Member News

Karanovic & Partners – New Senior Partners

Karanovic & Partners is pleased to announce the promotion of three distinguished team members to the position of Senior Partner, effective 1 January 2026. Each of the newly promoted Senior Partners is known for outstanding professional excellence, strong client relationships, and a consistent dedication to our regional legal practice`s values and collaborative culture.

Milena Jakšić Papac

Under Milena’s leadership, our Employment practice has grown into one of the largest and most dynamic teams. She coordinates the regional employment practice with exceptional clarity and precision, ensuring consistent quality across jurisdictions. Recognised both locally and internationally as a leading employment lawyer, Milena plays an active role in key organisations and is a frequent speaker at major global conferences. Her reputation, strategic mindset, and the trust she has built with clients have been instrumental in shaping one of our strongest practice areas.

Veton Qoku

Our colleague Veton has led the local team for 15 years and is widely respected in the legal community for both his expertise and his ability to cultivate strong client relationships. He is recognised for his expertise in complex transactions and his in-depth understanding of the North Macedonian market, making him a trusted advisor to many of the region’s most prominent clients. Veton’s strong reputation, commitment to business development, and continued contribution to our regional legal practice has had a lasting influence far beyond Skopje.

Igor Angelovski (Ketler & Partners, member of Karanovic)

Our colleague Igor has played a key role in strengthening local corporate practice and the regional tax practice. He is widely regarded as the go-to advisor for complex corporate and tax matters in Slovenia and the wider region. Over the years, Igor has become one of the central figures in building the team, both internally and in the market. His expertise in handling sophisticated cross-border mandates has earned him the trust of many key clients.

These promotions reflect our ongoing commitment to recognising exceptional talent, strengthening regional leadership, and supporting long-term strategic growth. Karanovic & Partners congratulates Milena, Veton, and Igor on this important achievement and looks forward to the contributions they will bring in their new roles.

Karanovic & Partners – Webinar on IP Guide for Young Adults

Karanovic & Partners is organizing a webinar on intellectual property rights, which will be held on 17 December at 12:00h. At this online event, Karanovic & Partners IT expert Nikola Kliska will present the IP guide for young adults “The law of creativity – your creativity, your right”, published in November this year. This short guide trough intellectual property law is intended for fledgling artists, scientists and creators, in order to introduce them to the basic postulates of IP law, to help them find out which rights they have and how to protect their creativity.

You can access the Serbian and English versions of the guide at www.karanovicpartners.com/kommunity.

The webinar is free of charge for all registered attendees. You can register HERE.

Karanović & Partners Anniversary

Celebrating 30 Years: A Journey of Integrity, Dedication, and Vision

This year, we are proud to celebrate a remarkable milestone: Karanovic & Partners marks its 30th anniversary. Over three decades, we established cooperation with local lawyers across Southeast Europe, having more than 150 attorneys at law cooperating across Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania, all working together to provide legal services to the clients.

Our journey has been defined by persistence, excellence, and vision – we have built a reputation for being a trusted partner in tackling complex legal matters, offering innovative solutions, and staying ahead of the curve in legal developments across the region. Our commitment to pioneering new legal practices in Southeast Europe has driven us to remain at the forefront of the industry throughout these years.

Reflecting on the past 30 years, Miloš Vučković, Managing Partner at Karanovic & Partners, shares: “From the very beginning, we had a clear vision – to reshape the legal market and establish new standards in legal practices. Now, after 30 years, we can confidently say that we are wiser, stronger, and more prepared to face the new challenges ahead. In the next chapter, we remain committed to delivering exceptional results while staying true to the values that have made us who we are today.”

In celebration of our 30th anniversary and as a lasting legacy, we stay true to our commitment to giving back to the community and nurturing the next generation of talent in both the legal and creative sectors.

As we reflect on our 30-year journey, we express our gratitude to our clients, partners, and dedicated team members for walking alongside us. With such a strong foundation, we look forward to continuing this journey with you for the next 30 years and beyond.

