Bogdan Gecić, the Founding Partner of Gecić Law, recently spoke with journalist Paddy Bolton. He was thereafter quoted in a Brussels Signal article regarding the EU’s Foreign Subsidies regulation (FSR) and its application in football. Spain’s top football division has filed a complaint with the European Commission (EC) against France’s Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). They argue that PSG’s funding from Qatar violates the EU’s rules on foreign subsidies. Similarly, Belgian football club Royal Excelsior Virton has raised objections about Lommel SK, which receives Abu Dhabi funds. The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) and Football These interventions come after the EU’s FSR came into […]
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In her keynote speech at the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President, outlined yesterday the main pillars of the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan to boost Europe’s leadership in green technology on its road to carbon neutrality. “We know we have a small window to invest in clean tech and innovation to gain leadership before the fossil fuel economy becomes obsolete,” said von der Leyen. As the plan’s regulatory pillar, she announced a new Net-zero Industry Act to support the “greatest industrial transformation of our times” and keep up with strongly incentivized programs […]
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For several years in a row, Serbia is ranked among the leading destinations for foreign investors. According to the Greenfield FDI Performance Index, in 2019 Serbia was ranked first among 105 states observed by the index. A similar status was maintained throughout the subsequent years as Serbia ranked fifth in 2020, and sixth in 2021. According to the World Bank Doing Business rankings, Serbia is ranked among business-friendly jurisdictions, whose ease of doing business index grows regularly. The willingness to invest raises concerns regarding the legal and institutional framework of the host economy. Bilateral investment treaties (“BIT”) have been presented […]
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Bogdan Gecić, the founding partner at Gecić Law, spoke today at the winter edition of the prestigious Vivaldi Forum which traditionally takes place in Drvengrad, on the picturesque Mokra Gora mountain. His thought-provoking presentation titled “Sufficient Light: The Market and Competition”, delivered as part of the “Vivaldi Talks: Fertile Grounds for Growth” segment of the conference showed a fresh and unconventional perspective on the importance of fair competition for growth and development on the market, capturing the interest and sparking discussion among the delegates attending the event and numerous other participants who followed the session online. “Competition is a natural […]
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The European Commission has proposed the prolongation of the State aid Temporary Framework until 30 June 2022, in order to expedite the ongoing Covid-19 economic recovery in Europe. The Temporary Framework was initially adopted on 19 March 2020 and to this date, it was amended and prolonged five times (more information available here and here). Margaret Vestager, the Executive Vice-President, who is in charge of the competition policy said that we are finally seeing improvements in the EU economy after the big crisis that hit the EU due to Covid-19. She also added: ’’[W]e need to be aware of disparities […]
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In the process of gradually aligning its legislation with the EU acquis the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted two bylaws on 11 March 2021 in the field of state aid, complementary to the recently adopted new State Aid Control Act. All this adds value to the start of talks on the Chapter 8 – Competition Policy of Serbia’s negotiation process and may speed up Serbia’s EU accession. Regional Aid Regulation This regulation is designed to promote economic development of the least developed regions or the development of regions with a high level of unemployment. It also allows state […]
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The EU’s second-highest court sided with Amazon.com (“Amazon”) recently, saying it did not owe millions to Luxembourg in unpaid taxes. On May 12, 2021, the General Court (“Court”) overturned the European Commission’s (“Commission”) order to Amazon to pay EUR 250 million to Luxembourg, as reimbursement of illegal State aid. The Court held that the European Commission’s primary finding of an alleged advantage was based on an incorrect analysis. Precisely, the Court argued that none of the findings set out by the Commission in the contested decision were sufficient to demonstrate the existence of an advantage for the purposes of Article […]
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Gecić Law is currently representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in a procedure with the Energy Community, a landmark case across the Balkans related to alleged state aid in the construction of Block 7 of the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant, a project worth USD 1.1 billion, with co-counsel Marić & Co. Law Firm based in Sarajevo. Launched in 2018 by the Secretariat of the Energy Community against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the process has been marked by violation of due process, complete disregard for the rights of the defense as well as continuous bids of the prosecution to speed up the process and […]
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Our Energy practice team has repeatedly demonstrated its credibility by devising unique opportunities for greenfield and brownfield investments for our clients. We provide comprehensive solutions related to privatization, regulatory compliance and due diligence in cooperation with eminent regulatory, corporate and financial experts. Counsel to Norwegian NBT AS on Wind Farms Project in Serbia Our latest accomplishment in the energy sector is providing counsel to NBT AS, Norway, a utility-scale wind power developer (exceeding 100 KW of power), in partnering with WV International (formerly Windvision). WV International has been developing wind farm projects in Serbia since 2010 and has been active […]
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As you already know, we make it our business to bring you news of cases that are out of the ordinary and interesting in so many ways. But this one is a first. It is not new as in recent, because it all began 10 years ago, but new in the context of originality. What you are about to read is the story of probably the most flagrant “abuse of dominant position” ever. Factual originality Providing the backdrop to this story is a business relationship in the Baltics between Lithuanian Railways (“LR”), the state-owned rail company in Lithuania, with responsibility […]
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Alea iacta est! Serbia is in line for a new State Aid Control Act. Ten years ago, when enacted, the first (and still the only) act was welcomed as a long-awaited and indispensable piece of legislation. Today, and following ten-years’ implementation, we are about to get a new one. What lessons have we drawn from implementation of the current act (apart from the fact that we need a new one)? The reasons for adopting a new act, according to its drafters, are as follows: Harmonization with the EU acquis – Well, that’s a turn-up for the books! Can you think […]
