Romania

Hidroelectrica SA, Romania’s state-owned hydro-power producer and largest energy producer in the country will exit the insolvency procedure on July 1 this year, according to the Minister Delegate for Energy, Constantin Niţă, Romania-Insider.com reported. “We will promote professional management as it was done for all the state – owned companies, then we will list 10 percent on the stock exchange. We will set a list of priorities because there are a lot of investments that were started.

All the pieces of legislation concerning insolvency will be brought together into one Insolvency Code, and the Romanian Justice Minister Robert Cazanciuc plans to send the draft law of this code to the Government this summer, Romania-Insider.com reported. Cazanciuc cited the unhappiness in the legal system caused by the need to make decisions based on several laws, and the high number of insolvencies recorded in recent years. When creating the Insolvency Code, the ministry will also debate it with representatives of the business environment, the minister said.

With more than 23,000 companies in Romania having gone under in 2012, the government unveiled plans in April to overhaul to insolvency law in a bid to streamline procedures and track down firms that are going insolvent in a bid to avoid paying their creditors, Balkans.com reported. Romanian PM Victor Ponta said in April that the law needs to be changed in order to support companies that operate in good faith.

Romanian state-owned chemical producer Oltchim will enter insolvency, after the Ramnicu Valcea court approved its request today (January 30). The decision can be further appealed for seven days, Romania-Insider.com reported. The company will be assigned a judiciary administrator to establish the next steps and help it re-organize. “For the time being we are waiting for administrator to talk. The factory is functional, and there’s not a question of protests. We will sit down and talk to the judiciary administrator about what needs to be done.

Romania's troubled state-owned power producer Hidroelectrica has cancelled most of the deals under which it sold electricity at below market prices, Economy Minister Daniel Chitoiu said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Hidroelectrica, which has an installed capacity of 6,400 megawatts and is Romania's cheapest power producer, was declared insolvent last month, plagued by a previous drought and by its highly criticised contracts with a handful of companies that sell most of its output at below-market prices. "Up until now ...

The Romanian government stunned the Bucharest market last week as privatisation target Hidroelectrica was declared insolvent, in a move that puts the rest of the privatisation programme into doubt, International Financing Review reported. The energy company had been scheduled to list in Bucharest later this year to raise up to €450m, but the company applied for insolvency last Tuesday in what people involved described as a bid to tear up existing contracts and restructure its tariff regime. Remus Vulpescu, the chairman of the board, is a former barrister and expert in insolvency law.

Romanian state-owned power producer Hidroelectrica has filed for insolvency after a drought cut its sales and led to losses, but it will respect all contracts, the company said on Monday, Reuters reported. A drought in late 2011 has continued into this year and reduced its sales by 10 percent, the company said. After losses of 121 million lei ($34.1 million) in 2011 and 112 million lei in the first five months of 2012, its board decided to file for insolvency. Hidroelectrica, with installed capacity of 6,400 megawatts, is Romania's cheapest power producer.

Romania's prime minister quit on Monday after a series of at-times violent nationwide protests against budget cuts and declining living standards, as deepening political turmoil fueled by Europe's prolonged economic crisis spreads across the Continent, The Wall Street Journal reported. Thousand of Romanians have taken to the wintry streets of Bucharest and other cities in recent weeks to vent their anger at the center-right administration of Emil Boc, who has implemented tough austerity measures in an effort to shore up state finances.

The Romanian government was in an uproar Monday over austerity protests - the interior minister resigned, the opposition demanded the prime minister go as well and top police officials held emergency talks with the president, the Associated Press reported. The chaos reflected social fallout from the sharp wage cuts, tax hikes and other austerity measures the government has taken to fight its budget deficit amid a deep recession.

Romania’s Constitutional Court ruled against some government austerity measures aimed at narrowing the budget deficit, risking a delay in the next handout of funds from an international loan, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported. The leu weakened and stocks plunged. The nine justices said the plan to cut pensions by 15 percent was illegal, while a proposed 25 percent reduction in wages didn’t breach the Constitution. Parliament must now amend the law to comply with the ruling.