Useful Information

The judgment of the Court of the European Union in case C-432/23, in which a preliminary ruling was requested – Administrative cooperation in the field of taxation – Directive 2011/16/EU – Exchange of information on request – Order addressed to a lawyer to disclose information – Professional secrecy of a lawyer – European Union Article 7 and Article 52, paragraph 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

A brief commentary on the ruling has been provided by Jānis Loze:

https://bnn-news.com/european-court-of-justice-rules-state-institutions-are-not-allowed-to-request-client-information-from-advocates-262173

Our law firm successfully represented a client – one of the co-owners of a large car dealership centre – in litigation regarding the voiding of a share purchase agreement, based on the rarely invoked Article 2042 of the Civil Law. It was proven that the share purchase price was too low and did not even reach half of the usual value of the sold shares, and the seller had acted with malicious intent. The Regional Court ruled in our client’s favour, and the Supreme Court upheld the decision. We are pleased with the result!! 💼⚖️

Good deeds and certificates are piling up, and we are happy!

Our Kristaps Loze, despite his busyness in client affairs, always finds time to contribute by participating in the World Justice Project® (WJP) research and data collection. This time, the contribution was made in the EU Subnational Justice, Governance, and Rule of Law project.

Loze & Partners in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and the UN World Food Programme, assisted our client in donating a cargo of fertiliser (owned by a company sanctioned by the European Union) from the client’s warehouse to Nigeria.

As a result of the cooperation, a cargo of approximately 34,000 tonnes of fertiliser was shipped from the Port of Ventspils to Nigeria on 27 December 2023 on behalf of the UN World Food Programme.

https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/article/cargo-mineral-fertilizers-shipped-ventspils-nigeria-behalf-un-world-food-programme

Photo credit: Freeport of Ventspils authority

Get things done and enjoy the holidays!

It is a good feeling when you can devote your knowledge and time to the common good. Our new partner, attorney at law Kristaps Loze, has been part of the Latvian legal team for several years and participated in the World Justice Project® (WJP) research and data collection, helping to create the Rule of Law Index.

The Rule of Law Index, created by WJP, measures how the rule of law is experienced and perceived around the world, based on expert and household surveys in 142 countries and jurisdictions. WJP data provides timely and reliable information to policymakers, civil society organizations, academics, media, citizens, businesses and lawyers, just to mention a few. It aims to promote policy reforms, steer programme development and inform of research to strengthen the rule of law.

Further information on the WJP Rule of Law Index can be found here:

Loze & Partners is pleased to inform you that attorney at law Kristaps Loze became a partner of the firm.

Kristaps has been our colleague for eight years and during this time has grown into a very strong professional, motivating the rest of the office team with his passion and enthusiasm.

Kristaps has graduated from the University of Westminster, Great Britain (LL.B, 2014) and the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands (LL.M, 2015). Kristaps has purposefully strengthened his knowledge and accumulated experience; in 2016 he was admitted to the Bar as an associate attorney at law, and in 2022 he successfully joined the community of attorneys at law of Latvia.

LOZE & PARTNERS successfully represented the members of the management and supervisory boards of a large Latvian food producer in a lawsuit against the company’s minority shareholder. The gist of the lawsuit: the company’s claim provided for in Article 172 of the Commercial Law. Our law firm helped to get the claim dismissed in full at the court of first instance and termination of further legal proceedings through a settlement. Team: Jānis Loze, Līga Mence, Kristaps Loze

Loze & Partners is proud and honoured to represent clients before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, Case C-78/21. We believe that this decision to be made by the ECJ will have a significant impact on the financial sector as a whole both in Latvia and European Union. Our team is composed of Jānis Loze, Kristaps Loze, Līga Mence & Alīna Kovaļčuka.

LOZE & PARTNERS provides free legal advice to refugees from Ukraine. We consult in English and Russian. Phone +371 677 44444, email: loze@loze.lv

LOZE & PARTNERS prepared all the necessary documents confirming that the funds were obtained as a result of official and legal economic activity and that the cash deposit to the bank account was a lawful and legal transaction. A large number of transaction documents were submitted as proof of the origin of the funds.

Key lawyers who participated in the preparation of documents and submission of evidence were Jānis Loze, Jānis Pūris and Kristaps Loze.

