Published on 2 October 2023

Published on 14 September 2023CMS Belgrade has been assisting Palfinger AG, a global leader in innovative crane and lifting solutions, in opening a new component plant in Niš, Serbia. Palfinger operates with over 12,500 employees and 30 manufacturing sites, and has a sales and service network of around 5,000 locations in more than 130 countries on all continents. Palfinger is investing EUR 35.5 million in the new plant in Serbia, which is expected to start production in 2024. This state-of-the-art facility will adhere to industry-leading standards, incorporating advanced energy-saving and en­ergy-gen­er­at­ing technologies, such as photovoltaic systems on the roof of the future plant, as well as the latest cooling and heating technology inside the factory. Our team of expert lawyers, led by Radivoje Petrikić, Partner CMS Vienna and Managing Partner CMS Belgrade, and Maja Stepanović, Corporate/M&A Law Partner, with valuable contributions from Tamara Zejak, Ksenija Ivetić Marlović and Teodora Vujošević, has provided comprehensive legal support in the initial phases of the project, advising on a wide range of corporate, state aid, real estate, financial and employment related matters. Congratulations to Palfinger on breaking ground for their new factory in Serbia!

Published on 18 July 2023

1. E-con­tract­ing, e-statements and e-signatures in banking & finance transaction contracts and legal statements 1.1 Which are the typical documents (contracts, legal statements, etc.) where written...

UniCredit Bank Serbia and Elicio Ali VE, a 100% subsidiary of Elicio NV, successfully closed the refinancing transaction of the 42 MW Alibunar wind farm in Q3 2021. CMS Belgrade has been selected to prepare the full set of finance documents for UniCredit Bank Serbia as the sole lender in the EUR 53 million re­fin­an­cing.  Com­ment­ing on the transaction, Nikola Vuletić, Chairman of the Management Board of UniCredit Serbia, said: “We are proud that Elicio once again recognised our bank as a reliable partner for the first refinancing of an operational wind farm conducted in Serbia. This is a clear example of how banks and the renewables sector can contribute to improving overall energy security and consumption of renewable energy in Ser­bia.”  Alain Janssens, CEO of Elicio, added: “This refinancing represents an important milestone for the Serbian renewables market as it affirms the strong fundamentals of the project and the bankable regulatory environment for renewable energy production in Serbia. The transaction also confirms the funding available in the Serbian market to locally finance well-structured projects and to do so on longer tenors. These are crucial conditions for realizing Serbia’s considerable ambitions in terms of an increased contribution of wind energy to the energy mix, an area in which Elicio will continue to actively par­ti­cip­ate.” The team of CMS Belgrade experts headed by partners Ivan Gazdić and Milica Popović provided full legal support in every phase of this landmark refinancing, from the legal due diligence review to full-scope advice on multiple regulatory, real estate, corporate, project finance and other legal issues and drafting of the finance documents. Other team members include Ksenija Boreta, Marija Marošan, Igor Đorđević, and Teodora Vujošević.

Chapter 1: The framework boiled down 1. What are the relevant laws which regulate advertisement in your country? Montenegro does not have a systemic law that regulates advertising in general. The only...

This article was first published in CDR – Essential Intelligence: The Belt and Road InitiativeThe One Belt, One Road Initiative (the “BRI”) tends to develop political and economic cooperation with European countries, especially those situated in the Balkans, and Serbia is no exception. In fact, as its potential has attracted many Chinese investors, Serbia may be deemed as a leading country in terms of prominent BRI investments that have occurred (and, consequently, one of China’s key partners), most of which are in the infrastructure and energy sectors.