Law 216 of 14 July 2022 amends and supplements Law 85/2014 on insolvency prevention and insolvency proceedings and other legislation. The new law transposes the business prevention mechanisms introduced at European level by Directive 2019/1023.

The amendments to the insolvency law implement the business prevention mechanisms imposed by Directive 2019/1023 and clarify certain concepts and ways of action that were hitherto left to the discretion of the parties or to different interpretations by the courts.

Măsurile administrative adoptate în lupta cu virusul SARS-CoV-2 pentru reducerea extinderii acestuia au produs, în mod previzibil, consecințe financiare negative în mediul de afaceri, care s-a confruntat în contextul acestor măsuri cu o lipsă de lichidăți.

Same as most of the states where SARS-CoV-2 crisis emerged, Romania has adopted a quite extensive package of measures meant to sustain the shaken economy pending the cease of the emergency state. In this context, the Romanian Government regulated and is still implementing certain specific measures for easing the economic burden on companies during the state of emergency.

Numărul de insolvențe în România este, la momentul de față, semnificativ și, cel mai probabil, urmează a înregistra un trend ascendent având în vedere prognozele economice care prefigurează – pentru perioada următoare – o nouă recesiune economică.

At the European Union level, the cross-border proceedings benefit under EU Regulation 848/2015 from a unitary framework who general declared purpose is to ensure the optimal functioning of the internal market. To this end, there are a series of rules and principles intended to prevent the transfer of assets or judicial proceedings from one member state to another in the attempt to obtain a more favorable legal situation to the detriment of the creditors’ list.

The article is available in English and Romanian. Please scroll down for Romanian language./Articolul este disponibil în limba engleză și în limba română.

This legal analysis focuses on the typical case of a company that although it is not directly targeted by the measures established in order to prevent the spreading of the novel coronavirus, it still registers a decrease of demand, of the level of proceeds and of the production of goods and services.

Insolvency that stems from the obligations assumed by a joint venture may concern any of the associates. Such proceeding, especially when it has an international dimension, requires a broader perspective on some of the requirements set forth by law with respect to the initiation and application of the proceeding.

On October 2, 2018, the Official Gazette of Romania published GEO 88/2018 for the modification and supplementation of certain normative acts in the field of insolvency and of other normative acts, which instates significant changes related to the current conditions in which companies subject to the insolvency proceedings may access a part of the protection mechanisms provided by the law.

These changes were adopted by the Romanian Government in the context in which, only during the first seven months of this year, over 5,200 companies underwent insolvency proceedings.

The Joint Venture represents a judicial-economic mechanism intended to facilitate certain activities and operations which none of the associates, taken separately, would have the necessary weight and means to properly accomplish.