Authorization For State Aid In Romania In Form Of Green Certificates Granted For Electricity Produced From Renewable Energy Sources

The Decision of the European Commission regarding the authorization for State aid in Romania in form of green certificates granted for electricity produced from renewable energy sources was published on the 23rd of August 2011 in the Official Gazette of the European Union No. C 244. The decision was adopted by the European Commission on the 13th of July 2011 and announced within a press release of the Romanian Competition Council.

The legal basis subject to the authorization relates to:

- the Law no. 220/ 2008 regarding the promotional system for producing energy from renewable energy sources in its last effective version (after being amended by Law no. 139/ 2010);

- the Government Decision no. 1479/ 2009 regarding the applicable promotion system for producing electricity from renewable energy sources;

- the Project of the Emergency Ordinance regarding the prospective amendment of Law no. 220/ 2008.

You can download here an excerpt of the aforementioned Official Gazette of the European Union regarding the authorization of State aid in Romania.

Extensive Update On Legislation Held By Christian Weident, Attn. At Law, On June 28th 2011 at IHK Duisburg

On June 28th, 2011, the Chamber of Industry of the Lower Rhine Region in Duisburg, Germany, organized the Economic Forum on Romania. Mr. Christian Weident, attn. at law, held a lecture on "Romania - Update on Law" over one and a half hours, providing the audience an overview over the numerous recent changes in Romanian legislation. The main fields approached were corporation law, labour law, civil law, commercial law, and public procurement law, choosing the right business partner and more. The lecture focused especially on the recent developments in and on the future of renewable energies, public procurement legislation and pub-private partnerships. Among the audience members was also Dr. Vlad Vasiliu, Romanian Head of Mission in Bonn.

Mr. Christian Weident, Attn. At Law, Discussed On June 21st, 2011, About The Romanian Labour Market, Together With The Labour Minister

Mr. Christian Weident, attn. at law, and the recently appointed Labour Minister Sebastian Lazaroiu commented on June 21st, 2011 on "Romanian Labour Market: Competition. Efficiency, Legality", during a public debate. The event was organized by the Romanian Christian Democratic Foundation (FC-D) in collaboration with the Bucharest branch of the German Hanns Seidel Foundation. The partners of the event were the Romanian state television TVR1 and the economic daily Ziarul Financiar. Both media partners covered the event extensively. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Teodor Baconschi, also president of FC-D, moderatied the debate. During the event, Mr. Christian Weident, attn. at law, presented particularly the current legal circumstances from the point of view of foreign investors.

Christian Weident, attn. at law, (l.) discussing about the Romanian labour legislation in the presence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi and the Labour Minister Sebastian Lazaroiu.

Germany Trade and Invest About New Romanian Labour Legislation
"Bucharest Listens To Foreign Investors"

Following the request of the German-Romanian Chamber for Industry and Commerce (AHK) and the Romanian Presidency, STALFORT. Legal. Tax. Audit., through Christian Weident, attn. at law, submitted several proposals for the flexibilisation of labour legislation, which have been included for the most part in the new Labour Code. The gtai (the foreign trade and inward investment agency of the Federal Republic of Germany) notes this in its current report on Romania, and cites the opinions of Mr. Weident regarding the new Labour Code. The report of the gtai can be read here (in German).

We happily provide to our clients and business partners an overview of the current changes of the new Labour Code in German, free on request. For that, please send us an e-mail to bukarest [at] stalfort.ro with the subject line "ArbG".

Conference On Renewable Energies In The Berlin Reichstag

More than 160 guests attended the presentations on the very up to date topic of "Renewable Energies" on April 8th, 2011 in the conference hall of the CDU/CSU faction in the German Reichstag in Berlin. Dr. Gisbert Stalfort, attn. at law, held a welcoming speech as Chairman of the German-Romanian Lawyers Association (DRJV) and presented the "Legal Framework for Funding Renewable Energies in Romania". Dr. Rauca Oprisiu, attn. at law, spoke about "Contracts for Realization and Implementation of Energy Plants".

Other speakers were Mr. Gunther Krichbaum, member of the Parliament and chairman of the Committee for Matters of the European Union at the Deutscher Bundestag, the Romanian Ambassador in Germany, HE Mr. Lazar Comanescu, and Prof. Dr. Rainer Lindner, managing director of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. Mr. Cristian Apostol, Secretary of State at the Romanian Ministry for Environment and Forests, spoke about "Chances for Foreign Investors". Mr. Marko Walde, managing director of the German-Romanian Chamber for Industry and Commerce presented an overview over the Romanian green-tech market. Presentations of representatives of the conference's partner UniCredit covered the topic of funding such investments, and practical lectures completed the conference day.

Mr. Christian Weident, Attn. At Law, Analyzed The Changes in Labor Law At The Member's Meeting Of The AHK

Mr. Christian Weident, attn. at law, presented the substantial changes of the labor legislation in front of more than 100 guests from business and politics during a panel discussion within the member's meeting of the German-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on April 5th, 2011.

Following a presentation by Nicolae Ivaschescu, state secretary in the Romanian Ministry of Labor, Mr. Christian Weident, attn. at law, answered the questions of the interested guests regarding the Labor Code, that had been signed by the president and therefore shall come into effect on April 30th, 2011.

Mr. Weident had submitted on behalf of the law firm, in early summer 2010, upon request of the German-Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK) and the Presidential Office a series of suggestions regarding the flexibility of the labor legislation. We are pleased, that almost half of these proposals have been included in the law amending the Labor Code.

If you are interested in receiving an overview of the changes in German, please send a short e-mail message to bukarest[at]stalfort.ro, with "ArbG" in the subject line.

Participants at the panel discussion, from left to the right: Mr. Georg Geiger/ Geiger Group Romania, Mrs. Heike Kunzel/ KM Trust, Mr. Marko Walde/ AHK, Mr. Weident, attn. at law/ Stalfort. Legal. Tax. Audit.

Mr. Weident, attn. at law, talking with Mr. Nicolae Ivaschescu, secretary of state.

Photos by Valeriu Pana

STALFORT supervises KILLTEC during the transition towards direct selling after acquisition

Last year, German sports clothes manufacturer killtec Sport- und Freizeit GmbH made a strategic decision to sell its products directly instead of selling them under the labels killtec and G.I.G.A. DX in Romania via the distribution partner Shoe Point SRL. Shoe Point has been the exclusive distribution partner for many years now and had launched many branches throughout the country.

In the course of this procedure, the killtec group expanded with a Romanian subsidiary and gained the right to sell in Romania by passing on this exclusivity from Shoe Point to the new subsidiary concluding an asset deal.

In line with this acquisition STALFORT solely supported killtec regarding strategic planning, tax considerations, the incorporation, the review of the target company and the terms of the contracts for the preparation and implementation of acquisition. Of great value in this case was a seamless and smooth, but debt-free transfer of the business as well as to take care of insolvency and real estate law.

This transaction was completed in late January, while final administrative steps are currently under way. The team was lead by Andrada Sarb, attorney at law (real estate law), Christian Weident, attorney at law (labour law, M&A), Mihail Macovei, attorney at law (corporate law) and Carmen Castaliu, attorney at law (tax law).

Dr. Gisbert Stalfort Is Vice President Of The New Arbitration Court of the AHK

Dr. Gisbert Stalfort, attorney at law, has been appointed vice president of the permanent arbitration court established by the German-Romanian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK). The president of the Court is Prof. Dr. Claus Köhler. In order having disputes conciliated by the Arbitration Court, disputing parties have to agree upon an appropriate arbitration clause in their contracts.