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Christian Blatchford, General Counsel at Energo-Pro, explains how he goes about selecting external advisors – and what he wishes private practice lawyers would do differently.

How do you go about building an in-house legal team that you can be proud of – one that addresses all the needs of a publicly-traded company, and does so with minimal external advisory assistance? Marian Radu, Group Legal & Public Affairs Manager at Vrancart Group, explains.

Going beyond a purely legal role has been necessary for in-house lawyers for many years – but Stanimir Vlahov, Associate Counsel Bulgaria at Mondelez International, explains why the current COVID-19 outbreak has made this need even more pressing.

Peter Ban, Head of Legal and Compliance at E.ON Hungary, reflects on the value for GCs of immersing themselves in their company’s business.

The General Counsel role has been significantly transformed during the last decade – from being a mere business advisor and business partner to becoming part of the business. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that there is still significant space for change in the years ahead.

No, the headline of my editorial is not intended to challenge our readers’ understandings of basic math. It’s also not intended a brain teaser like those you can find somehow proving that one equals zero using algebra. It’s simply designed to draw your attention to the fact that what you are holding in your hand is a hybrid issue. It is both issue 7.7 of CEE Legal Matters and the very first issue of CEE In-House Matters.

On April 14, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Dentons had advised Savills Investment Management, acting on behalf of Korean institutional investors managed by Vestas Investment Management, on its acquisition of the Leroy Merlin distribution center near Lodz from Invesco Real Estate. We spoke to Alistair Ennever, Transaction Manager at Savills Investment Management, about the deal.

On April 14, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Dorda had advised Greiner AG on the takeover of Eurofoam GmbH from Recticel. We reached out to Maximilian Wellner, Head of Group Compliance & Legal at Greiner, to learn more about the takeover.

“All activities in Bosnia & Herzegovina in the past two months have had to do with the state of emergency caused by the crisis, as they will for the foreseeable future,“ says Dino Aganovic, Head of Legal and Compliance at Heta Asset Resolution in Sarajevo. Nonetheless, he says, as dangerous as the virus is, he believes in being cautious about the steps taken to address it. “I must admit that I’m a bit of a skeptic when it comes to complete shutdowns,“ he says. “The global economy is sliding into a recession that is bound to impact poorer societies in terrible ways. We need to be thinking about the future as well, not just the present.“

On April 30, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Motieka & Audzevicius had advised the founders of Lithuania's In Balance Grid on the investment of EUR 950,000 into the company by Koinvesticinis Fondas, Contrarian Ventures, and several angel investors. We spoke with Simonas Stankus, Co-Founder & CEO of In Balance Grid, to learn more about the investment round.

Florina Homeghiu has joined the Policolor-Orgachim group as its new Legal and Compliance Group Director in Romania.

Former Dentons Partner Edward Keller has joined alternative investment firm Alpha Blue Ocean as its General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer.

On April 7, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Motieka & Audzevicius had represented big data company Oxylabs in its successful appeal of a dismissal of an IP rights infringement dispute for lack of jurisdiction in Lithuania. We spoke with Urte Karkliene, Legal Counsel at Oxylabs, to learn more about the case.

Krzysztof Mazurek, former Legal & Compliance Director for CEE at Bayer, has been promoted to Regional Legal & Compliance Operations - Head Team EMEA.

Former Herguner Bilgen Ozeke Partner Bige Yucel has joined Siemens as its Deputy General Counsel in Istanbul.

Former Paksoy Partner Selin Barlin Aral has joined Getir as its Chief Legal Officer in Istanbul.

On April 17, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Greenberg Traurig had advised IAD Investments on its acquisition of the company holding the D48 office building in Warsaw from Penta Real Estate. We reached out to Vladimir Bolek, Member of the Board at IAD Investment, to learn more about the acquisition.

Alan Ragueneau, the former Legal Director Market Operations and Sales EMEA at Whirlpool, has joined Nextlaw In-House Solutions, Dentons’ global legal operation advisory, as Europe Managing Director.

Alipay Limited has hired Polish lawyer Tomasz Janyst as its Chief Compliance Officer / Money Laundering Reporting Officer in Luxembourg.

Balazs Toth has joined Telenor Common Operation as its new Legal Director in Hungary.

On March 11, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Sorainen had successfully defended HR solutions provider Amston before the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson in Lithuania. We spoke with Henrika Bivainiene, Director of Amston, about the case.

On April 9, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Dentons had advised Hines Poland Sustainable Income Fund on the sale of a portfolio of six Polish distribution parks and the Nord Point office building in Warsaw to Chinese investor CGL Investment Holdings Corporation Limited. We spoke to Mietek Godzisz, Head of Hines in Poland, about the deal. 

On March 27, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Dorda had advised Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate on the sale of a multi-story office building in the Summering part of Vienna to a real estate fund managed by Luxembourg-based Blue Colibri Capital. We spoke with Jana Wetzel, Real Estate Manager at Warburg-HIH Invest, about the deal.

Maciej Szczepanski has been promoted to Head of Legal Europe at the OLX Group.

Former Klepierre Head of Legal Ceren Arslan has joined Bilgili Holding as its new Vice President Legal in Turkey.

On March 19, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Linklaters had advised Sovcombank on its arrangement of a RUB 5.7 billion domestic green project bonds issued by an orphan special purpose vehicle, SFO RuSol 1 LLC. We spoke to Sergei Kaduk, Executive Director for Securitization and Project Finance at Sovcombank, about the Issuance.

On March 11, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Kinstellar had advised FirstFarms on its acquisition of agricultural land in Romania from NCH Capital. We spoke to Anders Noergaard, the Group CEO of First Farms, about the deal.

On January 7, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Tokushev & Partners had helped the Fund of Funds in Bulgaria make arrangements with two financial intermediaries to create several alternative investment funds for equity investments. We asked Lazar Petrov, Director of Financial Instruments and Operational Programmes of the Fund of Funds, to walk us through the set-up of the alternative funds. 

On February 19, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Cobalt had advised Change Ventures on its EUR 500,000 investment in Estonian educational startup 99math. We spoke with Yrjo Ojasaar, Investment Partner at Change Ventures, to learn more.