“We are pleased that the state authorities listen to their entrepreneurs, delve into the submitted evidence and cooperate to achieve a positive result,” says attorney at law Jānis Loze.

The funds were seized by the Tax and Customs Police Department, the State Revenue Service, due to suspected money laundering. This is the third time that our law firm has managed to recover the seized funds.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

LOZE & PARTNERS, representing one of the largest Ukrainian investors in Latvia, in proceedings of alleged money laundering or terrorism and proliferation financing, has secured the release of several million euros of frozen funds and securities. Our team in this case: Jānis Loze, Līga Mence, Kristaps Loze

Our law firm, representing Husqvarna AB, successfully enforced the ban on posting Husqvarna AB’s copyrighted photos on the website of a popular Latvian online store and ensured that the illegal use of such copyright object is immediately terminated.

Our law firm Loze & Partners is glad to let you know that while representing our clients, we have successfully achieved that the Latvian court has referred a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling on whether the requirement made by the Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission for a bank to mainly deal with clients that “have a link with Latvia” is in line with EU regulations on non-discrimination and the free movement of capital.

According to our managing partner, Jānis Loze, “Taking into account the recent developments in the Latvian banking sector, this will be a much-anticipated preliminary ruling in both Latvia and the European Union as a whole.”

Our team working on the case is composed of Jānis Loze, Līga Mence and Kristaps Loze.

We are happy to announce that the inaugural Cape Town Convention Compliance Index was published at the end of February 2020. The Index was developed by the Aviation Working Group with input on legal facts from over 200 law firms worldwide, that specialise in aviation law, including Loze & Partners and Sorainen as the contributors from Latvia.

The Index assigns a score reflecting AWG’s assessment of the likelihood of compliance with Cape Town Convention obligations to each contracting state, as well as provides an objective, data-driven assessment of legal risk, which will be central to transactional analyses.

The Index can be accessed (free of charge) here:

The EU institutions approved a law which would allow citizens in all EU countries to go to court as a group if they have suffered the same damage. Consumer groups have been advocating for such a law for more than 30 years.

That means that in a few years’ time, European consumers will be able to file class actions (same as it has been done in the US for decades) on infringements on data protection, air and train passenger rights, travel and tourism, the environment and health, and numerous other issues — a tool that will come in handy in the post-coronavirus era.

https://www.beuc.eu/publications/eu-institutions-reach-historic-deal-eu-wide-collective-redress-law/html

In these troubled times, our law firm continues to offer free legal advice to Latvian businesses.

We will give free legal advice in commercial law to three Latvian businesspersons every day.

Please apply for appointment by phone 67744444 or email  loze@loze.lv to agree on the time of  remote appointment or face-to-face meeting at our offices at Kr. Valdemāra iela 33.

The present management team of Wrong Digital, Artis Krilovs, chairman of the Board, Oskars Cirsis, creative director, and Vilhelms Meisters, head of social media team, have become the owners of the company.

Thank you, Wrong Digital, for letting us handle the legal side of this transaction. Congratulations and good luck!

Publicity photo

https://forbes.lv/lv/uznemeji/raksts/digitalajai-agenturai-wrong-jauni-ipasnieki?fbclid=IwAR1ajH-4txaHdXQ7XYw_UwK_KDhk_rxUHyBqA9UL2s_LIX110zj1BOe0YEU

https://wrong.digital/contacts

This is a time full of uncertainty and questions.

The Attorneys at Law Loze & Partners continue to work actively, and, if necessary, we can also assist in resolving any legal issues regarding COVID-19.

You can reach us at all times even if we have to work remotely.

https://www.loze.lv/en/contacts/

Congratulations to our client, SE Capitalia, on their growth and new success in the field and are pleased to have been able to support them in this process.
May you have further achievements and looking forward to future good cooperation!

https://blog.mintos.com/tag/capitalia-en/

On 4 October, the Junior ADVOC Practice Group Meeting took place in Nicosia. Our office was represented at this meeting by Kristaps Loze, who enjoyed the Cypriot charm and hospitality of his ADVOC colleagues in Cyprus, Lellos P. Demetriades Law Office LLC, that welcomed all participants in their office.

