The society-wide crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 is reflected, among other things, in companies’ planning. Entrepreneurs try to keep their companies running and to provide them with the best possible legal protection for the future. To allow for the unexpected is currently rather challenging, so the best way is to invest in prevention. It is ultimately a less expensive and simpler approach than subsequent remedies of potential problems. This advice is given to businesses by Reneta Petkova, Partner at Deloitte Legal Bulgaria. We discussed this further with her in the interview.
Thank you for agreeing to speak, today, Reneta. Could you tell us a little bit about your background, please?
Well, already, I can say that I have almost thirty years of experience in the legal sphere, especially in the area of banking and finance. I have worked on the side of commercial banks, the Bulgarian Central Bank, and in private practice – including in both transactional and regulatory work. Regarding Deloitte, I’ve been with the firm for six years now, and I head our legal practice in Bulgaria.
What do you do as the Managing Partner in Bulgaria, Reni?
Well, in addition to managing the Bulgarian legal practice, I seek to increase our market eminence, raise awareness of our presence as one of the leading international law firms, and, until this year, we had quadrupled the practice in size. I think it is fair to say that all of the other international law firms on the market here, and the leading Bulgarian ones, consider us to be a strong competitor.
In your opinion, what are some of the more interesting areas of work that you engage in?
I would like to mention the regulatory work that we are doing, in the banking sphere. This work is related to bank regulations, including recovery and resolution plans, which becomes more and more important in these challenging times. Further, we do an increasing amount of other regulatory work, related to GDPR and AML, as well as NPL (non-performing loans) work, while M&A stays as one of our main areas of focus, despite deal sizes not being notable at the current time.
What advice would you give, as a lawyer, to business owners during this time, and looking ahead to 2021?
Business, undoubtedly, needs to be prepared. On the legal front, preventative measures must be taken in advance in order to avoid worst case scenarios arising. It is far cheaper and easier to avoid disputes and conflict, than to seek to resolve them once they have materialized.
What do you find especially enjoyable about your work with your team in Sofia?
We are well known on the market as being a real team. We support each other, and we enjoy working with each other. It is important for us to show professionalism to our clients, and to help them reach their goals. I get great satisfaction from seeing the lawyers in the team live these values, improve their professional skills, and attain quite impressive achievements regardless of seniority.
That’s great, Reni! Thank you for your time.
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