An integral part of the firm’s business concerns assisting EU institutions, governments and energy companies in their power generation, oil, gas and electricity projects within Greece and the SE European countries. Rokas provides legal advice on the full range of energy regulatory matters in the countries of its network, regarding, among others, electricity trading and supply, gas supply, energy tariff issues, the liberalisation of energy markets, competition and state aid issues, access to energy networks, renewable energy sources projects, hydrocarbons exploration and exploitation, licensing issues, joint ventures, etc. The firm liaises at high level with the public sector in Greece, has gained unique experience in Renewable Energy Sources (RES) projects [licensing, operation, project finance] and it is ranked highly among law firms in Greece.
Rokas Law Firm has an in-depth knowledge of the Greek private and public law and the Greek and European energy and competition law. In numerous energy law cases, we have successfully represented our clients before Greek and European Courts and authorities. Our Energy & Environment Team consists of well-known professionals and also enjoys the support of the firm’s teams dedicated to competition and state aid, finance and capital markets, arbitration and dispute resolution, administrative law, labour and taxation law. In addition, due to our longstanding experience advising clients active in Central and SE Europe, we have been assigned a number of institutionally funded projects concerning the strengthening, modernising and regulating of the energy sector in SEA EU.
In addition, in collaboration with our partners and associates in other practice areas, we advise our clients in relation to the implementation of all applicable rules (laws and regulations, rulings of the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE), European law and case law), participate in negotiations with other market participants and represent our clients before courts and competent authorities (the Regulatory Authority for Energy, the Hellenic Competition Authority and the EU Commission). We further provide expert advice on issues of grid access and usage as well as unbundling and its requirements.
Energy trading is an essential part of energy transactions. The Greek wholesale and retail electricity and gas markets are not de facto and equally open to competition. The electricity market in Greece is based on a mandatory pool model and bilateral contracts are not allowed. Our clients include energy traders and energy supply companies and we provide legal advice in all areas concerning physical and derivatives energy trade. We support our clients during the establishment of new trading companies in Greece and other European countries and during the licensing procedures. We provide advice on a wide range of regulatory issues including the imposition of various tariffs, amendments to regulated charges, and represent our clients in the respective dispute resolution procedures. Further, we specialize in the area of financial instruments such as energy derivatives.
RES play a significant role in Greek Energy policy. The development of RES has been enhanced in the recent years also because of the simplification of the licensing procedures. Nevertheless, legal obstacles and bureaucracy may still exist and the current lack of financing as well as the increased charges are the main problems of the sector. We advise on energy-related projects, such as the development of renewable energy plants, the issuance of production licenses, the drafting of share purchase agreements and grid connection agreements, and the formation of joint ventures.
Members of our respective team have delivered speeches at international conferences and have published energy-related articles in international publications. The monthly newsletter “Rokas Energy Newsflash” is being regularly distributed to thousands of recipients with updated energy law news from the SEE region and has gained acclaim over a larger geographic territory.
On the EU level, our firm has been a project. We have been awarded projects such as the PHARE Programmes (European Agency for Reconstruction) regarding the provision of technical assistance for energy efficiency improvement in the Romanian district heating system, the establishment and operation of the Serbian Energy Regulatory Agency (SEA) and the development of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in North Macedonia. Another indicative such project completed by our firm was the USAID Programme on institutional and regulatory assistance in the development of Regional Electricity Market in SE Europe (Croatia, Serbia). Recently we performed a legal study for the implementation of the RES Directive in 8 countries of SEE for the Energy Community Secretariat.
The unbundling provisions are implemented into national law. Our legal services include all issues of grid access and usage as well as questions on the unbundling and its requirements.
Energy Law 2004/2011 implemented the Third Energy Package into national law amending and complementing previous legislation. The implementation of the Law and secondary legislation is carried out by RAE. Third party access to the networks, network usage and network price calculation as well as the latest European unbundling requirements are regulated by the Law. Former monopolies and private companies have to apply the strict provisions and they need to develop an efficient regulation management as a part of their processes and structure. We advise our clients systematically on all legal questions arising from the liberalisation process and the regulatory regime.