BDK Advokati > Podgorica, Montenegro > Firm Profile

BDK Advokati Offices

BDK Advokati
CETINJSKA 11
THE CAPITAL PLAZA
81000 PODGORICA
Montenegro
Visit website 382 20 230 396 382 20 230 396

BDK Advokati > The Legal 500 Rankings

Montenegro > Leading firms Tier 1

Acting for sponsors, government authorities, contractors, lenders, buyers and sellers, BDK Advokati routinely advises on the region’s most significant financing and M&A projects. Clients also benefit from the firm’s membership of the South East Europe Legal Group. Managing the firm’s Montenegrin operations, Luka Popović has hospitality and gaming sector expertise; competition specialist Bisera Andrijašević was recently promoted to counsel; and Jelena Brajković is an experienced associate. Based in Belgrade, Dragoljub Cibulić is a greenfield real estate, energy and infrastructure project expert, and Tijana Kojović is a transaction, antitrust and disputes specialist.

Practice head(s):

Luka Popović; Dragoljub Cibulić

Other key lawyers:

Bisera Andrijašević; Jelena Brajković; Tijana Kojović

Testimonials

‘The team is highly co-operative and resolves issues.‘

‘During the pandemic, in addition to email and online meetings they were able to hold physical meetings at their office with all the necessary health measures.‘

‘Professionalism, availability and problem-solving skills.‘

‘Luka Popović is always practical and reacts quickly.‘

‘Luka Popović is openminded, business oriented, and has a pragmatic approach to work.‘

Key clients

Government of Montenegro

NDC Asia

Nomad Foods

Ecomed Eastern Europe

BL Harbert International

Société Générale

ING Bank (Belgian Branch)

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Binance

The European Federation of Energy Traders

Fusion Capital

UniCredit (Czech Republic and Slovakia)

Net Holding

Eni

Work highlights

  • Advised Nomad Foods on the acquisition of Fortenova Group’s Frozen Food Business Group.
  • Assisted Ecomed with structuring a joint venture deal with local company Hemosan, so as to provide complex waste management services for the operator of an offshore oil exploration project in Montenegro.
  • Provided regulatory advice to Binance in relation to Montenegrin regulatory requirements.

Serbia > Competition

BDK Advokati AOD fields ‘a team that delivers excellent quality‘. The practice is highly rated for its advice on the competition law aspects of commercial contracts, commercial policies, business models and transactions, including state aid issues. Other key areas of strength include assisting clients with competition law infringement proceedings, individual exemptions, dawn raids, and leniency and compliance matters. The full-service department also has notable specialisms in relation to the life sciences and telecoms sectors. Managing partner Tijana Kojović heads the group, which includes state aid specialist Bisera Andrijašević, who was promoted to counsel in January 2021.

Practice head(s):

Tijana Kojović

Other key lawyers:

Bisera Andrijašević

Testimonials

‘A team that delivers excellent quality.‘

‘They have the ability to assess clients’ needs, propose the best solutions, listen to clients’ comments, and deliver within defined timelines.‘

‘The communication is professional, and they respect you as a client no matter the size of the company.‘

‘They deliver first-class quality opinions and documentation.‘

‘Clients can sense from the first meeting that they have come to the right place to resolve the issues that are on the table.‘

‘Good communication, availability, efficiency and good quality make them highly valued.‘

‘Full-service, relevant and realistic advice.‘

‘Delivered as promised.‘

Key clients

Fortenova

Nomad Foods

Magna International

LEDO

Frontier Pharma

XLS

EBRD

IFC

OeEB

S-Leasing

Work highlights

  • Represented Fortenova in a gun-jumping investigation before the Serbian Competition Authority, as well as in a series of merger filings in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Successfully represented LEDO doo Podgorica in proceedings before the Misdemeanour Court in Podgorica, which were initiated at the request of the Montenegrin Competition Agency for the alleged late filing of a merger notification.
  • Advised Magna International on the merger control aspects surrounding the creation of a joint venture with LGE.

Serbia > Intellectual property

BDK Advokati AOD‘s ‘IP expertise is excellent‘. The practice stands out for fielding five data protection law experts, and in May 2020, Google appointed the firm as its data protection representative in Serbia. In addition, the department is sought out for complex trade mark law issues. Leading the firm’s IP practice since 2012, Bogdan Ivanišević also heads the media and entertainment sector group, as well as the data protection and privacy team. Senior associate Milica Basta is a well-regarded data protection expert.

