On 10 April 2024 a panel of 5 judges from the Supreme Administrative Court (“SAC”) repealed the Mechanism for 2021 (the “Mechanism”) guaranteeing predictability and sustainability of the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (“NHIF”). The decision of SAC is final and is not subject to appeal.
The most recent and long anticipated amendments to the Bulgaria Labour Code were promulgated in the State Gazette on March 29, 2024. The changes aim to supplement the existing legal regime for remote work and establish clear rules on the issues which have appeared in practice.
In recent years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) criteria have emerged as pivotal factors influencing corporate strategy and investment decisions globally. The ESG standards serve as a measure of a company’s dedication to sustainability, ethics, and corporate responsibility, offering competitive advantages like improved reputation, talent attraction, and stakeholder trust.
We would like to bring your attention to the recent developments regarding the EU Directive on Platform Workers. On March 11, 2024, ministers responsible for employment and social affairs from the 27 member states of the European Union reached consensus on a new directive aimed at enhancing the working conditions of platform workers. These individuals, often referred to as “gig workers,” encompass a variety of roles such as rideshare drivers, app-based freelancers, and those who secure employment through digital platforms.
Read Eleonora Mateina’s article and check out her reflections on the Ventolin case (Bulgarian competition authority) concerning the shortage of drugs on the market, the determination of a dominant position, the effect-based approach towards the breach and the parallel export and import of pharmaceuticals.
Under the Macedonian Law on Protection of Whistleblowers (2015) the protected reporting may be carried out as protected internal reporting, protected external reporting, or protected public reporting anonymously or confidentially, with good intent and based on reasonable assurance at the time of reporting that the information contained in the reports are true.
On 18 January 2024 the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered a long-awaited preliminary ruling in case C-562/22 (the “Preliminary Ruling”) at the request of the Burgas District Court. The CJEU ruled that a provision of the Bulgarian Ownership and Use of Agricultural Land Act (“OUALA”) that sets a condition to acquirers of agricultural land in Bulgaria to have had the status of resident for more than five years prior to the acquisition, is contrary to EU law, more specifically – to Article 63 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (providing that “all restrictions on the movement of capital between Member States and between Member States and third countries shall be prohibited”).
Increase of the minimum wage and change in the social insurance threshold voted with the State Budget Act. From January, 1st 2024 the minimum monthly wage for Bulgaria is fixed at BGN 933 (appr. EUR 478).
After several years of staying in the registry offices of several consecutive National Assemblies, after promulgation in the State Gazette, on 01.12.2023, the long-awaited amendments to the Copyright and Related Rights Act (the “Act”) finally entered into force.
Clifford Chance and Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners, member of Eversheds Sutherland, advised the Republic of Bulgaria on its dual-tranche EUR 2.3 Billion sovereign bond issuance under Bulgaria’s GMTN Programme 13 November 2023 Clifford Chance, as global legal counsel, and Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners, the Bulgarian office of Eversheds Sutherland, as local counsel, advised Bulgaria on…
Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners, member of Eversheds Sutherland, acted as local counsel to Energo-Pro and its Bulgarian subsidiary Energo-Pro Varna on the bridge–to–bond transaction with the issuance of USD 300 million senior unsecured notes due 2028.
Eversheds Sutherland is delighted to partner with PILnet, a non-profit organisation working with charities around the world to connect them with legal advice, and present a jointly branded employment and immigration guide named “The Global Employment Compass” that aims to strengthen the resilience and autonomy of non-profit organizations by providing an easily accessible and user-friendly guide on employment laws in numerous jurisdictions worldwide.