Many thanks to Lellos P. Demetriades Law Office LLC for a great event and see you at future ADVOC events!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ldlaw_nicosia-cyprus-activity-6585922737020239872-366u/

On 13 June 2019, the Saeima adopted amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (the AML/CTF Amendment) in the final reading.

The AML/CTF Amendment provides for a new right of the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia to require additional information about the beneficial owner upon registration of the company or organization and to apply a more efficient liquidation procedure if the beneficial owner is not disclosed.

Therefore AML/CTF Amendment obligates all legal entities to provide information about their beneficial owner at the time of registration of the company or organisation. If the beneficial owner of the company is not disclosed, the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia may launch the winding-up procedure of the company.

The article by Jānis Loze and Kristaps Loze, Minority Shareholder’s Right to Bring an Action against Management Board and Supervisory Board Members: Observations Stemming from Practice, has been published in the latest issue of Jurista Vārds of 23 April.

The Commercial Law provides for the right of minority shareholders of limited liability companies and joint stock companies to request that an action be brought on behalf of the company against members of the management board and/ or the supervisory board of the relevant company in order to recover losses that members of the management board and/ or the supervisory board of the company allegedly have caused to the company. Our practice shows that minority shareholders become more and more willing to use such a right to bring an action on behalf of the company, while the minority shareholders themselves represent the company in court, and this situation has revealed several shortcomings in the exercise of the rights referred to in Article 172 of the Commercial Law. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of the possible shortcomings that our office’s lawyers have encountered on a number of occasions.

On 21 March 2018, Loze & Partners hosted the Irish Latvian Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting at which the new Board of ILCC was elected.
Congrats and best wishes for promoting mutual interests and cooperation!

Legal advice in the aviation sector is an area where our law firm has gained a truly remarkable experience. Number of aircraft registrations already approaches 20 and we are happy to say that in February, we completed reregistration of another two Boeing aircrafts with the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency.

We are pleased to announce that after hard work of several months, as a result of merger of Latvia-based akciju sabiedrība Capitalia, Estonia-based Capitalia Finance AS and Lithuania-based AB Capitalia Finance, SE Capitalia, a Societas Europaea, has been formed and registered in Latvia. SE Capitalia will continue to finance small and medium-sized enterprises in the Baltic countries.

Our legal team was composed of Jānis Loze, Līga Mence and Kristaps Loze.

We are proud to say we have provided legal advice in the matter that has resulted in the Supreme Courting departing from its standpoint stated in its decisions of 2013 and 2016 that cases dealing with the requests for information by councillors do not fall under the competence of administrative proceedings, and has acknowledged that in compliance with the principles of a democratic state governed by the rule of law and Article 2 of the Administrative Procedure Law, it is the Administrative Court that has jurisdiction over such dispute.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court in its decision highlighted the fact that if the information dealing with activities of the municipality posted on the official portal of the municipality is not only neutral, but also provides opinions of councillors, including that of the chairman of the council, regarding any issues, such portal may not be used to highlight one-sided interests or to focus on a certain group or political force.  In such a situation the portal has to properly reflect multiplicity of opinions, including the opinion of the political opposition.

Legal support in this case was provided by our Attorneys at Law Ilona Bauda and Janis Loze, and Associate Kristaps Loze.

Nordic & Baltic Young Artist Award is a unique competition in fine arts in Nordic and Baltic countries organised by the Art Academy of Latvia, Estonian Academy of Arts, Vilnius Art Academy, NOAR.eu contemporary art platform and Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation. This year the University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki) joined the competition as well.

The goal of this competition is to support young talents in starting their careers as professional artists and to offer both art-friends and art professionals better access to discover young artists.

Awards will be given to the artist selected by an international jury and the winner of the online public voting.

By the way, by 21 October every art-friend can vote for 5 artworks choosing them here:

The Scenography of a Small Town
By Monika Plentauskaite
Drawing

On 12 July 2018, a memorandum of understanding was entered into by the Latvian Government and Telia Company AB on improvement of strategic coordination in SIA Lattelecom and SIA Latvijas Mobilais Telefons.
What does this memorandum of understanding mean for Latvia? This issue is commented by Jānis Loze, managing partner of Loze & Partners, in his interview to the Dienas Bizness that is published on 6 September.

Riga Moot 2018, an international moot court competition, is starting today at Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL) with teams from six countries – Belarus, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine.

