The Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”) published its Final Report on the E-Marketplace Sector Inquiry (“Final Report”) on April 14, 2022, after a period of almost a year after publishing its Preliminary Report on the E-Marketplace Sector Inquiry (“Preliminary Report”) on May 7, 2021.

Cobalt has successfully represented AirBaltic and the Riga International Airport before the Supreme Court of Lithuania against antitrust claims brought by bankrupt carrier FlyLAL.

Another milestone towards the approximation of the legislation with the EU Acquis has been completed by Kosovo. The new Law No. 08/L-056 “On the Protection of Competition”, entered into force on 22 June 2022. The Kosovan legislators in the drafting of the new law benefited from the technical assistance of EU funded project “EU support for the Kosovo Competition Authority and State Aid Commission.

Following the wave in Europe on the enforcement of foreign direct investment screening, Romania has just shifted to new rules for non-EU investors. The new regime entered into force on April 18, 2022, and is expected to be fully operational by June 18, 2022, when the new FDI Screening Commission is to be set up.

While the deal looked almost impossible at first, with European Commission officials hawkish about its competition implications, PKN Orlen’s acquisition of Grupa Lotos eventually came to pass. For the two Polish energy leviathans the path towards unification was not an easy one, but that goal became a lot nearer following the EC’s 2020 approval. To learn more about the merger and how it managed to beat the odds we spoke to SMM Legal Managing Partner Maciej Mataczynski and Rymarz Zdort Managing Partner Pawel Rymarz.

PeliPartners has successfully represented the National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Romania (UNSAR) before Romania’s High Court of Cassation and Justice in a dispute against the Romanian competition authority.