We are excited to announce that, from 1 January 2023, Stankovic & Partners has promoted Andjelka Radovanović to partner.

Andjelka joined the firm in 2021 and her stellar work and reputation has now been recognised with this partner promotion. A highly experienced attorney who formerly ran her own practice, Andjelka’s impressive legal career began in 2007. She now leads Stankovic & Partner’s corporate and commercial team, leading on a wide range of domestic and cross-border M&A and other transactional matters, substantial international investments, restructurings and financings, as well as governance and corporate compliance. Another key area of expertise is employment law, where she advises on major redundancy programmes, incentives schemes and many other key issues. Her sector specific experience ranges across everything from banking and finance, the green economy and energy, to pharmaceuticals, technology and real estate.

Andjelka is a longstanding member of the Worldwide Independent Lawyers League (WILL) and EuroJuris International, both high profile networks of experienced senior lawyers across the globe, giving her a wealth of international contacts.

Founding partner Nenad Stankovic commented: “We are delighted to recognise Andjelka with this well-deserved promotion, and value her important contribution to our leading corporate and commercial practice. Her international links also further enhance Stankovic & Partners’ global outlook as evidenced by our membership of a number of prestigious international law firm networks.”

Andjelka Radovanović added: “It is fantastic to be part of a team of very active, enthusiastic people who share the same business-focused approach and high standards of client service that I have always adopted myself. Clients are facing a time of unprecedented challenges and more than ever require advice from firms who can develop creative solutions and understand their commercial drivers.”

The three-year compliance period for legal entities to comply with provisions of the Law on Accounting (“Official Gazette of RS”, No. 73 /2019 and 44/2021 – other laws) (“the Law”), comes to an end.

That means legal entities whose main registered activity is the provision of accounting services (“the Accounting Service Providers”) must register in the Register of Accounting Service Providers (“Register”), and the obligation for all legal entities that engage an entity with bookkeeping and preparation of financial statements, to engage only a registered entity in the aforementioned Register.

From 2023, accounting services will only be provided by legal entities registered in the Register. For registration, one must have a Chambers of Authorized Auditors license, which can be issued to an entity whose main registered activity is the provision of accounting services and whose founder, i.e. the beneficial owner and the management body, has not been convicted of a criminal offense in the sense of the law regulating the liability of legal entities for criminal offenses, that is, if it is a natural person, has not been convicted of criminal offenses prescribed by the Law on Accounting.

In addition to the above, in order to obtain a license, the Accounting Services Provider must have at least one full-time employee with a professional title in the field of accounting or auditing from a professional organization that is a member of the International Federation of Accountants.

The Ministry of Finance has issued several opinions, including the prohibition for a natural person who meets the condition in terms of an acquired professional title in the field of accounting or auditing to be listed in the Register in two places at the same time, i.e. within the data on the sole proprietor and legal entity, that it is not […]

The future of Mineral Resources in Serbia?

Partner Nenad Stankovic was Guest Speaker on two panels at the International Conference on Mineral Resources in Serbia that just took place on 9-10^th October 2022. Organised by the Tsomokos Group for many years, this event was attended by most major stakeholders and is the key event on the sector in the country.

At a time when the industry faces many challenges, the event was an excellent forum at which main players and industry experts met to discuss future plans.

Nenad was a speaker and chair on the panel entitled Challenges mining is facing in Serbia and how to overcome them, and on the second day he contributed on issues relating to financial global mining financial trends. Together with Vera Kojic from the Firm, they also attended other panels on topics such as impact of the current global crisis on mining industry, building of sustainable future of the sector, global mining trends, health and safety in mining, etc.

Recognizing the importance of developing better understanding of the mining industry in general and the importance of environmental protection in particular, Nenad Stankovic and Dusan Simic, Director of Jantar Group were guests in the Morning Program on the NovaS. To view the full piece, follow the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLvK3J9f0pw.

Further media coverage was seen in Politika, the leading Serbian daily newspaper, which published a piece about the need for a broad dialogue on mining and geological research, quoting Nenad Stankovic and Dusan Simic. To read more about it, follow the link: https://www.politika.rs/articles/details/524401?fbclid=IwAR1Pw2Pp9cBCZ3k1YVaPGAvUMnJ-qd0QmaG0NUnTv4sxhUyGGmcvQF1xfKo.

In essence, the dialogue continues in this sector of key importance not only for Serbia but for all industry using natural resources.

We are excited to share that IFLR1000 rankings are out and Stankovic&Partners have once again been ranked in the practice areas: Financial and Corporate and Project Development.

We continue to advise our regional and international clients on corporate deals including restructurings and acquisitions in Serbia. We act alongside international law firms to provide local counsel on large multi-jurisdictional transactions such as capital increases and acquisitions.

Our Senior Partner Nenad Stankovic has been rated as Highly regarded in the practice areas of M&A, Project Development, Project Finance and Real Estate acquisitions.