We are proud that our colleague Liga Mence is a judge at Riga Moot 2018.

http://www.rgsl.edu.lv/en/news/teams-from-six-countries-to-compete-in-riga-moot-2018

Loze & Partners has given legal advice to US, Irish and Canadian companies on operational leases of aircraft, including examination of all transaction documents and deregistration and registration of aircraft in the aircraft register maintained by the Civil Aviation Agency. In the course of time, our law firm has obtained considerable experience in aviation issues as to date we have participated in over 15 aircraft registrations in Latvia and abroad.

On 6 March 2018 the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter – CJEU) has delivered a groundbreaking judgment (Case C-284/16) that has the potential to significantly affect investment disputes within the European Union.
The case concerned a dispute between Slovakia and Achmea, an undertaking belonging to a Netherlands insurance group, regarding the application of a bilateral investment treaty (hereinafter – BIT) in force between the two Member States (Slovakia and the Netherlands).
Article 8 of the above-mentioned BIT provides that any disputes between one Contracting Party and an investor of the other Contracting Party may be submitted to an arbitral tribunal, for which the procedure for establishment is then further described in the BIT. Crucially the decisions of the arbitral tribunal established as per the BIT are final and binding upon the parties to the dispute.
Frankfurt am Main (Germany) was chosen as the place of arbitration. The arbitral tribunal ruled in favour of Achmea and ordered Slovakia to pay Achmea damages in the principal amount of EUR 22.1 million. Slovakia then brought an application before the German courts to have the decision set aside. Subsequently the case reached the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) that decided to ask the CJEU for a preliminary ruling. One of the questions referred to the CJEU was:
“Does Article 344 TFEU preclude the application of a provision in a bilateral investment protection agreement between Member States of the European Union (a so-called intra-EU BIT) under which an investor of a Contracting State, in the event of a dispute concerning investments in the other Contracting State, may bring proceedings against the latter State before an arbitral tribunal where the investment protection agreement was concluded before one of the Contracting States acceded to the European Union but the arbitral proceedings are not to be brought until after that date?”
The CJEU in its judgment found that while it supports the reasoning behind the establishment of commercial arbitration courts and that the courts of the Member States only have limited scope to review the decision of such commercial arbitration courts, however, the same cannot be said for arbitral tribunals established pursuant to the BITs, as they are of a different nature. The CJEU in its judgment noted that “it must be considered that, by concluding the BIT, the Member States parties to it established a mechanism for settling disputes between an investor and a Member State which could prevent those disputes from being resolved in a manner that ensures the full effectiveness of EU law, even though they might concern the interpretation or application of that law.” Furthermore, “[i]n the present case, however, apart from the fact that the disputes falling within the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal referred to in Article 8 of the BIT may relate to the interpretation both of that agreement and of EU law, the possibility of submitting those disputes to a body which is not part of the judicial system of the EU is provided for by an agreement which was concluded not by the EU but by Member States. Article 8 of the BIT is such as to call into question not only the principle of mutual trust between the Member States but also the preservation of the particular nature of the law established by the Treaties, ensured by the preliminary ruling procedure provided for in Article 267 TFEU, and is not therefore compatible with the principle of sincere cooperation”.
Therefore the CJEU ruled that “Articles 267 and 344 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding a provision in an international agreement concluded between Member States, such as Article 8 of the Agreement on encouragement and reciprocal protection of investments between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, under which an investor from one of those Member States may, in the event of a dispute concerning investments in the other Member State, bring proceedings against the latter Member State before an arbitral tribunal whose jurisdiction that Member State has undertaken to accept.”
This CJEU judgment appears to indicate a significant limitation to any active BITs concluded between Member States of the European Union. It will be very interesting to see how this develops, and to see how and whether it will affect any cases, especially the ongoing cases, that have been brought before this judgment was made and whether other contracting parties under such BIT’s might challenge former arbitration awards granted prior to this judgment. One thing is certain – investment disputes will likely never be the same.

Kristaps Loze
Associate Attorney at Law
Attorneys at Law “Loze & Partners”

Sources:
Case C-284/16 Slowakische Republik (Slovak Republic) v Achmea BV.
Full judgement available here:
Agreement on encouragement and reciprocal protection of investments between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic

Last year INSOL International, whose members specialize in turnaround and insolvency, published the fifth edition of a comparative study on the risks for company directors, managers, advisors and other third parties acting during the so-called ‘twilight zone’, that might even precede the insolvency of company. After considering thirty jurisdictions the study is prudent to conclude that over the recent years, director liabilities have been increasingly sharpened, the risks have been increased and there is an abiding attention to duties and responsibilities.

