31 Jan 2022

Ombudsman: EU Commission President’s Text Messages are Public Access Documents

The European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly stated on Friday that text messages between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer are documents the public should have access to. O’Reilly’s opinion indicates that the Commission mishandled a request for public access to these messages, which concern the EU’s purchase of COVID 19 vaccines from the manufacturer. The European Commission had earlier denied a request made on 4 May 2021 via Access Info’s AsktheEU.org platform by Alexander Fanta, a journalist with netzpolitik.org. Access Info’s platform enables citizens of the EU direct access to public information. The […]

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24 Jan 2022

Green bonds in Serbia

Environmental awareness has been a pressing topic for decades. In the past, international treaties were signed to put words into action. One of these key treaties was the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.   The reasoning behind this protocol was evident; countries needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“GHG”). Back in 2008, Serbia had ratified this agreement and prescribed mandatory targets for the reduction of harmful emissions in the period between 2008-2012.  The Amendment from Doha confirmed the second binding period of the Kyoto Protocol, between 2013-2020, including new obligations in GHG emissions reduction.  However, perhaps the most crucial treaty was the Paris […]

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19 Jan 2022

EU’s Global Gateway and China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The Global Gateway initiative was unveiled on December 1, 2021, as a strategy of the European Union (“EU”) to support sustainable infrastructure development around the world.  The EU is planning to invest EUR 300 billion over five years.  The European Commission pitched the Global Gateway as a template for how Europe aims to build more resilient connections across the globe. The Global Gateway is about increasing investment, promoting values and high standards, good governance and transparency, partnerships based on equality, green, clean, secure infrastructure, but also catalyzing and supporting private sector investment in new markets as part of the Global […]

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18 Jan 2022

Bogdan Gecić – A remarkable achievement for our team

We recently won the Oscars of the legal world! Gecić Law was named the top legal firm in the 150-million-strong SEE market at The Lawyer European Awards 2021, placing our firm among the crème de la crème of the European legal market. Gecić Law was the only law firm from the former Yugoslavia and the Western Balkans to be shortlisted for the award and the first firm ever to be awarded the coveted prize in the new category covering the dynamic regional market. This is a truly remarkable achievement for our team. The news of the award going to a […]

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17 Jan 2022

Stablecoins run the world?

Technological development influenced capital markets far more than expected in the last decade.  Decentralized currencies, central bank digital currencies and digital tokens are all huge news in the world of finance. And so are stablecoins. What are stablecoins and how do they “work”? Stablecoins are a unique kind of decentralized digital assets, developed to “bring the best of both worlds”.  They have all the characteristics of decentralized currencies but also solve the problems of volatility and uncertainty.  That makes them similar to centralized currencies.  Stablecoins are unique because they are backed by real reserves.  They are either backed by fiat […]

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14 Jan 2022

Making the Most of FDIs in Serbia

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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13 Jan 2022

New Capital Market Act in Serbia

The end of 2021 was marked by changes in the legislation of the Republic of Serbia, which included the adoption of a new Capital Market Act (“Act”) that entered into force on January 5 this year. The objective of the Act is to introduce greater transparency and responsibility in business, the introduction and development of financial instruments offered on the Serbian capital market, creating a more attractive environment for both domestic and foreign investors. It was adopted following the government’s Capital Market Development Strategy 2021-2026, and the Action Plan for its implementation. The law will start to apply after one […]

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11 Jan 2022

Bogdan Gecić – Innovation is about continuous learning

We recently won the Oscars of the legal world! Gecić Law was named the top legal firm in the 150-million-strong SEE market at The Lawyer European Awards 2021, placing our firm among the crème de la crème of the European legal market. Gecić Law was the only law firm from the former Yugoslavia and the Western Balkans to be shortlisted for the award and the first firm ever to be awarded the coveted prize in the new category covering the dynamic regional market. The news of the award going to a Belgrade-based firm sparked significant interest. Our Founding Partner Bogdan […]

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29 Dec 2021

Bogdan Gecić – The Lawyer award is the Oscar of the legal world

We recently won the Oscars of the legal world! Gecić Law was named the top legal firm in the 150-million-strong SEE market at The Lawyer European Awards 2021, which places our firm among the crème de la crème of the European legal market. Gecić Law was the only law firm from the former Yugoslavia and the Western Balkans to be shortlisted for the award and the first firm ever to be awarded the coveted prize in the new category covering the dynamic regional market. The news of the award going to a Belgrade-based firm sparked significant interest. Recently, our Founding […]

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24 Dec 2021

Bogdan Gecić – The Lawyer recognized our fundamental values

We recently won the Oscars of the legal world! Gecić Law was named the top legal firm in the 150-million-strong SEE market at The Lawyer European Awards 2021, which places our firm among the crème de la crème of the European legal market. Gecić Law was the only law firm from the former Yugoslavia and the Western Balkans to be shortlisted for the award and the first firm ever to be awarded the coveted prize in the new category covering the dynamic regional market. The news of the award going to a Belgrade-based firm sparked significant interest. During the past […]

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