Overview
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) remains a potential candidate for EU accession, but is struggling to meet the requisite benchmark for Member State status due to its political and economic instability. Its political instability arises out of its complex structure as two separate entities, namely Republika Srpska (RS) and Federation of BiH (Fed BiH), and a presiding State. Nevertheless, hopes are high for improvement in the aftermath of the October 2010 election, and positive progress is visible with the implementation of several important pieces of legislation. The Law on Direct Foreign Investment makes it considerably easier and quicker for foreign investors to set up in BiH by reducing the administrative nature of the procedure.
The legal market in BiH is relatively small and includes a diverse range of firms. Maric & Co Law Firm and Lawyers’ Office Bojana Tkalcic-Dulic, Olodar Prebanic, Adela Rizvic & Arela Jusufbasic-Goloman remain the market leaders in the jurisdiction; and Advokatska Firma Sajic od and Wolf Theiss are developing into very strong firms. Despite its youth CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz in cooperation with local lawyers is a firm to watch and is a strong contender to join the top-tier firms. The real estate market is starting to pick up after construction projects came to sharp halt in 2009, and the country’s terrain affords a real potential for green energy development in the form of wind and water energy projects. Other growth areas include debt recovery and IP.