In general these conclusions correspond with Dutch trends relating to director liabilities. In terms of legal certainty, however, it remains difficult to pinpoint exactly which behavior may lead to liability and which circumstances may lead to exculpation. Moreover, Dutch law does not actually constitute which period of time qualifies as ‘the twilight zone’. Judges have to decide at what point in time directors had to realize that company creditors would be disadvantaged. From that moment onwards, a director should explicitly consider the creditors’ interests. Depending upon the type of action that is brought to the court, it is again up to the judge to decide whether a director has properly performed his duty, taking all relevant circumstances into consideration. The judge might even be confronted with having to decide if the defendant actually qualifies as a director. Nonetheless, Dutch case law shows an increasing number of cases relating to director liability. More and more individual creditors seem to direct their attention to company directors and even controlling shareholders, accusing them of mismanagement or not taking the necessary steps to prevent (disproportionate) prejudice to creditors. This trend might even be part of a much broader development in Dutch liability law, which boils down to the idea that fate no longer plays a (significant) part when it comes to damages: ‘another (legal) person was responsible and can offer compensation for my losses’.

The study’s conclusion is also consistent with recent developments in Latvia. The general principle of director’s liability under Latvian law is that directors are jointly and severally liable for any damages caused to the company. One of the only defences that is available to a director is to prove that the director has acted as “an honest and careful manager”. This concept has been deliberately left undefined as each dispute is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, although as a guideline the person should have acted in good faith and with reasonable care. This liability was, however, limited by time-barring claims against a director once five years have passed counting from the day when the director has caused damages to the company. Recently, the Supreme Court of Latvia, has expanded the principle of director’s liability, by stating that a director can be personally liable for any tax debts (including any possible interest and/or fines for late payment) of the company. Also, during insolvency proceedings, the management board members can now be jointly and severally liable to all creditors in the amount of the principal debt that cannot be satisfied within the scope of the insolvency proceedings if, in short, the management board members for failing the requirement to keep (financial) records or to provide bankruptcy trustee with those records. A similar assessment of the director’s performance of his duties applies in the Netherlands.

For both jurisdictions it remains to be seen whether director liability will become the new standard in company law instead of being the exception to the rule.

Jeffrey van Nuland
Attorney-at-law
Boels Zanders Advocaten
Venlo, the Netherlands

Kristaps Loze
Associate Attorney-at-Law
Loze & Partners
Riga, Latvia

During the Job Shadow Day, Aleksandra, Linda and Madara got insight into some aspects of the work of our law firm, had an opportunity to visit the Financial and Capital Market Commission and participate in a court hearing in the Riga Regional Court, they also searched for answers to the questions posed by a potential client. During discussions with the shadows, our lawyers described the role of a lawyer and characterised his key features. If Aleksandra, Linda and Madara really decide to link their future with the legal profession, we believe this will be a valuable complement to the legal community.

We wish Aleksandra, Linda and Madara every success in their future endeavours!

As contributors, Loze & Partners are truly pleased to bring to your attention a comprehensive business law guide prepared by ADVOC to assist you in navigating through multiple jurisdictions in Europe, South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand and offers a straightforward account of the essential corporate law, tax law and employment law regulations providing investors with a direct comparison of options under consideration.  The guide is the result of cooperation of ADVOC members throughout the world, all in all 41 law firms have made their contribution, and Loze & Partners is among them.

We hope you will find the guide helpful. Download the complete Advoc_International_Business_Guide_2017.

Response to the question: “Is an employment contract validly executed if signed using an electronic signature?” published in the magazine ITiesības has been prepared by attorney at law Ilona Bauda.

Full text of the article here:

I have bought a drone. Do I need some special knowledge about its use? Should it be registered with some authority? May I fly the drone in any place? What else do I need to know to use my new purchase in accordance with law?

Response published in the magazine iTiesības has been prepared by associate attorney at law Kristaps Loze.

