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On December 9, 2016, CEELM reported that A&D Pharma Group acquired 78 pharmacies from Sibpharmamed in Romania. We invited Mihaela Scarlatescu, Head of Legal and Compliance at A&D Pharma, to explain how the transaction was realized.

Ioana Orlov has joined the TeamNet Group in Bucharest as its Legal Manager.

On February 3rd, 2017, CEELM reported that the Estonian Supreme Court ruled in favor of If P&C Insurance’s claims regarding professional liability involving a construction project for Skanska AS. We reached out to Heinar Olak, the Head of Legal at If P&C, to clarify the grounds of the dispute and its finale.

Andrea Simandi, the Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs Director for Hungary, has been appointed to the role of European Data Protection Attorney within the company. 

We are excited to announce that registration for the 2017 CEE Legal Matters General Counsel Summit, scheduled to take place in Warsaw on June 1-2, is now open. 

On December 20th, 2016, CEE Legal Matters reported that the Slovenian metal-processing company UNIOR had completed a syndicated debt refinancing process with a group of six banks. We interviewed Darko Hrastnik, the Chairman of the Board and CEO at UNIOR, who was directly responsible for handling the transaction and managing the external counsel.

We first spoke with Pawel Stykowski, the Head of Legal at InterRisk in Poland, two years ago, in the December 2014 issue of the CEE Legal Matters. We decided to follow up with him now to see how his role and expectations have changed in that time. 

Vladimira Jicinska is the Head of Legal at AHOLD, responsible for the Czech market. She first joined the company in December 2012 after spending a little over two years in China working as the Head of Legal and Compliance of Home Credit China. Before that, she worked for AAA Auto holding for nine years, initially as an Acquisition Lawyer, and later as the Group Legal Manager of the company.

On December 19, 2016, CEELM reported that the United States's W.P. Carey Inc. had acquired a logistics center in Lithuania and signed a long-term lease with Kesko Senukai. Ziad Hammodi, Managing Director and Chief Global Transaction Counsel at W.P. Carey, agreed to comment on the deal.

On December 20, 2016, CEELM reported that Inter Cars, an importer and distributer of automotive spare parts in CEE, obtained a loan facility from a consortium of banks. Jacek Piotrowiak, the General Counsel at Inter Cars, kindly agreed to share his experience managing the legal aspects of the deal.

Hungarian lawyer Gergely Javorszki has joined PSA Insurance - PSA Groupe in Malta this January as its new Head of Legal. 

On November 29, 2016, CEELM reported that the Mareshki Medicines retail chain had been successful in the two-year litigation at the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria, which resulted in the repeal of anti-competitive provisions on prescribing and dispensing medicine in Bulgaria's Ordinance No 4. We asked Irena Georgieva, In-house Attorney at Mareshki, to explain what happened.

Sergey Stefanishin, who left DHL Russia in September 2016, has moved to Canada and joined PwC in Toronto this January as its Director, Deals. 

On November 17, 2016, CEELM reported on the merger of two shopping malls in Romania – Bucuresti Mall and Plaza Mall – owned and operated by the real estate and development company Anchor Group. We reached out to Mihaela Marin, the Head of Legal Department at Anchor Group, who agreed to elaborate on the merger.

On October 28, 2016, CEELM reported that P3, a leading pan-European owner, developer and manager of logistics properties, had announced that it had completed a EUR 1.4 billion long-term refinancing, arranged with a group of leading international financial institutions. We invited Katie Schoultz, the Group General Counsel at P3, to share her thoughts on the deal.

Martin Vlcek has joined Deutsche Bank as its new Head of Compliance & Country AFC Officer in the Czech Republic.

Based in Ankara, Bora Kaya is the Managing Legal Counsel at Gama Power Systems Engineering and Contracting, a company that he first joined in March 2015. Prior to that he was the Head of Legal at Ronesans Holding from October 2012 to December 2014. Earlier still, he worked for Eregli Iron and Steel Works Co. as the Assistant to the Head of Legal Department.

