Romania

The long-running battle between Damen and the Romanian government over the operations of the Mangalia shipyard on the Black Sea took a new step as a court in Constanta initiated an insolvency procedure. An administrator has been appointed to look for a recovery plan for the shipyard, the Maritime Executive reported. The Netherlands’ Damen took operational control of the shipyard in 2018 with high expectations for the operation which remained 51 percent owned by the government. The yard had been in operation since 1976 known for 20 years as the 2 Mai Mangalia Shipyard.

The number of insolvent Romanian companies increased by 13.5% year-on-year to 1,120 in the first two months of 2024, the country's trade registry office, ONRC said, SeeNews.com reported. Despite falling by 8.8% on the year to 207 in January-February, the highest number of insolvent companies and legal entities was registered in Bucharest, ONRC said in a data release on Wednesday.

Insolvent Romanian insurer Euroins, under the external management of CITR insolvency experts, has sued the Bulgarian reinsurance company EIG Re in order to recover some RON 800 million (EUR 160 million) transferred by the Romanian subsidiary a couple of weeks before losing its operating license, Romania-Insider.com reported. CITR sued EIG Re, a reinsurance firm in the Eurohold group, both in Romania and Bulgaria, Economica.net reported. The money was transferred to EIG Re under a contract with unusual clauses that block Euroins’ access to the funds in case it loses the operating license.

The number of insolvent Romanian companies increased by an annual 16.7% to 509 in January, said ONRC, the country's trade registry, SeeNews.com reported. Despite falling by 20.8% on the year to 76, the highest number of insolvent companies and legal entities was registered in the capital Bucharest, data published on the ONRC website on Wednesday showed. The highest number of insolvent companies was registered in the wholesale, retail and motor vehicles servicing sector - 235, up by an annual 1.5%, followed by construction with 104, up by 15.6%, and manufacturing with 64, up by 16.4%.

Bulgarian insurance group Eurohold announced that it filed a lawsuit against Romania at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of what it claims to be the illegal bankruptcy of local subsidiary Euroins, Romania-Insider.com reported. Moreover, it also reconfirmed that it is preparing an arbitration request for the amount of over EUR 500 million at an international court in the U.S. At the same time, Eurohold claimed that the lawsuit in Romania against ASF’s decision to withdraw Euroins’ operating license has recently started.

Romania is tapping international markets for the first time in 2024 to take advantage of high demand for emerging-market debt after its regional peers went ahead with euro and dollar offerings to fund their budget deficits, Bloomberg News reported.

Romania’s state-controlled supplier of services in the air defence industry, Romaero, entered insolvency at its request after a court ruled in December that it should pay EUR 17 million in compensations for failure to upgrade a Boeing 737-200 to one of its customers. At stake are Romaero’s plots of land located in the northern outskirts of Bucharest, Romania-Insider.com. Last summer, the company missed the chance to become a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre for Black Hawk helicopters produced by the American military giant Lockheed Martin, Profit.ro reported.

The number of insolvent Romanian companies inched down by an annual 0.2% to 5,378 in the first ten months of 2023, the country's trade registry, ONRC, said, SeeNews.com reported. The highest number of insolvent companies and legal entities was registered in the capital Bucharest, jumping by 17.8% on the year to 1,084, data published on the ONRC website on Wednesday showed. The central county of Covasna saw the lowest number of insolvencies in the ten months through August, with only 21 firms becoming insolvent, compared to 26 insolvencies recorded in the same period of last year.