CROATIAN LAW CLIENT ALERT 2011 November New Croatian Act on Lease and Sale of Business Premises The new Croatian Act on Lease and Sale of Business Premises (“Lease Act“) became effective on 15 November 2011. The Lease Act governs the sale and purchase of business premises owned by the Republic of Croatia and local government units (“Government Owned Premises“) to current tenants. It generally applies to: • current tenants who have been party to a lease and perform activities thereon for an uninterrupted period of 5 years (“Current Tenants“), and • current users are not party to a lease, but have performed allowed business activities on the premises for an uninterrupted period of 5 years, and who are currently not subject to claims for vacating the premises (“Current Users“). Government Owned Premises subject to sale are to be publically announced. A request for purchase under the Lease Act will have to be filed within 90 days of publication of such lists. Detailed conditions and procedures are yet to be determined by implementing regulations. Government Owned Premises are to be sold at market price. Approved tenant or user improvements up to 30% of the market price shall be taken as a credit. Tenants and users who have not properly settled their obligations towards the government (such as taxes, charges and levies), employees (such as salaries and social security obligations) and suppliers shall not be allowed to purchase Government Owned Premises. Purchased premises shall be subject to restrictions on disposal of such premises for a period of at least 10 years as of date of acquisition of such premises. Government Owned Premises may generally only be leased through a tender; however current tenants are to be allowed priority to extend their existing leases for a period of 5 years. Additionally, Lease Act contains amendments relevant to commercial lease agreements: • landlord is obliged to file the lease agreement with the tax administration; • tenant is not entitled to compensation for improvements to the premises unless tenant notified the landlord prior to making such improvements ; • tenant is not obliged to pay rent in cases where tenant is prevented from using the premises due to works on public ALBANIA AUSTRIA BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BULGARIA CROATIA CZECH REPUBLIC HUNGARY ROMANIA SERBIA SLOVAK REPUBLIC SLOVENIA UKRAINE CLIENT ALERT Croatian Law surfaces, facade and the roof of the building, but is not entitled to compensation for lost profit; • time limits in which the landlord has to inform the tenant of adaptation works to the premises and in which the tenant is authorized to consequently terminate the agreement have been reduced; • landlord has to grant explicit written consent to adaptation works; • tenant is not entitled to remove improvements if they have been compensated for through rent reduction; • statutory termination notice has been reduced to 30 days (instead of 3 months); and • disputes for vacating leased premises have priority with the courts. The intention of the Lease Act is to provide additional legal certainty for current tenants and users and thus boost investments, strengthen the position of small entrepreneurs, and make contractual relationships more flexible in unstable market conditions. However, certain problems arising from the wording of the new Lease Act can already be identified. firstly, the Arbitration Act has traditionally applied to disputes arising out of lease agreements. However, the Lease Act specifically provides for court competence. It remains to be seen whether the Lease Act will be interpreted so as to restrict arbitrability of the lease relationships. further, the Lease Act specifies that agreements concluded in the form of a notarial deed may only be terminated through notarial intervention and that termination of indefinite term agreements cannot be directly enforced when the non-terminating party opposes termination. Notarized lease agreements containing provisions on direct enforcement are generally directly enforceable under prior practice irrespective of the subsequent dissent of contracting parties. It remains to be seen whether this practice will continue under the Lease Act. ALBANIA AUSTRIA BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BULGARIA CROATIA CZECH REPUBLIC HUNGARY ROMANIA SERBIA SLOVAK REPUBLIC SLOVENIA UKRAINE CLIENT ALERT Croatian Law NOVI ZAKON O ZAKuPu I KuPOPRODAJI POSLOVNOGA PROSTORA Novi Zakon o zakupu i kupoprodaji poslovnoga prostora („Zakon o zakupu poslovnog prostora“) stupio je na snagu 15. studenog 2011. godine. Zakon o zakupu poslovnog prostora regulira kupoprodaju poslovnih prostora u vlasništvu Republike Hrvatske i jedinica lokalne i područne samouprave („Poslovni prostori u javnom vlasništvu“) trenutnim zakupnicima i korisnicima. Zakon o zakupu poslovnog prostora primjenjuje se na: • sadašnje zakupnike koji su ugovorna strana ugovora o zakupu te od