On 31 December 2021, Government Emergency Ordinance no. 143/2021 for the amendment of Law no. 123/2012 on electricity and natural gas, as well as for the amendment of other regulatory acts (“GEO 143/2021”) was published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 1259 and entered into force on the same date.

Daniel Alexie and Anca Baitan have been promoted to Partner at MPR Partners, "giving a new impetus to its corporate, financial services, dispute resolution, as well as IT teams."

Former Managing Associates Anca Simeria and Iuliana Bidalache have been promoted to Partner at Popescu & Asociatii, starting on January 1, 2022.

As part of the Digital Single Market Strategy established at EU level, in the last days of year 2021, the Romanian Government approved two important pieces of regulatory acts in the consumer protection field, which transpose the corresponding European Directives.

Former Managing Counsel Ioana Katona has been promoted to Partner at Bondoc si Asociatii. She is a lawyer "within the [firm's] Litigation and Arbitration department ... and focuses on administrative and tax law, energy, health, insolvency, and civil law litigation cases, including real estate and corporate disputes."

Florina Homeghiu has joined Nordis Group as Head of Legal in Romania.

Law no. 322/2021 published in the Romanian Official Gazette on 30 December 2021 has brought changes to the procedure for claiming tax credit for sponsorship expenses starting with 1 January 2022, as follows:

Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii has announced six new partners in its most recent promotion round. As of January 1, 2022, the firm’s new Partners are Mihai Anghel, Oana Gavril, Catalina Mihailescu, Andreea Oprisan, Alexandra Peres, and Alina Ungureanu.

The Romanian market has been a “very hot one,” in recent months, and the year in general, according to Filip & Company Partner Alexandru Birsan, with entrepreneurs benefiting from easy access to funds.

Contributed by Bancila, Diaconu si Asociatii.

Employers must ensure that the period during which an employee attends vocational training required by the employer is regarded as working time. Although the period allocated to such training does not meet all the conditions under European labour law for "working time", a recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") provides a number of important clarifications in this respect. It is advisable for employers to pay attention to the developments introduced by this decision, which is expected to bring about a change in the practice of national courts.

Starting with December 10, 2021, the customs activity currently under the auspices of the National Tax Administration Agency (“ANAF”) will be developed by the Romanian Customs Authority, founded by way of Law no. 268 of November 10, 2021, on the establishment of the Romanian Customs Authority and for the amendment of certain normative acts (“Law no. 268/2021”).

On August 30, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that LC LegalProof had advised Zipper Studios on the sale of its business to Romanian software services provider Fortech. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Radu Benga, Partner & Strategy Manager at Zipper Studios, to learn more about the sale.

The writs of summons and all proceedings handled by the courts of law are recorded in an online system. The case file number, the names of the parties, the object of the file and other information are published on the Ministry of Justice’s online portal www.portal.just.ro and are also disseminated through the electronic dossier applications implemented by several courts of law.

As of 1 October 2022, Romanian consumers will have to pay a mandatory deposit of RON 0.50 (approx. ten Euro cents) for each bottled beverage they buy. Part of the recently introduced deposit-return system ("DRS"), this amount will be added to the shelf price of the respective beverage and will be distinctly marked on receipts. This legislative novelty has been introduced by Government Decision No. 1074/2021 on the establishment of a deposit-return system on single-use packaging ("GD 1074/2021").

Distribution agreements, also termed vertical agreements, are currently subject to a block exemption regime (the VBER) from the general antitrust prohibition. The VBER is due to expire on May 31, 2022. In this context, the European Commission has engaged in extensive public consultations and has already published a proposed new regime, the revised VBER and Vertical Guidelines, scheduled to enter into force on June 1, 2022. These are, in our view, the four key topics that suppliers should be aware of when preparing for the revised regime:

This year marks Schoenherr Romania’s 25th anniversary. To mark the occasion, CEE Legal Matters spoke with Schoenherr’s Romanian office Managing Partner Sebastian Gutiu as well as with Michael Lagler, the firm’s Managing Partner, and Partner Christoph Lindinger, who established the Romanian office and was the main driver behind Schoenherr’s expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.

Order no. 1721/2021, regarding the management of large taxpayers (“the Order”) was published on 3 November 2021, in the Official Gazette no. 1051/03.11.2021.