Contributed by Baros, Bicakcic & Partners.

Corporate restructuring and transformations, such as status changes, are part of the business cycle of companies and represent their natural way of growing, adapting to changes in the market and exploring new business opportunities.

Zlatan Balta has joined Legal Partners, in cooperation with Deloitte Legal, as the leader of its legal practice in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Doklestic Repic & Gajin has advised Beijing New Building Materials Plc on the transaction with the Coal Mine and Thermal Power Plant Ugljevik for the creation of a EUR 50 million gypsum board joint venture. China's Shihui Partners reportedly advised BNBM on the deal as well.

With 2022 being an election year for Bosnia, there is not a lot of market activity, according to BB Legal Partner Nenad Baros. There are crypto-related legislation updates on the horizon, however, and the market has settled down following the sale of Sberbank assets in the country to local banks.

Baros Bicakcic & Partners and Bojovic Draskovic Popovic & Partners have successfully represented Viaduct d.o.o. in an ICSID claim against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

CEE Legal Matters readers will likely be familiar with Patricia Gannon as one of the founders of Karanovic & Partners. Since her withdrawal from the firm (reported by CEE Legal Matters on September 21, 2020), Gannon ran her own "holistic strategic advisory business" (as reported on October 12, 2020) and, recently, she announced she is working on a new social media app for lawyers – Platforum 9. We caught up with her to learn more about her new project.

On April 5, 2022, leading lawyers from across all of CEE will be coming together for the Dealer's Choice Conference and Deals of the Years Awards Banquet. Leading up to the event, we spoke with Vladimir Rangeloff of Kambourov & Partners to learn what they are looking forward to the most.

On April 5, 2022, leading lawyers from across all of CEE will be coming together for the Dealer's Choice Conference and Deals of the Years Awards Banquet. Leading up to the event, we spoke with Silvije Cipcic-Bragadin of Cipcic-Bragadin Mesic and Associates to learn what they are looking forward to the most.

On April 5, 2022, leading lawyers from across all of CEE will be coming together for the Dealer's Choice Conference and Deals of the Years Awards Banquet. Leading up to the event, we spoke with Gabor Bebok of Pontes Budapest to learn what they are looking forward to the most.

On April 5, 2022, leading lawyers from across all of CEE will be coming together for the Dealer's Choice Conference and Deals of the Years Awards Banquet. Leading up to the event, we spoke with Oana Ijdelea of Ijdelea & Associates to learn what they are looking forward to the most.

According to Ibrahimovic & Co Managing Partner Adi Ibrahimovic, “the EU’s engagement with Bosnia and Herzegovina has gone through sporadic periods of intensifying cooperation and uncertain situations,” leading Dimitrijevic & Partners Partner Davorin Marinkovic to summarize the current status as: “frankly speaking, the public perception is that nobody actually knows.”

According to the applicable legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), domains are not considered as intellectual property rights (IP). The owner of the national domain .ba is the state of BH and any legal or natural person is considered a user of the registered domains, for as long as the yearly maintenance fees are paid regularly.

Bosnia & Herzegovina remains open for business, despite political instability – caused by increasing secessionist tendencies – and slowing reforms, according to DMB Legal Managing Partner Dina Durakovic.

Bosnia & Herzegovina is going through the gravest political crisis since the end of the war in 1995, according to Prebanic & Jusufbasic-Goloman Partner Arela Jusufbasic-Goloman, but it is registering a stable financial sector and an increase M&A activity.

Distribution agreements are a necessary legal basis for any distribution chain across industries, and are very important both for the cooperation of companies within individual countries, and for the cooperation of distribution chain companies coming from different countries. In an attempt to retain or conquer the market, certain companies (manufacturers or main distributors) may try to restrict local distributors or wholesalers to selling only their products or to selling at certain prices, by imposing specific distribution conditions on them in (exclusive) distribution agreements. Most of those companies are not aware that such imposed distribution conditions are prohibited by law and that very high penalties are prescribed for such actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zeljko Vlacic has been promoted to Partner at Sajic law firm.

Contributed by Miljkovic & Partners.