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Zlatan Balta

Lawyer

Contact
Attorney at law in cooperation with CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz d.o.o.
Ul. Fra Anđela Zvizdovića 1
71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Languages Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, English, Swedish
Competition & EU

Zlatan Balta is an attorney-at-law in Sarajevo. Zlatan completed his law degree at the University of Sarajevo in 2009 and his master's degree in European Business Law at Lund University in 2012.

His main areas of interest are competition law, litigation, mergers & acquisitions, corporate law and commercial law. Considering the non-specialist nature of the jurisdiction and the B&H legal system, Zlatan regularly advises clients in other areas of law as well. 
 

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Relevant experience

  • Advising numerous clients in merger filing procedures and merger filing analyses.
  • Advising a major automobile manufacturer on various commercial law matters and all competition law matters regarding the group’s selective distribution system for sale and servicing of motor vehicles in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Advising an international automotive parts manufacturer as a shareholder in a local subsidiary on various competition matters regarding its contractual relationships with partners.
  • Representing a domestic pharmaceutical distributor in several proceedings regarding breaches of competition law by third parties and state aid.
  • Advising a major international food producer on competition law aspects of its distribution agreement.
  • Advising several clients on anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominant position
     
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Memberships & Roles

  • Bar Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Awards & Rankings

  • Next Generation Partner (Competition Law), The Legal 500, 2023.
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Education

  • 2012 - LL.M., European Business Law, University of Lund
  • 2009 - LL.B., Law, University of Sarajevo
     
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Corporate/M&A

Zlatan has advised and represented major international clients and had a leading role in several major M&A transactions on the BiH market.

Zlatan supports large international clients seeking to invest in local businesses. Further to assisting in the usual challenges clients face when entering the BiH market, he is particularly skilled in integrating the complex corporate and business structures with the local market, whose main actors often lack experience in this area. He thus provides excellent advice in efficiently structuring, contracting and implementing such arrangements in accordance with the local regulatory requirements and under the existing commercial and business conditions. 

Zlatan understands the needs of international clients and provides practical input and ongoing client support throughout the case, support that is unprecedented in the local marke
 

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Relevant experience

Zlatan regularly advises international clients on all commercial law matters regarding their operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as corporate reorganizations (mergers, spin-offs, carve-outs), preparation of corporate documents, representation in corporate bodies, etc.

  • Advising a major international industrial company on the acquisition of a local IT-company.
  • Advising the client on acquisition of shares in Eastern Mining d.o.o. Bosnian subsidiary of Adriatic Metals PLC.
  • Advising and representing the client on the EUR 20 million sale of shares on the stock exchange in leading blue-chip company in BiH which were pledged in favor of the bank as security for a loan granted to the debtor.
  • Advising the client on the sale of its majority share in a local bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina to one of the biggest local banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a transaction worth a reported (approx. EUR 8,67 million).
  • Advising the client on post-acquisition restructuring activity including complex corporate and business spin-offs, carve-outs and re-financing.
  • Advising KKR on the acquisition of the Serbia Broadnand Group (Telemach).
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Memberships & Roles

  • Bar Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Awards & Rankings

  • Next Generation Partner (Competition Law), The Legal 500, 2023.
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Education

  • 2012 - LL.M., European Business Law, University of Lund
  • 2009 - LL.B., Laws, University of Sarajevo
     
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12/05/2022
10 key aspects of the revised EU competition law in the field of distribution...
The new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the new accompanying Vertical Guidelines (VGL) were published on 10 May 2022. The new VBER will enter into force on 1 June 2022 and apply for the next twelve years. The new VBER/VGL introduce sev

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16/12/2021
Legal guide for company directors and CEOs in Bosnia & Herzegovina
ESG obligation for Directors and CEOs 1. Do existing directors’ duties contain obligations that apply to matters that could be categorised as an ESG consideration, e.g. the environment, employee welfare? ...
09/09/2021
CEE Merger Clearance Matrix 2021
Cross border M&A transactions that require merger control approvals in several jurisdictions have become commonplace. To reduce time delays and keep costs down, it is essential to identify at the early...
28/07/2021
Interim measures in Bosnia and Herzegovina
1. Applicable Law 1.1 Constitutional structure 1.1.1 Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a state composed of two entities, the Republic of Srpska (RS) and the Federation of BiH (FBiH). Brcko District (BD)...
19/03/2021
Unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain
Companies acting in the food supply chain for 2021 should revise their supply agreements and harmonise their business practices with the new national laws implementing Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in B2B relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain. The unfair trading practices (so-called UTPs) scheme must be transposed to national legislations by 1 May 2021. WHAT? The UTPs scheme seeks to combat B2B practices in the agricultural and food supply chain that grossly deviate from good commercial conduct, are contrary to good faith and fair dealing, and are unilaterally imposed by one trading partner on another. In short, the intention of the rules is to shield agricultural producers or any natural or legal person selling agricultural and food products from UTPs. The Directive envisages that national laws will appoint competent authorities to enforce the UTP rules. WHO? The rules are not automatically applicable to all supplier-buyer relationships. The rules apply when there is a significant imbalance in negotiation power, which is assessed by comparing the annual turnovers of the parties. HOW? Precautionary measures for determining business relationship conditions must be applied since national laws have a wide discretion in defining the UTPs, provided that at least those specified in the Directive are included. The list of UTPs is divided into practices that are always forbidden (e.g., payment periods longer than 30 or 60 days (depending on the type of products), unilaterally changing certain terms of a supply agreement, etc.) and those forbidden depending on the circumstances (e.g., requiring the supplier to bear the costs of discounts or advertising, or to accept back unsold products without the obligation of the buyer to pay for them or for their disposal).
04/06/2020
CEE Merger Clearance Matrix
Cross border M&A transactions that require merger control approvals in several jurisdictions have become commonplace. To reduce time delays and keep costs down, it is essential to identify at the early...
04/05/2020
Working regimes of competition authorities in western Balkan countries...
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many countries have instituted extraordinary mandatory measures to prevent further spreading of COVID-19, such as restriction of movement and public gatherings, closure...
17/04/2020
Review of Bosnia and Herzegovina's measures against the economic impact...
Countries around the world are battling the spread of the COVID-19 virus and taking steps to protect their citizens by closing borders and imposing restrictions on travel, gatherings and working hours...
31/03/2020
Working regimes of competition authorities in western Balkan countries...
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many countries have instituted extraordinary mandatory measures to prevent further spreading of COVID-19, such as restriction of movement and public gatherings, closure...
27/03/2020
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the functioning of court systems in...
Governments and public authorities are taking further measures in order to slow down the spreading of COVID-19. The measures, of course, also affect civil (incl. insolvency), criminal and ad­min­is­trat­ive...
24/04/2017
CMS Guide to Mandatory Offers and Squeeze-outs
This Guide provides an overview of the current legal framework and practice governing public takeovers and squeeze-outs in a total of 26 jurisdictions (18 EU Member States, Albania, Bos­nia-Herzegov­ina...