2023. GEO 108/2023 goes further than merely transposing the provisions of the ECN+ Directive (as some of the principles in the directive had already been reflected under national law previously)
Gotta catch 'em all: Extending the scope of the Romanian FDI Screening Regime to EU investors and below-control acquisitions
A little over one year since Romania’s new foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening regime (that we previously wrote about here and here) became fully operational, the Romanian government passed an emergency ordinance meant to further clarify particular aspects under the law (such as the scope of the screening regime, which is further extended) or to translate into law the lessons learnt or the authorities’ reading of the rules since applying the new FDI law. The new changes to the FDI law were introduced by Government Emergency Ordinance no. 108/2023 on amending the supplementing Competition Law no. 21/1996, as well as other normative acts (the “FDI Amendment Law”, published in the Official Gazette
New senior hires boost Kinstellar Bucharest’s already market-leading real estate practice
Kinstellar is delighted to announce further hires: the additions of Corina Stanciu (Senior Associate) and Cristiana Mic-Soare (Special Counsel) to the Bucharest office’s real estate service line, thus even further strengthening the firm’s market-leading expertise in real estate and related sectors. Corina Stanciu joined the team as a Senior Associate. She has years of experience: she has assisted real estate investors and developers on real estate transactions, project development and construction permitting, covering the full range of business sectors: commercial / retail, office, industrial, logistics, residential, agriculture, renewable energy. She advised on day-to-day real estate, construction, regulatory
Kinstellar advises I Squared Capital on the acquisition of Arriva Group
Kinstellar, together with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as the lead counsel, has successfully advised Miami-based I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investment manager, on the multi-jurisdictional acquisition of the entire Arriva Group, an international transport business of Deutsche Bahn. The sale is expected to close in 2024. Kinstellar delivered a comprehensive range of legal services. This included conducting due diligence and offering regulatory advice that spanned multiple Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Kinstellar also provided transactional advice, with a specific focus on local law requirements arising in connection with the negotiation of the SPA and completion of the
Renewable Energy – Simplified legislation in favour of national interest projects and state entities in Romania
On Friday 27 October 2023, GEO 91/2023, regarding certain measures related to the exercise of the state's public and private property rights, as well as the efficient administration of state properties and the amendment of some normative acts (“GEO 91/2023”), entered into force. Among others, by means of GEO 91/2023, long-criticised measures that substantially favour state entities and national interest projects have been enacted. The main amendments brought by GEO 91/2023 with potential high impact on the renewable energy sector: It is now easier for state entities to develop projects located outside a buildable area for surfaces exceeding 50 ha and for national interest objectives specific
Cannabis use: CEE regulatory update
Significant changes in the regulation of cannabis use have occurred in some countries in Central and Eastern Europe since our last report. In addition to a number of countries gradually legalising the use of cannabis for medical purposes, increasing efforts by some countries are being seen to also legalise the use of cannabis for recreational use, as well as the use of other products containing various cannabinoids, most importantly cannabidiol (CBD). Click here to read a summary of recent changes related to the national regulation of this rapidly growing sector across Central and Eastern Europe. For any other details or information, please contact Tomáš Čihula, Partner. Contributors:
Joint study of the Romanian Competition Council and Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority identifies grid connection barriers and issues recommendations
The Romanian Competition Council (RCC) continues to focus on the energy markets, not only through investigations and merger control analysis, but also by carefully reviewing the markets through sector inquiries and studies. Given Romania’s declared interest in considerably bolstering its renewable energy capacities in the short term—which is also supported by EU funds and the Contracts for Difference (CfD) support scheme in the pipeline, renewables have recently been high on the RCC’s agenda. Roughly two months after publishing its preliminary conclusions following its study on permitting bottlenecks in the renewables sector (see our previous article here), the RCC has now teamed up with the Romanian Energy Regulatory
New legislative changes promote flexicurity in employment relations in Romania
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. In this article, we present the latest legislative changes, as well as our recommendations for their implementation. I. Amendments to the Labour Code The latest legislative amendments continue the European and national policies implemented in recent
Recent ECJ judgement sparks controversies on the Romanian statute of limitations for criminal liability
The Romanian regulatory context In recent years, the statute of limitations for criminal liability in Romania has been the subject of numerous debates among legal scholars and practitioners. This is because in 2018 the Romanian Constitutional Court rendered a binding decision declaring as unconstitutional, in part, the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code on interrupting the statute of limitations for criminal liability. The Constitutional Court issued this binding decision because the Romanian legislator had failed to amend the respective provisions, and as a result has divided the jurisprudence of Romanian criminal courts into two camps of interpretation, namely: (i) one camp stating that the statute of limitations cannot
Kinstellar advises SFC Solutions on the sale-and-leaseback of its industrial facilities to WDP Romania
Kinstellar is delighted to announce that it has advised SFC Solutions Automotive Romania, a leading automotive-parts producer, on the sale-and-leaseback transaction of an industrial site, to the Belgian logistics property developer, WDP Romania. The facility is situated in Arges county, in an established automotive production cluster centered around Dacia Renault’s production facilities. The facility has a gross lettable area of ca. 20,000 sqm and will be rented by the seller under a long-term lease. Our team’s work on the matter included assistance on all due diligence matters, negotiations and finalization of all transaction documents. Victor Constantinescu, Managing Partner of the Bucharest office
Kinstellar advises Yanolja Cloud on its acquisition of a leading B2B travel solution provider
Kinstellar, together with a lead counsel Watson Farley & Williams, have successfully advised Yanolja Cloud, a leading global provider of AI-based SaaS solutions for the hospitality and leisure industries, on the multi-jurisdictional acquisition of Go Global Travel (GGT), a B2B travel technology company that distributes its inventory of more than one million hotels and other travel products from 200 countries to over 20,000 client partners. The acquisition of GGT from AMI Opportunities Fund will give Yanolja Cloud unparalleled distribution capabilities, making it a one-of-a-kind company and allowing properties of all types, sizes, and budget ranges – and in every corner of the world – to digitize property operations.