Dennis Avrouschenko is the recently appointed Head of Legal & Compliance, CIS & East Europe at DHL. Previously, he worked for Gazprombank, where he was a Business Support Head / Capital Markets. Earlier still, he was the Head of Legal & Compliance at ZAO Standard Bank, a Legal Adviser with Deutsche Bank, and the Head of Corporate and HR Department with RAO UES. Before moving in-house, he worked with Allen & Overy Legal Services in Moscow

On October 14, 2016, CEE Legal Matters reported that the Norwegian property company Linstow AS had sold its stake in UAB Baltijos Parkai, the holder of Park Inn hotels in Lithuania, to UAB Green Hotel. We reached out to Knut Loken, the Chief Investment Officer at Linstow, for more information on the sale.

On November 24, 2017, CEELM reported that Austrian real estate developer WM Group had sold its six retail parks in Slovakia to Immofinanz AG, designed to expand the latter's STOP SHOP brand. Michael Wakolbinger, Managing Director of WM Slovakia, who also acts as a General Counsel to the senior owner of the WM/MID Group, agreed to comment on the sale.

On November 28, 2016, CEELM reported that the Bulgarian electricity power distributor Energo-Pro Varna EAD had sold seven-year bonds worth of EUR 130 million to international investors. We invited Tsvetanka Vasileva, Head of Legal and Compliance at Balkan Advisory Company to provide us an insider’s view on the matter.

On October 11, 2017, CEELM reported that UAB Bite Lietuva had received a license from the Bank of Lithuania to operate as an electronic money institution. Jurgita Pelediene, the Legal Manager at Bite Lietuva, agreed to answer our questions on the procedure.

On October 31, 2016, CEELM reported that the Ukranian start-up eTachki had obtained USD 1 million investment from local capital fund TA Ventures. We asked the Head of Legal at eTachki, Marina Makarova, to tell us more about the deal and the structure of her in-house legal team.

Andreea Alexandrescu is the Head of Legal with Carrefour Romania, a company that she has spent the better part of her career with. She first joined the retail company in 2006 as a Legal Advisor responsible for real estate matters. Prior to her current company she worked for Gide Loyrette Nouel.

Dana Ionescu is the Head of Legal at Adecco Romania, a company she has been with since October 2013. Previously, she worked as the Legal Affairs Coordinator and HR Business Partner for Rosegur from 2010 to 2013. Earlier still, she was a Senior Legal Consultant with Realitatea-Catavencu, a Legal Manager with the Dacris Group, a Legal Manager and HR Business Partner with Phoenica Grand Hotel, and a Legal Advisor with the Romanian Ministry of Transportation, in the External Financial Relations Directorate.

On November 1, 2016, CEELM reported that ZGI Capital has invested EUR 700,000 in Latvian FinTech company Mobilly. Rudolfs Krese, Investment Director at ZGI Capital agreed to provide more details on the deal.

On August 17, 2016, CEELM reported that Yilport Holding had signed a public-private partnership agreement and acquired the right to operate Puerto Bolivar Harbor in Ecuador for 50 years. We reached out to Legal Director at Yildirim Holding for more details on the deal.

On October 12, 2016, CEELM reported that Lords LB Asset Management had entered into a management contract with Carlson Rezidor to open a Radisson RED hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania. Fund Manager Marius Zemaitis agreed to answer our questions on the deal.

On October 18th, 2016, CEELM reported that Slovenian start-up Creatriks had successfully obtained an investment from Speedinvest II International GmbH. We reached out to Creatriks COO & Co-founder Aljaz Ketis to find out how the investment was obtained.

On September 22, 2016, CEELM reported that CA Immo had purchased the Millenium Towers office complex in Budapest in what was described as the biggest real estate transaction of this year in Hungary. CA Immo’s Group Head of Legal Affairs Ingo Steinwender agreed to elaborate on the acquisition.