Romania

Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan officially announced that the Bucharest City Hall (PMB) wants to buy the primary producer of thermal energy for the district heating system in the capital city, Electrocentrale Bucuresti (Elcen), Romania-Insider.com reported. The energy producer, currently under insolvency, is controlled by the Ministry of Energy. State-owned gas producer Romgaz previously expressed a similar intention as it owes significant claims against Elcen. However, both potential bidders for Elcen might need more time to submit a formal offer.

Insolvency and restructuring activity remained low across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), since the beginning of the pandemic, except Romania, which has recorded an increase in the number of insolvencies, and Czech Republic, which saw an increasing trend in restructuring, according to PwC ”Global Restructuring Trends” report, Business Review reported…According to the report, insolvencies are expected to increase in Q4 2020 and into 2021 globally, especially for those companies that operate in heavily COVID-19-affected industries that may take much longer to recover, such as leisure, trave

Romania’s low-cost airline, Blue Air, has been given a new lease of life after Bucharest’s municipal court approved its request to enter a form of bankruptcy protection, SimpleFlying.com reported. The procedure allows the carrier to continue operations and generate revenue for the next 18 months without having to pay back creditors or refund passengers. The agreement between the airline and its creditors will see the airline repay loans in full at a later date. Like many European Airlines, Blue Air has struggled massively to cope with the financial impact of COVID-19.

Tarom (RO, Bucharest Otopeni) is to receive two batches of funding from the Romanian state coffers in order to stabilise the ailing carrier and then to allow it to restructure going forward, ch-aviation reported. The country's Transport Minister Lucian Bode announced on B1 TV, the Romanian television network, which was then subsequently reported on news.ro, that he will discuss the possibility of handing over EUR157 million euro (USD 175 million) to Tarom with the European Commission in Brussels.

The Romanian government has released new plans to change legislation in several areas, including drastically higher fines and penalties for tax evasion and off-the-books work, changing insolvency procedures and construction laws, new investment objectives as well as financial compensation for citizens who served prison time in improper conditions, according to profit.ro.

The Romanian Postal office has requested the insolvency of PRBA, the national postal operator’s insurance broker, Business Review reported. The company’s representatives made this decision as a result of analyzing the legal debt recovery options that PRBA had to register with the company. The broker has registered losses of RON 4 million in the last five years and receivables of RON 2 million.