The information in this document does not constitute legal advice on any particular matter and is provided for general informational purposes only.

Karanović & Partners Appoints Marjan Poljak as Managing Partner

Karanović & Partners is pleased to announce the appointment of Senior Partner Marjan Poljak as the new Managing Partner. He will take over the leadership role from Miloš Vučković, who has been Managing Partner for the past two years. Our Senior Partner, Darko Jovanović, will serve as a Deputy Managing Partner.

Marjan brings long-standing experience and strong regional insight to the role, having been closely involved in the team’s strategic development for many years. His practice focuses on complex corporate and commercial matters, and he regularly advises clients on complex multi-jurisdictional compliance matters, from healthcare and pharmaceuticals to IT and aviation. Throughout his career, Marjan has played a key role in strengthening our regional presence and long-term client relationships.

Commenting on the appointment, Miloš Vučković said: “Marjan’s leadership, strategic perspective, and deep understanding of our work make him a natural choice for Managing Partner. I am confident that, together with Darko as Deputy Managing Partner, he will continue to advance our strategy and long-term vision.”

Reflecting on his appointment, Marjan Poljak stated: “I am excited to take on this role at a time when the practice is building on a very strong foundation. Over the next two years, our focus will be on strengthening what already works well, while ensuring that our growth remains sustainable. We will continue to do things with quality and integrity, with a clear focus on our business and our people, further developing our practice areas and creating long-term value for our clients.”

In his new role, Marjan Poljak will work closely with Deputy Managing Partner Darko Jovanović to ensure continuity in leadership and strategic direction.

Karanović & Partners is a regional legal practice in Southeast Europe with a tradition spanning three decades and cooperating offices in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Albania. With more than 150 attorneys at law cooperating across the region, Karanović & Partners operates under the “one team” principle, combining regional reach and local know-how to deliver coordinated legal advice necessary for achieving clients’ goals.

Karanovic & Partners marks the first 25 years

So far, Karanovic & Partners has become a leading regional legal practice in Southeast Europe with more than 100 attorneys at law cooperating in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, all working together as one team.

Karanovic & Partners is known for being a reliable partner in complex legal matters, for innovative legal solutions, and being at the forefront of legal developments in Southeast Europe, pioneering new areas of the law and paving the way for new practices and regulations.

„We had the vision to create a “world-class” team in the former Yugoslavia and that vision has been achieved“, said Dragan Karanović, Managing Partner at Karanovic & Partners. „We have come this far by pioneering projects, vision, values, and the practice of looking at clients as long-term partners. Advocacy must be up to date with the development of clients, but in the first 25 years of our practice, we have shown that the best way is to always be a few steps ahead,” added Dragan Karanović.

Thank you for walking on this path with us.

Meet the new Partners of Živković Samardžić Law office

Živković Samardžić, one of the Serbia’s leading law firms, announces the promotion of two Partners, effective July 1, 2021. Ivan Ljubisavljević in the Dispute Resolution Department and Sava Pavlović in the Corporate and M&A Department.

“Congratulations to Ivan and Sava on achieving this important milestone in their careers. It is a testament to their commitment to being our trusted advisors to our clients for their most complex and important challenges and opportunities. Together they highlight the quality, diversity and depth of talent that support our strategy and embody the shared and business culture that is at the heart of our firm,” said Managing Partner Branislav Živković.

Živković Samardžić is today a successful outfit, the leading law firm on the Serbian market. Nevertheless, we see a lot of potential for improving our processes and structures and becoming even more effective. We are confident that newly promoted Partners shall help us achieve that goal.

