Romania

Liberty Galati, the sole integrated steel producer in the region, hopes to resume full operations at a capacity of 2 million tonnes per year, about two-thirds of its nameplate capacity according to the pre-insolvency request approved by the court this month – and the revised European Union’s strategies in the sectors of defense and energy may help it survive, Romania-Insider.com reported. Liberty Galati has two months to come up with a recovery plan, which must necessarily envisage an output of over 172,000 tonnes per month, according to the pre-insolvency request consulted by Profit.ro.

Romania's largest publishing house, Litera, founded in 1989 in Chisinau by Moldovan entrepreneur Anatol Vidrascu, announced it is taking over the online marketplace Elefant.ro from the insolvent online retailer Elefant Online, planning to turn it into a modern online platform for selling books, toys, stationery, and school supplies, Romania-Insider.com reported. Before its insolvency was announced in 2024, Elefant was the second-largest marketplace in Romania. Litera publishing house's activity peaked in 2021 when its turnover reached RON 92 million with a RON 10 million net profit.

Integrated steel mill Liberty Galati in Romania (formerly Sidex), with a liquid steel capacity of 3 million tonnes, part of steel group Liberty, announced on March 4 that it entered the pre-insolvency procedure "to stabilise the business, optimizing the allocation of resources and opening up new investment opportunities," Romania-Insider.com. The measure is taken in the context of geopolitical changes, new tariffs imposed by the US on steel imports (25% as of March 12), and the lack of real measures to protect the steel industry at the European Union level, the company said.

The latest study conducted by Coface Romania revealed that 7,274 new insolvency proceedings were opened in 2024, compared to 6,650 in 2023, marking a 9.38% increase. Among companies with a turnover above EUR 5 million, there was a 75% rise in insolvencies last year, Romania-Insider.com reported. Denied payment instruments have increased both in value (+30%) and number (+17%) compared to 2023 but continue to remain below the levels recorded in 2019, Coface said.

The Board of Directors of Romania’s 2 Mai Mangalia Shipyard (2MMS) has scheduled an extraordinary general shareholders meeting (EGSM) on November 28, aiming to terminate its association with Dutch partner Damen Holding in the ailing shipyard Damen Shipyards Mangalia, Ziarul Financiar reported. State-owned 2MM is the majority owner of Damen Shipyards Mangalia (51%), managed by Damen group (49%) under a contract negotiated by the Romanian government at the time the Dutch company took over the majority stake in the shipyard from Korean group Daewoo.

Prosecutors of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) have been investigating for around a year possible frauds and the activity of an organised criminal group related to real estate developer Nordis, G4media.ro announced, quoting sources familiar with the investigations, Romania-Insider.com reported. However, no individual was indicted despite more than ten complaints filed against those behind Nordis since the beginning of the year, according to PressHub.

The latest Coface Romania study shows that in H1 2024, 3,684 new insolvency proceedings were opened, an increase of 8.32% compared to the same period of last year. There is also a deterioration in the payment behavior of companies, the number of payment incidents being 29% higher compared to the same period in 2023, Business-Review.eu reported. The data also indicate a 73% increase in the number of insolvencies among companies with business over EUR 5 million, compared to the same period of 2023.

Romania's Ilfov Court has appointed a local consortium comprising insolvency management firms Infinexa Restructuring and Prime Insolv Practice as the judicial administrator of insolvent meat processor Angst Ro, Infinexa said on Thursday, SeeNews.com reported. Angst was declared insolvent in March at the request of its creditors, meat processor Abatorul Peris and food retailer Primo Mix Food.

Swedish group Holmbergs Safety Systems, controlled by investment fund FSN Capital – a major investment firm in northern Europe, has filed a request for the insolvency of its subsidiary in Romania, which it set up in 2020 by taking over Te Rox Prod from local entrepreneur Doina Cepalis with plans to turn it into a major production hub from where the products will reach the markets of Europe, the US, and Asia, Romania-Insider.com reported.