16 Sep 2022

CEE Legal Matters Comparative Legal Guide: Restructuring 2022

Gecić Law is proud to have contributed to the fifth CEE Legal Matters Guide in their Comparative Guides series, with a focus on Restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe. Our team members Danica Misojčić, Senior Associate, Miloš Petaković, Senior Associate, and Žarko Popović, Associate supported CEELM with a focus on Serbia by providing critical information on the legal framework for insolvency and restructuring. The guide provides intel on legislation, international instruments, and proposed or upcoming changes in restructuring insolvency. This includes which steps restructuring proceedings normally include and the roles of the courts and other key stakeholders. The guide also […]

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12 Sep 2022

Bloomberg Adria – Bogdan Gecić interview

Our Founder & Managing Partner Bogdan Gecić recently held a key discussion at Bloomberg Adria Serbia on the ramifications of the expected introduction of EU’s CBAM for the Adria & Balkans region. Bogdan discussed what this revolutionary new trade instrument, which will take effect in 2023, means for all companies from the Western Balkans and beyond that export to the EU. If adopted by the EU Council, every importer in the EU will have to pay tax on the goods they import into the EU if the goods are produced in countries that do not have an Emissions Trading System […]

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09 Sep 2022

September Interest Rate Hike by NBS

At today’s session, the Executive Board of the NBS decided to again raise key interest rates by 50 basis points, to 3.5% ,, the deposit facility rate – to 2.5% and the credit facility rate – to 4.5%. The NBS had previously increased the key interest rate as per the decision of the Executive Board on August 11, this year. The NBS’s Executive Board continued to tighten the monetary policy.,attributing this trend to increasingly rising inflationary pressure. According to the NBS, the Executive Board assessed that, in the conditions of continued price pressures, as well as the growth of imported […]

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07 Sep 2022

Cycling Down Sustainability Lane in Slovenia

ESG awareness is more than essential. Organizing various panel discussions on relevant topics is a must. Yet, what type of example does an event that encourages environmental sustainability set forth if they print a ton of unnecessary paper, each delegate travels to the venue with their own car or provide an all-you-can-eat buffet which leads to an embarrassing amount of food wastage. As they say, practice what you preach. Yesterday, our team Branko Gabrić, Counsel and Nikola Kovačević, Business Development Manager attended the Net 0 event in Maribor which was co-organized by the Institute of Strategic Solutions (ISR), Ministry of […]

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01 Sep 2022

Walking the ESG Talk: Green Finance Kicked Up a Notch

With ESG becoming such a hot topic and the global sustainable finance market reaching more than USD 35 trillion in value, there are expectations of further growth in this rapidly expanding sector.  The growth is fuelled on one hand by greater standardization in the area in major economies, including the EU taxonomy, but also a rise in innovation and an ever-greater variety of financial products that fall within this category. Case in point, interesting news has just recently came from the sector. On August 29th, one of the biggest banks in Europe, Raiffeisen Bank International AG announced that it has […]

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25 Aug 2022

Consumer protection disputes – have the long-awaited changes arrived?

For many individuals, consumer rights amount to an everyday battle. With the latest amendments to regulations, out-of-court dispute resolution are increasingly becoming a viable option. Suppose a consumer is not satisfied with the outcome of a settlement of a complaint filed with a merchant. The consumer dispute can be resolved out of court with the help of a third party who, according to the Consumer Protection Act (“Act”), must be: neutral, independent and impartial. As part of Serbia’s digitalization efforts, a platform has been established to satisfy these needs. What is it all about? The IT platform for out-of-court settlement […]

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25 Aug 2022

Consumer protection disputes – have the long-awaited changes arrived?

For many individuals, consumer rights amount to an everyday battle. With the latest amendments to regulations, out-of-court dispute resolution are increasingly becoming a viable option. Suppose a consumer is not satisfied with the outcome of a settlement of a complaint filed with a merchant. The consumer dispute can be resolved out of court with the help of a third party who, according to the Consumer Protection Act (“Act”), must be: neutral, independent and impartial. As part of Serbia’s digitalization efforts, a platform has been established to satisfy these needs. What is it all about? The IT platform for out-of-court settlement […]

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18 Aug 2022

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Open Balkans

The Open Balkans initiative aims to encourage and facilitate cooperation among the Balkans countries. The initiative was conceived across the Balkans, where the different cities symbolize the various stages in the development of the Open Balkans initiative.  In this article, we present the chronology of building ties between the countries by virtually visiting six key locations. (Note: If you decide to visit these towns, we advise you to create your itinerary on Google Maps,  not by this article :D). The first location associated with the birth of the Open Balkans project (as we know it today) is Novi Sad, and […]

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15 Aug 2022

NBS – New Measures to Curb Inflation

As we discussed last week, the National Bank of Serbia (“NBS”) decided to hike the interest rate to 3%. In addition to this decision, several other measures were introduced aimed at reducing the growing inflationary pressures affecting the economy of Serbia.  One of the measures is the decision that all banks that have increased their fees for payment services since January 1, 2021, will reduce those fees by 30% starting September 1 or reduce these fees prior levels.  According to the NBS, the aggregate benefit of this measure to individual clients will amount to 7 billion dinars. In addition, NBS […]

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15 Aug 2022

NBS – a new package of measures to preserve the Serbia’s monetary system

As we discussed last week, the National Bank of Serbia (“NBS”) decided to hike the interest rate to 3%. t One of the measures is the decision that all banks that have increased their fees for payment services since January 1, 2021, will reduce those fees by 30% starting September 1 or reduce these fees prior levels.  According to the NBS, the aggregate benefit of this measure to individual clients will amount to 7 billion dinars. In addition, NBS introduced a current account with basic services.  This decision caps the monthly maintenance fee for an account which includes basic services […]

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