The state of alert that followed the state of emergency has been extended several times during the last year and a half by Government Decisions. Some of these decisions were annulled by the competent courts (even if the court rulings are not final). Also, there are ongoing litigation proceedings aiming at challenging the legality of such Government Decisions. In this context, one would legitimately ask: what effect would have the annulment of the Government Decisions extending the state of alert on the validity of the building permits and town planning certificates which were prolonged during the state of alert?

On January 18, six leading real estate lawyers in Romania sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea. The conversation focused on the current state of affairs in the real estate sector, looking at who the main players are, the hottest assets, deal-making trends in the sector, and more.

Romanian taxpayers had an exciting start to the year with the Government introducing changes to the country's main tax laws – the Fiscal Code and the Tax Procedural Code. These amendments, which follow others announced at the end of last year, were introduced in accelerated fashion, having been debated for only a few days prior to adoption.

Stratulat Albulescu's former Counsel Adriana Dobre and former Managing Associate Tudor Ciambur have been promoted to Partner at the firm.

Like many European countries, Romania has not yet taken any proactive measures to regulate virtual/crypto assets and the status of the market actors offering related services.

In a previous article we have analysed the dilemmas resulting from the thematic tax audit campaign aimed at auditing the tax treatment of purchased gift vouchers, in terms of income tax and social security charges. A very sought after extra-salary employee benefit, companies bought and offered gift vouchers amounting to over RON 1 billion (approx. EUR 200 million) in 2018 alone and we can only assume that these figures have only risen since then.

Former Patriciu Real Estate Attorneys Managing Partner Serban Patriciu has joined Noerr's Bucharest office as Head of Real Estate.

Competition and M&A lawyer Roxana Ionescu and Banking & Finance specialist Cosmin Tilea have been promoted to Partner at RTPR.

Voicu & Filipescu has promoted former Managing Associate Simona Merdariu to Partner.

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.