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Gecić Law has successfully advised the Republic of Serbia and EPS, one of the largest energy companies in the region, in a probe led by Energy Community Secretariat regarding alleged State support for the multi-million-euro Kolubara B project. On Monday, June 25, 2018, the Energy Community Secretariat announced the parties reached an amicable solution bringing the two-year long case to an end. The Kolubara B power plant project will enable EPS to add 700 MW of electricity annually, constituting the most important investment in the Serbian energy infrastructure in the last four decades. The ruling not only confirmed our team’s […]
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Gecić Law acted as legal counsel to the Government of Serbia and the Železara Smederevo steel mill with respect to an European Commission (EC) investigation on the historical State aid received by the old company, and the potential responsibility of Hesteel Serbia to reimburse it, under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). On Wednesday, November 8, 2017, Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, informed the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, that the European Commission concluded that “the HeSteel-owned steel mill does not have to reimburse any state aid received in the past” (link). […]
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(Update: 02.25.2022.) CJEU Reaches Final Decision in Landmark Anti-Dumping Case The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) reached a final decision in a landmark anti-dumping case, with far-reaching implications for HBIS Serbia and the Serbian economy. The CJEU sided with the General Court’s ruling which confirmed the European Commission’s (EC) decision not to impose anti-dumping measures on steel producers from Serbia in 2017, simultaneously imposing these measures on products originating from Brazil, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, following months of investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices (link). Gecić Law was legal counsel to the Government of Serbia and the Smederevo […]
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For the first time since Agrokor—one of the leading regional companies with almost 60,000 employees, became the biggest national news in the Balkans for facing liquidity issues—former Agrokor owner, Ivica Todoric, broke his silence, claiming he gave up control “under duress” and that “this is not Parmalat” indicating a potential and broader legal battle against the Croatian state on multiple fronts? Possible ramifications may include EU law, state aid & competition issues, constitutional claims, ECHR and even more. The extensive public announcement issued today and signed by Mr. Todoric points to “an unconstitutional and illegal nationalization” and states he “will […]
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Both Serbia and Montenegro have come under pressure from the European Commission to amend their respective Corporate Profit Tax Acts to bring tax incentives in line with EU law. This update provides a closer look and analysis, which suggests that amendments are an option worth considering for both Serbia and Montenegro. However, any such legislative change would need to be implemented in a manner that takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, including the interests of investors benefiting from the existing incentive schemes. The European Commission in Chapter 8 of its Screening Report for Serbia, emphasized that specific aid […]
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During the last ten days of May 2017, Serbian competition authority has hastily opened an unprecedented number of investigations. Simultaneously, the authority announced a push for a complete revamp of the competition act. Reviewing these developments through the lens of the New Administrative Act, which came into force on 1 June 2017, a strong argument can be made that behind these actions is a desire to circumvent the robust human rights safeguards introduced by the New Administrative Act and guaranteed under the ECHR and the Serbian Constitution. During the last ten days of May, the Commission for Protection of Competition of […]
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On 29 May 2017, the Serbian Competition Commission initiated ex officio proceedings for the alleged abuse of dominance against Frikom, the largest producer of frozen food in Serbia. The day following the initiation of proceedings, a dawn raid at Frikom’s business premises was carried out. Frikom’s abuse of dominance history This is not the first time the Serbian National Competition Authority (NCA) initiated a proceeding against Frikom. In 2012, the NCA found that Frikom abused its dominance in the wholesale market of industrial ice-cream by engaging in vertical price-fixing, imposing exclusivity on retailers (either through explicit exclusivity clauses or through […]
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On February 25, 2016, in the joined cases Promoimpresa srl v Consorzio dei Comuni della Sponda Bresciana del Lago di Garda e del Lago di Idro, Regione Lombardia, and Mario Melis, Tavolara Beach Sas, and Dionigi Piredda, Claudio Del Giudice v Comune di Loiri Porto San Paolo, Provincia di Olbia Tempio (hereinafter: Promoimpresa and others), Mr. Maciej Szpunar, an Advocate General at the EU Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) since 2013, produced a nonbinding opinion for the ECJ stating that the European Union (the “EU”) law precludes national legislation under which the period of validity of […]
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A race to the bottom is a socio-economic phrase used to describe a situation in which countries or companies try to compete in order to attract and retain economic activity and the latest data from the Center for Economic Analysis (CEA) in Macedonia suggests that the country is pushing the envelope on its regional counterparts. CEA recently published that seven companies doing business within Macedonian technological industrial development zones have have been granted a total of 56 million euros in state aid. In certain cases, the state aid granted amounted up to 47% of overall value of the investment. Vesna Garvanlieva, CEA […]
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On 23 January 2016 the Serbian Government adopted the new Regulation on the Content and Method of Submittal of Request for Issuing of Approval for Proposed Concentration (Official Gazette of RS no. 5/2016 – the “Regulation”) that will be effective as of 2 February 2016. The importance of the new Regulation lies in the fact that it introduces a simplified method for notification of the proposed concentration, harmonizing in that regards the national procedure with the existing EU procedure for notification of concentration. The simplified procedure allows merging undertakings to use a shorter notification form for concentration that are unlikely […]
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We are pleased to announce that our partner Bogdan Gecić together with Dr. Tatjana Jovanić, an associate professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, co-authored the Serbian chapter for Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Europe – Second Edition. The chapter provides a comprehensive overview of most important legal aspects for both domestic and foreign investors and businesses in Serbia. The chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the following topics: Enterprises: Establishment, Acquisition & Bankruptcy Customs Regulation Investment Incentives and Currency Regulation Competition and Market Regulation Intellectual Property Employment Banking The edition is published by Juris Publishing, Inc., a full-service […]
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