Full text of the article here: 

It was the largest meeting of ADVOC EUROPE in recent years that gathered around 100 delegates not only from Europe, also from the US, Brazil and Australia. Lively discussions and talks, excellent leisure time, joint dinners and excursions – the participants thoroughly enjoyed it all!

A big ’thank you’ goes to DELACOUR, and partner Thomas Salicath in particular, for the excellent event.

Loze & Partners have been invited by the government of Ireland to give an expert opinion regarding procedural matters relating to an action brought in Ireland against a Latvian citizen. The expert opinion was provided by our attorney at law Uldis Freidenfelds to the High Court of Ireland via videoconference.

In mid-February, the two-day Global M&A Conference was held at the Millennium Hotel in London.

The conference was organised by long-term members of the international lawyer network ADVOC, i.e., England–based Ashfords LLP, German-based Seufert and Vandenbulke and Boels Zandersfrom the Netherlands, which specialise, inter alia, in cross-border transactions. The conference was aimed at in-house lawyers, corporate law specialists, financing experts, representatives of banks and other internationally active M&A professionals. Topics on the agenda were i.a. trends in M&A insurance, foreign investment controls, and IP and cybersecurity issues in M&A transactions. As in previous years, many industry insiders from Europe, the USA and Asia attended. Our law firm was represented by attorney at law Liga Mence.

Aleksandra and Elza had an opportunity to visit two court hearings in the Riga Regional Court and search for answers to the questions posed by a potential client. We hope that the insight into the work of a law firm and discussions with our lawyers will be of help when they will have to choose the path to follow in the future.

We wish them every success in their future endeavours!

As a result of the transaction, SIA Baltstor, which is also the owner of SIA Bauskas tirgotājs that is active in retail of daily consumer goods through shops operating under Vesko trade mark, acquired from SIA Mego all shares in SIA Lenoka that operates under MEGO trade mark. The transaction will certainly contribute to the competition between the strong market players operating under the brand names of RMI and MAXIMA.

Congratulations to our client on successful implementation of such a large-scale transaction and we are happy for professional performance of our competition lawyers Jānis Loze, Līga Mence and Kristaps Loze.

Recently published Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All, a World Bank (the WB) Group flagship publication, shows that Latvia has improved its ranking and ranks 14^th. The rise was fuelled by improved availability of credit references and reforms made to simplify the tax payment system.

The annual Doing Business measures regulations affecting areas of the life of a business, from starting a business to such daily activities as trading across borders, paying taxes and resolving insolvency.

Such report requires considerable work contributed by professionals from diverse areas. This year, contributors included 12,500 lawyers, accountants, judges, engineers, architects, entrepreneurs and state officials from 190 countries worldwide, and lawyers of Loze & Partners  (attorneys at law Ilona Bauda and Jānis Loze as well as lawyer Kristaps Loze, who investigated legal framework in construction) were among them.

The WB has appreciated reforms introduced that are aimed at improvement of control of building supervision, while duration of construction approval procedures is still a major challenge to be worked on.

We are happy to note that altogether during the year, Latvia has risen three places.

Full information available at http://www.doingbusiness.org/Rankings

Happy and full of energy, we have returned from our first joint trip, this time it was Venice we visited. Our team has become even stronger and we are ready for new professional challenges.

On 12 July, an article of our colleagues, Jānis Loze, Līga Mence and Anna Kontere, was published in Lawyer Issue. The article covers recent changes in the competition regulatory framework in Latvia taking into account that as of 1 January 2016 the new law has come into force and it provides quite casuistic regulations for retailers of food products and for retailers of non-food products having significant effect in retail.

http://www.lawyerissue.com/recent-changes-in-the-competition-regulatory-framework-in-latvia/

We are happy to join the CanCham at this particular moment when Canada plays such a special role for Latvia.

Looking forward to mutually beneficial cooperation!

http://cancham.lv/

In accordance with the amendment made to the Law on Industrial Property Institutions and Procedures enacted as from 1 January 2016, Jānis Loze is included in the list of re-registered patent attorneys published on the website of the Patent Office at http://www.lrpv.gov.lv/en/representation-patent-office/list-re-registered-patent-attorneys

Our law firm gave legal advice to UPRENT, the leading pump and pumping system rental provider in Eastern Europe with branches in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland, in execution of an investment agreement with BaltCap, a major private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic States.