Nebojša Samardžić, Senior Partner: „Congratulations to our new partners on their well-deserved promotions and I look forward to watching them progress in new roles as they continue to provide exceptional and innovative solutions for our clients.“

Prior to joining Law Office Živković Samardžić in 2016, Ivan Ljubisavljević used to work for several international companies from the financial industry. Ivan is specialized in Dispute Resolution and Regulatory compliance with emphasis on Financial Services sector. Previously, Ivan was an in-house lawyer with the major B2B services provider and later he worked as a legal and compliance officer with the major international insurance company. He graduated at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Law in 2011. In this newly created role, Ivan will be responsible for the implementation of projects and cases of strategic importance for the firm from the area of civil litigation, banking and finance litigation in particular. Furthermore, his task will be to upgrade the level of external firm reputation in the legal network’s and between clients in region.

Sava Pavlović, Corporate and M&A Senior Associate, joined Živković Samardžić in 2013, after graduating at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law and almost after one-year long apprenticeship in a government’s ICT regulatory body. At the beginning with Živković Samardžić, he was advising clients in media, telecom, and advertising industry, and later, Sava joined Živković Samardžić’s Corporate and M&A team. Sava’s specialization in Corporate, M&A and banking, at one side, and his deep understanding of IT, media, and telecom industries, allows him to deal successfully with a broad range of clients, from startups, media outlets, through investment funds, banks and multinational corporations. In his legal advisory track records, Sava has a broad array of complex domestic and cross-border transactions, including some of the most valuable and complex transactions on the Serbian market in past years. It should not be left unmentioned Sava’s very prominent activity in the area of e-commerce – beside providing legal advisory to the clients, Sava is also very active in e-commerce advocacy; since its beginnings, Sava is lecturing at the eCommerce Academy organized by eCommerce Association of Serbia and also, he is taking his part as lecturer at many courses, trainings and workshops in this area. As a member or delegate, he is giving his valuable professional contribution through several professional organizations as well, including Foreign Investors Council (FIC) and Serbian Association of Managers (SAM).

Živković Samardžić strives for a proactive and business-oriented approach to solutions and an impressive ability to pivot and adapt to challenging circumstances, all of which enable us to provide the highest level of customer service. We congratulate our colleagues on their appointment and wish them many new, exciting challenges and the best of luck.

Meet The Winners Of The Generator Gamechanger Competition

More than 170 participants applied for the OTP banka’s Generator competition, which supports digital projects that help small and medium enterprises overcome the consequences of the crisis caused by the corona virus, out of which ten semifinalists and subsequently six finalists advanced to the next stage. At the final online event, the jury selected two winners who won one million dinars each for the further development of their projects.

BELGRADE – October 15, 2020 – Generator Gamechanger This year’s OTP banka’s competition supported digital projects – websites, applications and other digital platforms – that help and offer new opportunities to SMEs to overcome the challenges they have faced in the pandemic. From more than 170 entries, the jury selected ten semifinalists who were awarded a media promotion so that as many people and small and medium enterprises as possible could hear about their project. After that, at a large-scale online event, six finalists were selected, out of which the jury chose one winner in each category – new idea and existing solution.

Your Pet World, the winning new idea is an intermediary-type portal that would bring together the two connected groups for the first time in the region. On the one hand, the database would include all service providers in five industries – groomers, sitters, boarding kennels, veterinarians, trainers, and on the other hand dog and cat owners who could choose the most cost-effective and transparent services in a location that suits them best.

Zanateria, the winning existing solution, is an online platform that brings together all small domestic producers who cannot enter large distribution chains. On Zanateria platform, clothes, shoes, furniture, household items, natural cosmetics, food, drinks, products for children and babies, for pets, as well as books, comics and music editions of small publishers are sold.

