In the shifting terrain of the Balkan legal sector – particularly within the realm of intellectual property – 2025 has emerged as a year of strategic recalibration. While the broader Central and Eastern European (CEE) region continues to witness law firm mergers and lateral expansions, the Balkans are carving out a distinct narrative: one marked by regulatory tightening, enforcement innovation, and a growing appetite for regional cooperation.

In The Corner Office, we ask Managing Partners at law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their backgrounds, strategies, and responsibilities. This time around, we asked: Would you ever hire a non-lawyer as a CEO/Managing Partner for your firm? Why/why not?

Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Schoenherr Elena Todorova and AECO Law Partner Emre Atayilmaz analyze how officials are testing different playbooks to blunt food-price pressures in their jurisdictions.

Poland’s private sector is juggling overlapping EU digital frameworks while investors and counterparties raise the bar in transactions. Traple Konarski Podrecki & Partners Co-Managing Partner Agnieszka Wachowska, SSW Partner Jakub Kubalski, Schoenherr Partner Katarzyna Szczudlik, Woloszanski & Partners Head of Crypto Practice Lukasz Kudela, and Addleshaw Goddard Head of TMT/IP Szymon Sieniewicz break down where companies stand now, what’s coming next, how internal compliance is changing, where deals are feeling it, and the risks many still underestimate.

As growth steadies and inflation eases, Polish investors are stepping up while foreign capital recalibrates – shaping the next wave of opportunity in housing, offices, and logistics.

MediaMarkt Polska Head of Legal and Compliance Maciej Czajkowski discusses how to ensure compliance requirements are met in a fast-paced decision-making process and the opportunities presented for those who strike that balance right in terms of attracting ever-conscious consumers.

Moldova’s judicial system has long struggled with public distrust. Bivol & Asociatii Managing Partner Andrei Bivol and Dolea & Co Managing Partner Sorin Dolea discuss the current state of Moldova’s judiciary, the vetting process, and ongoing challenges.

An in-depth look at Jakub Celinski of Dentons, covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer, as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

An in-depth look at Oleg Efrim of Efrim Rosca Asociatii, covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer, as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

With accession ambitions accelerating and energy security still front-of-mind, Moldova has secured a sizable EU support package. Cobzac & Partners Managing Partner Daniel Cobzac analyzes the size, conditions, priority sectors, and likely immediate impact on investment and private-sector growth.

In 2022, Slovenia introduced a settlement procedure under the Prevention of Restriction of Competition Act (Competition Act), with a focus on restrictive agreements. This mechanism, inspired by the European Commission settlement procedures, aims to facilitate the expedited resolution of antitrust cases while encouraging greater engagement between undertakings and the competition authority. It is a form of rewarding the company for actively participating in the procedure before the Slovenian Competition Agency (Agency), thereby enabling the Agency to conduct the procedure with greater procedural efficiency.

Although a one-stop-shop merger clearance system is established by Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (EUMR), most transactions in the CEE Region cannot qualify for an EUMR merger clearance application. This is mainly due to the fact that the economic footprint of transactions in our region fails to trigger the jurisdictional thresholds established under the EUMR. Consequently, most transactions in the CEE region remain within the scope of national merger regimes, and clearance applications need to be made in a number of countries where the parties to the merger have an economic footprint.

If we were on Broadway, the latest public presentation of plans and ideas by the Czech competition enforcer – the Office for the Protection of Competition (OPC) – during a roundtable organized by the Czech branch of the International Chamber of Commerce (special thanks to my fellow board members for organizing it) could easily inspire reviews with headlines such as “shocking,” “surprisingly big,” or “unmatchable.” The discussion featuring the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the OPC offered a clear preview of an ambitious reform agenda: a broader legislative package, sharper enforcement priorities, and a modernized toolkit.

In Kosovo, the legal framework governing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is encapsulated in Law No. 08/L-056) on the Protection of Competition, effective from June 2022. This legislation mandates that certain concentrations (i.e., mergers, acquisitions, or joint ventures) be notified to the Authority for the Protection of Competition (APC) prior to their implementation, aiming to prevent anti-competitive practices and ensure a competitive market environment.

The Serbian competition landscape has undergone a profound transformation. While the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) has always had legal authority, its enforcement strategy has evolved from a largely reactive stance, responding to specific complaints, to a more proactive one, systematically addressing competition issues in key markets. This fundamental shift from procedural to strategic enforcement is reshaping how businesses must approach compliance in Serbia.

The year 2025 has already brought many changes to the landscape of competition law in Bulgaria, and a busy autumn is also anticipated.

In recent times, authorities throughout Europe and the rest of the world have been focusing on antitrust violations in the labor market. As a result, in 2024, the EU Commission came out with the policy brief on Antitrust in Labor Markets. Although the cases at the EU level have just started to trickle in, many of the European competition authorities have already dealt with the issues concerning no-poach/non-solicitation agreements, wage-fixing, and, to a smaller extent, information exchange. The Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) is no exception.

While the personal liability of managers – including foreign individuals – for anticompetitive behavior and consumer violations has been well established in Poland for many years now, recently, the Polish antitrust authority (UOKiK) has grown tougher in its enforcement, resulting in a rise in both the number of individuals fined and the amounts of the fines. In 2023, liability was also extended to managers of parent companies of the direct infringer.