It was great to attend the IBA Law Firm Management Academy at King’s College London this week. A combination of excellent content which I look forward to implementing when I get home and a wonderful network of colleagues sharing their experience. Not to forget Professor Richard Susskind’s lecture on “What is the future of the Lawyers?”, taken from his book the “The future of the Professions”, which was inspiring.

Apatinska Pivara and Trebjesa (members of Molson Coors Group), two of the largest breweries in Serbia and in Montenegro, are partnering up with Diageo Ireland, one of the best known and largest beverage producers in the world. The Competition authorities of Serbia and Montenegro have adopted exemptions of arestrictive agrement to allow for its distribution.

NSTLAW competition team, Associate Mitar Simonovic and Legal Trainee Teodora Markovic, alongside Senior Partner Nenad Stankovic, provided comprehensive legal support for the individual exemption proceedings led before both the Serbian and Montenegrin competition authorities, supporting Apatinska Pivara and Trebjesa grow and widen their portfolio for the enjoyment of all beer lovers in both Serbia and Montenegro.

The firm has been invited to be the exclusive country contributor to the CEE Legal Matters Comparative Legal Guide: White Collar Crime 2022 for Serbia. The White Collar Crime Guild 2022 provides critical information on the legal framework regarding bribery and corruption in the CEE region. It allows for a comparison between jurisdictions as to how bribery is defined, if there is criminal liability for corporate entities, what are the sanctions and limitation periods, whether are there any defenses, and what is the role of anti-corruption compliance. In short an essential guide for corporate in house counsels and alike to ensure they are compliant in multiple jurisdictions.

For more details, please follow the link below:

https://ceelegalmatters.com/white-collar-crime-2022/white-collar-crime-serbia-2022

We are pleased to announce that two Serbian companies Lotika and TMB Diamond Voćar established a partnership for the production of the organic food and beverages.

This cooperation results from the common goal of Lotika, its owner professor Emir Kusturica (movie director), and TMB Diamond Voćar, owned by Tešo Marković, to provide health-safe food and drinks.

Lotika is a company well-known for its unique way of pursuing hospitality and tourism in Mokra Gora region in Serbia (Mecavnik) , as well as cultural activities (Küstendorf Film and Music Festival), whereas TMB Diamond Voćar doo is a sister company of DOO TMB Diamond Pančevo (link), renowned in organic fertilizers and plant protection business.

NSTLAW provided assistance in establishing an adequate legal frame for the partnership and in coming up with a tailor-made legal model. The team was led by Nenad Stankovic, Partner, together with Andjelka Radovanovic, Senior Associate, and Teodora Markovic, Legal Trainee.

The Firm represents Cypriot and Canadian investors in a new investor protection case against the Republic of Serbia. The case was registered on 27 May 2022 before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, under the case no. ARB/22/14. Currently, there are 7 pending arbitrations against the Republic of Serbia before ICSID.  NSTLAW team is acting in four of them and this experience is hugely beneficial for our clients. We are also proud to be Co-Counsel along with the international dispute resolution team of Squire Patton Boggs for the second time.

For more information, please visit the link.

Tijana Milisic, Junior Associate, completed the mini-MBA educational program “Leader Project Serbia” 2022, organized by CANSEE, the Canadian Serbian Business Association in cooperation with Ivey Business School at Western University, Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Embassy of Canada in Serbia. Together with 45 colleagues from the business community, Tijana was selected so that she may better understand the context of corporates and serve them more efficiently as a lawyer.

The focus of the ten-day intensive training was to learn the entrepreneurship skills, such as business management and strategy, finance, marketing etc. The whole program was designed in the form of workshops as per MBA programs.

The lectures and workshops were presented by Canadian instructors Jessica McEwen, Ryan Cheng, Sonya Zhang, Danial Agha, Jessie Gill and Glen Hébert from the Ivey Business School at Western University, one of the best ranked business schools in the world. The academic content was accompanied by visits to various organizations, such as ICT Hub, the Embassy of Canada in Serbia, NALED and FEFA Faculty, as well as social events.

Congratulations to all participants, instructors and organizers- now to implement all this knowledge in practice!

Tijana Milišić je završila program Leader Project Serbia

Tijana Milišić, mlađi saradnik, završila je mini-MBA edukativni program „LEADER Project Serbia“ 2022, koji je organizovan od strane CANSEE Kanadsko-srpsko poslovnog udruženja u saradnji sa Ivey Business School Western Univerziteta, Privrednom komorom Srbije i Ambasadom Kanade u Srbiji. Zajedno sa 45 kolega iz poslovne zajednice, Tijana je odabrana kako bi bolje razumela kontekst korporacija i efikasnije im pružala usluge kao advokat.

Fokus desetodnevne intenzivne obuke bilo je učenje preduzetničkih veština, kao što su poslovni menadžment i strategija, finansije, marketing itd. Ceo program je osmišljen u formi radionica u stilu MBA programa.

Predavanja i radionice su držali kanadski instruktori Jessica McEwen, Ryan […]