As cross-border client needs grow in Southeast Europe, Kinstellar launched the Western Balkans Hub to offer legal support across the region. SOG in cooperation with Kinstellar Managing Partner Milos Velimirovic and Special Counsel Olga Sipka discuss how the Hub came to life, how it works in practice, and what sets it apart.
CEELM: What is the WBH, and how did the concept for it come up?
Sipka: For a while now, we’ve been coordinating work coming in from the smaller Balkan countries, mainly from our Serbia and Zagreb offices. At one point, we just thought – why not turn this into something more strategic? Clients often come to us needing help across several of these jurisdictions, and they don’t want to juggle different firms. They want one go-to place, with high-quality advice and smooth coordination. So, in many ways, the Hub was born out of something that was already happening, but we just made it more intentional and much more useful for our clients.
Velimirovic: When it came to naming it and defining what it actually covers, it made sense to look at the former Yugoslav countries, where clients often need support. But the region has become much more fragmented, and now you also have places like Albania and Kosovo that are really active. Except for Albania, most of these countries still share similar legal systems, so grouping them made sense. Albania’s a bit different, but it’s on a similar path – close to the EU, active, and leading some interesting reforms. As a result, called it the Western Balkans Hub – it works geographically, politically, and commercially. It just fits.
CEELM: You mentioned moving from ad-hoc coordination to something more strategic. How does the Hub work?
Sipka: We have full-service offices in Serbia and Croatia, and they cover pretty much the entire Western Balkans region – Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo. What makes the hub a hub is that we don’t rely on just one model to service clients. Sometimes it’s our internal lawyers, sometimes it’s trusted local partners or highly specialized experts, depending on the issue. It’s very flexible, and we build the setup based on what’s best for each client. We also do quite a bit of market research, so it’s aligned with what clients need and what kind of expertise is really available in these countries.
Velimirovic: We work with two main types of clients: investors looking at multiple countries, and international law firms, say from London, that need lawyers in places like North Macedonia or Montenegro for one piece of a larger deal. That kind of coordination can be a real headache. Considering that, we act as a single point of contact and guide them through the whole thing. Let’s say someone needs a risk investigation in Albania, Kosovo, or North Macedonia – we know exactly who to bring in, and it’s someone with real experience, not just someone we looked up online. That’s what makes a difference.
CEELM: How do you balance internal capabilities with collaboration across jurisdictions, especially in markets where you don’t have a full-time presence?
Velimirovic: We try not to focus too much on just what we can do internally. Sure, our lawyers can practice in multiple countries – Serbian lawyers can work in Montenegro, for example, and we have Bosnian-licensed lawyers too. But often we collaborate with other top local firms to make sure the client gets the right support. It’s not about showing off internal capacity, but rather, getting the job done well. For example, we just closed a transaction in Montenegro where our lawyers led the work, but we also had Montenegrin lawyers working alongside us. That blend is really effective.
Sipka: Exactly. And depending on the project, we might have someone from Montenegro working closely with our team, even if they’re not based in our office full-time. That’s what makes us different. We don’t pretend to have everything in-house for every small jurisdiction. Our strength is that we’re flexible and can bring in the best people for each case.
CEELM: How do you find and choose the best lawyers to work with in each country?
Velimirovic: Honestly, we travel a lot. We visit these countries regularly, meet with law firms, talk to major companies, even the ones that aren’t our clients, to hear how they see the market, what works, and what doesn’t. It gives us a really good feel for which firms are trusted and respected. We also have regular BD calls with our partners in the region and track trends: what deals are happening, what sectors are moving. It’s an ongoing process.
Sipka: Interestingly, because of how the hub works, a lot of experts come to us. In London, we’re seen as a valuable partner across the region, not as a competitor. So local firms often say, “Hey, we’re pitching for this deal, why don’t you join us?” That happened recently in Albania, where we were invited to pitch alongside a local firm because they didn’t have the capacity to handle it alone. So, the hub model actually creates a lot of opportunities.
CEELM: Some of the firms in the region are newer to Kinstellar. How did you create alignment internally?
Velimirovic: Kinstellar’s been in Serbia for over 12 years, so we had a strong foundation. And the cooperation with the Croatia office took off pretty naturally. When we first brought up the idea of the hub, everyone saw the potential, and the board approved it pretty quickly. The buy-in was there from the start. It wasn’t just about branding, but about actually delivering for our clients in a new way. Besides lawyers, all internal coordination and communication, and market research is led by our Head of Business Development – Western Balkans, Biljana Djakovic.
Sipka: A good example is our M&A team – they’re not fans of doing multiple competition filings across jurisdictions, it’s a lot of paperwork and coordination. But we took that on and handled one of the biggest deals in the region: PPF’s acquisition of SBB, where we worked alongside Cromwell. It required merger control filings across the Western Balkans, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and so on. It was a EUR 1.5 billion deal and really showed what the Hub can do.
Velimirovic: Another highlight was the airport concession project in Montenegro, involving a South Korean company. That came early on and was a great example of our internal team working side by side with Montenegrin colleagues to deliver a complex piece of work.
CEELM: What’s next for the Hub?
Velimirovic: Right now, we have weekly calls and monthly reporting with the firms involved, and we’ve launched different initiatives across service lines. Looking ahead, the goal is to stay on top of everything happening in the region, economically and legally. If you’re doing business in the Western Balkans, we want to be the first firm you think of. We’re growing the team, investing in training, and really thinking regionally, not just locally.
We’ve even had interest from West Coast tech clients in the US who are looking into opportunities in the Balkans, especially as tech hubs continue to grow here. As a result, the hub needs to evolve alongside those opportunities.
CEELM: What makes the WBH different from other networks in the region?
Velimirovic: It really comes down to flexibility, trust, and quality. We don’t try to do everything in-house. We focus on getting the right people for each job – whether they’re part of our team or top local experts. Clients don’t want to chase down five firms and repeat themselves. They want one place to go, one team they can rely on. That’s what WBH offers, and that’s what sets us apart.
This article was originally published in Issue 12.6 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here.
