Publication date: October 18, 2023           

1. Introduction and general overview

It will be fair to state that the commercial and trade practice require certain flexibility and as the free market can constantly evolve and invent new methods, ways of performing business activity. Some of the examples of these inventions or rather methods allowing to conduct business activities in a better, more efficient manner are different contract provisions, clauses, among which “option” clauses will be of this article’s interest. The very term “option” can be used first and foremost as regards to a specific type of contract, however the terminology can differ between countries and, moreover, the term itself is present in different contexts, which does not always necessarily prejudge its meaning. Nevertheless, this article is focused on legal provisions (included in contracts or, for instance, articles of association) that give the entitled subject certain right regarding the transaction. This right consists on being able to choose consequences, actions or just one of the options as provided for in the contract. The most common aim of these provisions is to secure interests of one of the party or balance interests of both parties. The option clauses are mainly applicable to company contracts but they can be used in commercial transactions to various types of contracts and activities.

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Publication date: April 21, 2023

On Friday, April 21, 2023, the Regulation of the Minister of Development and Technology was published in the Journal of Laws, authorizing the transit of agricultural products from Ukraine through Poland. It abolished the regulations contained in the regulation of April 15, 2023, which introduced a total ban on importing agricultural products to Poland. After the meeting of the government of the Republic of Poland and Ukraine on April 19, 2023, it was decided to resume the transit. However, the new regulations contain safeguards to ensure that all products are exported from the territory of the Republic of Poland. Pursuant to the Regulation, the carriage of goods will be possible only in a situation where the transit ends in the seaports of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Świnoujście or Szczecin, and in a situation where it ends outside the territory of the Republic of Poland. The Regulation itself is to apply from April 21, 2023 to June 30, 2023. At the same time, the ban on importing products to Poland from Ukraine is maintained.

The Regulation applies to products such as cereals, sugars, dried fodder, seeds, hops, flax and hemp, fruit and vegetables, processed fruit and vegetable products, wines, beef and veal, milk and milk products, pork, mutton and goat meat, eggs, poultry meat, ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, bee products, other products excluding CN codes falling within heading 0101 (live horses, donkeys, mules and hinnies).

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Publication date: April 11, 2023

With the current energy crisis that many European countries are suffering, all the players, states, companies and individuals, are searching for new sources of energy at lower costs. At the same time, sustainability and the environmental compromise are becoming one of the axis of corporate activity focusing in achieving neutral-emission goals. In this context, it is worth discussing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) which are understood as long-term contracts under which a business agrees to purchase electricity directly from a renewable energy generator. This type of agreement originated over a decade ago in the United States and, since then, these contracts had grown exponentially from a 0.1 GW in 2010 to 23.7 GW in 2020 and had spread across all the continents.

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Publication date: March 30, 2023

• Life sciences and healthcare in Poland – briefing of recent legal changes in 2025
  June 6, 2025
• Investment Funds under Polish law – open-end investment funds, specialist open-end investment funds and closed-end investment funds
  June 2, 2025
• Occupational health and safety obligations – Polish law
  June 2, 2025
• Definition of liabilities in accounting
  May 29, 2025
• Shadow Banking – Legal and Regulatory Issues
  May 27, 2025
• Market price and CIT tax
  May 27, 2025

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Publication date: March 01, 2023

This week, on February 27^th 2023, the European Commission and the Government of United Kingdom had reached an agreement. The Windsor Framework, as it is named, is a new way forward for the Protocol on Ireland and Norther Ireland and is aimed to protect the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998, including its subsequent implementation agreements and arrangements, in all its dimensions and in all its strands.

This new way forward rests primarily on new data sharing agreements, arrangements on customs, agri-food, medicines, VAT and excise, State aid / subsidy control, as well as specific instruments designed to ensure that the voices of the people of Northern Ireland are better heard on specific issues particularly relevant to the communities there. This new way forward differentiates between goods that are at risk of moving to the EU Single Market, and goods that are destined for final consumption in Northern Ireland. Building upon this distinction, the new way forward sets up two ways for goods to move from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. From this perspective, goods at risk of entering the EU Single Market will remain subject to full EU customs and Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) procedures.

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