Practice head(s):

Bogdan Ivanišević

Other key lawyers:

Milica Basta

Testimonials

‘The team’s IP expertise is excellent.‘

‘In data protection, they have shown the highest levels of expertise.‘

‘They went the extra mile, going beyond the required legal advice.‘

‘Always thinking ahead of all the possible legal risks – an approach that my firm highly values.‘

‘I would highly recommend them to all businesses where data protection and other IP matters are highly relevant.‘

‘They are available and extremely professional.‘

‘They find solutions to all our issues, and they suggest the best possible paths.’

‘Bogdan Ivanišević and Milica Basta are a good team and very experienced in IP. We highly value both their analytical approach and business-friendly solutions in this very complex area.‘

Key clients

Decathlon

Nomad Foods

Museit Network

Bambi

Google

British American Tobacco

BBC

Logo

Maple Bear CEE

Ellis Enterprises East

Joinder

Work highlights

  • Assisted Decathlon’s Serbian subsidiary with putting an end to further sales of Decathlon’s products through non-authorised distribution channels in Serbia.
  • Successfully acted for Google in two high-profile, right-to-be-forgotten cases before the Serbian Data Protection Authority.
  • Advised Nomad Foods on the acquisition of Fortenova Group’s Frozen Food Business Group, including Fortenova Group’s large ice cream trade mark portfolio.

BDK Advokati > Firm Profile

The firm: BDK Advokati (BDK) was established in 2004 by the current managing partner, Tijana Kojovic, in Belgrade. The firm quickly grew in terms of fee-earners (currently 30+), as well as territorial coverage. From the outset, the firm has also been active in transactions, regulatory advice and litigation taking place in the neighbouring markets of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This experience was strengthened with the opening of offices in Podgorica in 2009 and Banja Luka in 2013.

Areas of practice: BDK Advokati is a full-service law firm for corporate, institutional and white-collar/HNW clients, with offices in Belgrade (Serbia), Podgorica (Montenegro) and Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The firm’s work is team-based but partner-led, and organised around various practice areas: banking and finance; competition; consumer protection; data protection and privacy; dispute resolution; distressed situations and insolvency and restructuring; employment; intellectual property; mergers and acquisitions, corporate and commercial; real estate and construction; tax; and industry sectors: energy and natural resources; gaming; information and communications technology (ICT); infrastructure; life sciences and healthcare; media and entertainment, payment services.

The firm takes pride in combining legal expertise with the knowledge of EU law and EU-level regulatory trends, commercial awareness and premier standards in legal services business. The firm’s approach assumes specialisation in different areas of laws and knowledge of specific industry regulations. Lawyers are required to be broad-minded and knowledgeable in inter-related fields and equipped to recognise legal issues and trends in clients’ industries.

BDK is a member of the South East Europe Legal Group (SEE Legal), an organisation assembling leading independent law firms from 12 jurisdictions in South East Europe, which allows the team to assemble quickly regional teams for cross-border transactions involving jurisdictions outside the firm’s direct coverage.

Main Contacts

DepartmentNameEmailTelephone
Banking and finance Tijana Kojovic
Banking and finance Luka Popovic
Competition Tijana Kojovic
Competition Bisera Andrijasevic
Compliance & Internal Investigations Branko Gabric
Consumer protection Bogdan Ivanisevic
Corporate and commercial Luka Popovic
Data protection and privacy Bogdan Ivanisevic
Dispute resolution Tijana Kojovic
Dispute resolution Luka Popovic
Distressed situations/insolvency and restructuring Tijana Kojovic
Distressed situations/insolvency and restructuring Luka Popovic
Employment Tijana Kojovic
Employment Luka Popovic
Energy and natural resources Dragoljub Cibulic
Energy and natural resources Luka Popovic
Gaming Luka Popovic
Immigration immigration@bdkadvokati.com
Information and communication technologies (ICT) Pablo Perez Laya
Infrastructure Dragoljub Cibulic
Infrastructure Luka Popovic
Intellectual property Bogdan Ivanisevic
Life sciences and healthcare Bogdan Ivanisevic
Mergers and acquisitions Vladimir Dasic
Mergers and acquisitions Luka Popovic
Media and entertainment Bogdan Ivanisevic
Payment services Dragoljub Sretenovic
Payment services Luka Popovic
Real estate and construction Dragoljub Cibulic
Real estate and construction Luka Popovic
Tax Tomislav Popovic
Tax Luka Popovic
Spanish desk Pablo Perez Laya

Staff Figures

Number of lawyers : 33
at this office : 5

Languages

Bosnian
Croatian
English
French
German
Italian
Montenegrin
Russian
Serbian
Spanish

Memberships

International Bar Association
South East Europe Legal Group (SEE Legal)

Other

Other offices : Banja Luka
Other offices : Belgrade