Selected semi-finalists and finalists were also awarded by the partners of the competition. Vojvodjanska banka awarded the ReportNest project the MasterCard payment card with the available amount of RSD 200,000 ready to be used, as well as a virtual visit to the OTP Lab, the head office of the OTP Group for Innovation in Budapest, where the awarded team will have the opportunity to get acquainted with OTP Lab programs, present their project and thus potentially cooperate with OTP Group. ICT HUB, the centre for technology entrepreneurship and innovation, awarded the Bizplaner project the free use of coworking space for the entire team for six months, membership in the eHub platform and access to all educational content and maps for the next Corporate Innovation Conference. The TeleGroup company also awarded Zanateria and Your Pet World projects a 50% discount on the consulting service of researching the needs of customers and defining inputs for further development of solutions to the finalists. The Belgrade Open School and the Eneca organization awarded the prize to the Dr Agro, Your Pet World and Stari Zanati projects, which won mentoring and consulting in the field of strategic planning, finance and sources of financing and marketing and sales.

Since the grand finale of the Generator event was organized online for the first time due to the epidemiological situation, OTP banka donated the money intended for the cocktail reception to Cafe Bar 16, which employs young people from the drop in shelter Svratište and provides them with social inclusion.

Please find more information on the Generator website.

About the Generator project:

In order to strengthen the competitiveness of Serbian entrepreneurship, the Generator project was carefully designed and launched in 2017, and it brings together the initiatives and activities that encourage innovative entrepreneurial ventures. In the same year, Generator supported 40 entrepreneurial innovations through financial support, promotion and mentoring. The winner received one million dinars, and almost 800 innovators submitted their ideas. In the following year, 2018, the best student entrepreneurial innovations were awarded, and last year Generator 2.0 was intended for the digital transformation of small and medium enterprises. At the end of 2019, within the Generator project, OTP banka launched the Good Deed Generator initiative, which supports social entrepreneurship.

Together. We move things forward.

#otpbankasrbija #generator2020 #podrška #SME #digitalizacija #inovacije

Metropol Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Belgrade is Open Again!

Experience the stunning Metropol Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, in the very center of the city. With its park surroundings, exceptional accommodation and impeccable service, Metropol Palace offers you an unforgettable Belgrade experience. This striking hotel first opened in 1957, welcoming throughout its existence the city’s elite, culturally influential people and foreign guests.

Apart from the luxurious accommodation, guests can indulge in a sumptuous dinner, enjoy a drink at noon or a nightcap at the Red Parallel Lounge.

You can host an event or meeting at one of many event halls and ballrooms.

As gem of modern Belgrade, hotel features 236 beautifully designed rooms and suites, unique restaurant with park view, and oasis of tranquility and elegance, a 25m long pool.

Link for more info is below.

New chairman of the Supervisory Board of Wiener Städtische osiguranje appointed

Mr. Christoph Rath was appointed on September 19, 2024 as the new chairman of the Supervisory Board of Wiener Städtische osiguranje.

Mr. Rath is an experienced manager in the fields of insurance, supervision and management, and has made significant contributions to the work of the boards of directors of companies operating within the parent company Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Serbia. Mr. Rath is also a deputy member of the Board of Directors of the Vienna Insurance Group.

His professional expertise will greatly contribute to the realization of the ambitious plans of the Company, which has been operating in Serbia for 21 years and is part of the Vienna Insurance Group, a leading insurance group in Central and Eastern Europe with 200 years of insurance experience.

In addition to Mag. Christoph Rath, members of the Supervisory Board of Wiener Städtische osiguranje are Mag. Peter Höfinger, Dr. Philipp Bardas, Zorana Aleksić, B.Sc. econ. and Zoran Drakulić, B.Sc. law.

Photo by Martin Mašín

New President of the Executive Board of API Bank

Valery Ovsyannikov has been the President of the Executive Board of API Bank since July 2021. He has many years of experience in the development of international, corporate, and retail banking, as well as in the management of small, medium and large banks, both in Russia and internationally, in different market circumstances. For the last 15 years, he has held the positions of President of the Executive Board of many banks, including VTB Bank in Armenia, Sber Bank in Serbia and the Russian Globex Bank. With his unique expertise and proven competence, he contributes to the API brand in the field of development of adequate market niches and modern banking services on the Serbian market: “Flexibility is a key factor in development, and it is the way in which API Bank with its professional team will meet the needs of clients.”