trenutka sklapanja ugovora obavljaju poslovnu djelatnost u neprekinutom trajanju od 5 godina („Sadašnji zakupnici“), i • sadašnje korisnike koji nisu ugovorna strana ugovora o zakupu, ali su obavljali dopuštenu djelatnost u poslovnom prostoru u neprekinutom trajanju od 5 godina, a protiv kojih se trenutno ne vodi postupak radi ispražnjenja i predaje poslovnog prostora („Sadašnji korisnici“). Popis Poslovnih prostora u javnom vlasništvu koji mogu biti predmetom kupoprodaje bit će javno objavljen. Zahtjev za kupnju, u skladu s Zakonom o zakupu poslovnog prostora, mora se podnijeti u roku od 90 dana od objave takvog popisa. Detaljni uvjeti i procedure tek se trebaju utvrditi provedbenim propisima. Poslovni prostori u javnom vlasništvu će se prodavati po tržišnoj cijeni. Odobrena ulaganja učinjena od strane zakupnika ili korisnika u vrijednosti do najviše 30% tržišne cijene nekretnine uračunat će se kao popust pri kupoprodaji. Zakupnicima i korisnicima koji nisu podmirili svoje obveze prema državi (kao što su porezi, pristojbe i davanja), radnicima (kao što su plaće i davanja za zdravstveno i mirovinsko osiguranje) i dobavljačima neće biti dopuštena kupnja Poslovnog prostora u javnom vlasništvu. Na kupljenom poslovnom prostoru postojat će zabrana raspolaganja u trajanju od najmanje 10 godina od dana stjecanja. Poslovni prostori u javnom vlasništvu mogu se načelno dati u zakup samo putem javnog natječaja, no Sadašnji će zakupnici imati prednost pri produljenju trajanja postojećeg zakupa, na rok od dodatnih 5 godina. Uz to, Zakon o zakupu poslovnog prostora sadrži izmjene koje se tiču i ugovora o zakupu između ostalih sudionika tržišta: • zakupodavac je obvezan primjerak ugovora o zakupu dostaviti nadležnom uredu Porezne uprave; • zakupnik nije ovlašten potraživati naknadu radi poboljšanja poslovnog prostora ukoliko nije prethodno obavijestio zakupodavca o namjeri izvršavanja preinaka; ALBANIA AUSTRIA BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BULGARIA CROATIA CZECH REPUBLIC HUNGARY ROMANIA SERBIA SLOVAK REPUBLIC SLOVENIA UKRAINE CLIENT ALERT Croatian Law • zakupnik nije obvezan plaćati zakupninu u slučajevima kad je spriječen u korištenju poslovnog prostora zbog radova na javnim površinama, fasadi i krovu zgrade, no nije ovlašten potraživati izmaklu dobit; • skraćeni su rokovi u kojima zakupodavac mora obavijestiti zakupnika o adaptacijskim radovima u poslovnom prostoru i u kojima je zakupnik radi toga ovlašten raskinuti ugovor; • zakupodavac mora dati izričiti pisani pristanak na adaptacijske radove; • zakupnik nije ovlašten odnijeti poboljšice ako mu je zbog njih bilo odobreno smanjenje zakupnine; • zakonski otkazni rok je skraćen na 30 dana (umjesto dosadašnjih 3 mjeseca); i • sud hitno postupa u sporovima radi ispražnjenja i predaje poslovnog prostora. Namjera Zakona o zakupu poslovnog prostora je pružiti dodatnu pravnu sigurnost sadašnjim zakupnicima i korisnicima, te time potaknuti ulaganja, ojačati položaj malih poduzetnika i učiniti ugovorne odnose fleksibilnijima u nestabilnim tržišnim uvjetima. Međutim, već sad je moguće primijetiti određene probleme koji proizlaze iz novog Zakona o zakupu poslovnog prostora. Prvo, na sporove koji proizlaze iz ugovora o zakupu dosad se primjenjivao Zakon o arbitraži. Međutim, Zakon o zakupu poslovnog prostora izričito propisuje nadležnost suda. Tek treba vidjeti hoće li Zakon o zakupu poslovnog prostora biti tumačen na način koji ograničava arbitrabilnost odnosa iz ugovora o zakupu. Nadalje, Zakon o zakupu poslovnog prostora propisuje da ugovori koji su solemnizirani od strane javnog bilježnika mogu biti otkazani samo putem javnog bilježnika te da otkaz ugovora sklopljenih na neodređeno vrijeme ne može biti predmetom neposredne ovrhe kad se druga ugovorna strana protivi otkazu. Solemnizirane ugovore o zakupu koji sadrže ovršne klauzule se u skladu s dosadašnjom praksom moglo neposredno ovršiti bez obzira na naknadno protivljenje ugovornih strana. Tek treba utvrditi hoće li se ova praksa nastaviti i nakon stupanja na snagu Zakona o zakupu poslovnog prostora. This memorandum has been prepared solely for the purpose of general information and is not a substitute for legal advice. Therefore, WOLF THEISS accepts no responsibility if – in reliance on the information contained in this memorandum – you act, or fail to act, in any particular way. If you would like to know more about the topics covered in this memorandum or our services in general, please get in touch with your usual WOLF THEISS contact or with: Wolf Theiss - Zagreb Branch Ivana Lučića 2A Eurotower, 19th Floor HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia Saša Jovičić, [email protected] Tel.: +385 1 4925 400 Fax: +385 1 4925 450 www.wolftheiss.com ALBANIA AUSTRIA BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA BULGARIA CROATIA CZECH REPUBLIC HUNGARY ROMANIA SERBIA SLOVAK REPUBLIC SLOVENIA UKRAINE
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