Administrative Litigation
Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii prides itself on its experience in administrative disputes concerning challenges against administrative decisions, the conduct of administrative authorities or their lack of response to requests made by private parties.
Our lawyers provide assistance and representation in all procedural stages of administrative litigation, including preliminary complaints to administrative authorities (i.e. administrative appeal). The largest number of our mandates cover tax law, competition law and public procurement. The close collaboration between the firm’s lawyers of the litigation department and lawyers specialising in tax consulting, competition and public procurement ensured our success in complex, highly technical disputes.
Our Services
preparing specific documentation and providing representation in challenges against decisions issued by the relevant authority; assistance and representation in related judicial proceedings seeking to suspend the effects of contested decisions until the final resolution of the challenges on the merits of the case.
disputes on permits and authorisations, court proceedings for annulment of regulatory decisions or sanctions applied by public authorities, such as the National Bank of Romania (BNR), the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing (ANSPDCP), National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD), labour inspectorates.
representation in legal proceedings for the annulment of administrative acts related to the award of concession, public-private partnerships, or public procurement contracts, as well as in disputes arisen in connection with the execution of such contracts.
challenging tax rulings on all categories of taxes (corporate tax, VAT, excise duties, clawback taxes, income tax payable by non-residents, tax facilities, customs duties), challenging enforcement or precautionary measures ordered in connection with such tax rulings.
Client Highlights
A leading rolling stock manufacturer: representation in court proceedings against the national railway operator in a challenge against an award of contracts worth EUR 1.83 billion related to rebuilding certain segments of the Romanian railway infrastructure.
A major civil engineering company: representation in a series of complex public procurement litigations concerned with the award of several contracts for the design and building of sections of a highway.
A rolling stock and trains international supplier: successful representation in challenges brought against the conditions of technical admissibility of our client’s offer in relation to the award procedure of a EUR 1 billion supply contract regarding 40 electric trains, and successful representation in a challenge against the tender book requirements of a EUR 800,000,000 award procedure for the acquisition of 20 electric trains for interregional passenger transportation.
An international consortium of companies specializing in the construction of sanitary units: representation in administrative challenges and damage claims of EUR 25,000,000 following a Romanian authority’s decision to cancel the tender for the award of two public procurement contracts for the design, construction and "turnkey" delivery of technical-medical equipment to hospitals.
Two companies specialising in technical solutions for wastewater management: representation in several disputes regarding the award of significant-value tenders in the field of wastewater treatment plants. Our team successfully requested the Constitutional Court to strike down certain provisions of the public procurement legislation imposing certain procedural barriers to initiating a legal challenge.
A major civil engineering company: successful representation in debt recovery and contractual term extension claims arisen during the execution of the works under a contract for the construction of a new Bucharest metro line, as well as successful representation in a dispute arisen from the execution of a EUR 380,000,000 contract for the design and construction of a national motorway.
A natural gas market operator: representation in a complex dispute concerning the cancellation of a contract for the concession of the public service for the distribution of methane gas in a major Romanian city.
A company providing public sanitation services: representation in an approximately EUR 3,000,000 damages claim derived from the abusive termination by a local authority of a concession contract for the construction of a waste composting plant.
A railway construction company: court proceedings against a railway operator arising from the execution of an EUR 280,000,000 contract for the reconstruction of a railway segment.
An international truck manufacturer: assistance and representation in damages claim following a decision of the European Commission which fined several truck manufacturers for having participated in several conducts allegedly in breach of Article 101 TFEU and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement.
A major insurance-reinsurance international company: representation in a challenge against a fine imposed by the Competition Council for an alleged exchange of sensitive commercial information between insurance companies through the professional association.
Gambling company: successfully challenging the fine applied in connection with the non-compete/exclusivity obligations included in contracts concluded with video-lottery equipment suppliers.
A provider of technical measurement solutions: representation in a challenge against a sanction applied for alleged rigging agreements between players in the electricity metering systems market.
A natural gas transmission technical operator: representation in challenging the fine imposed by the Competition authority for the alleged role of facilitator in an auction-rigging case.
A multinational retail corporation: representation in a tax dispute for VAT refund of more than USD 12,000,000 concerning a cost distribution contract concluded with a company of the same group.
An international financial institution: representation in various tax disputes concerning the treatment of VAT and direct taxation related to the acquisition of large portfolios of non-performing loans in Romania.
One of the leading regional players in pharma industry: a tax dispute over liabilities of EUR 16,000,000 derived from a large spectrum of taxation issues found by the tax authorities (clawback tax, VAT on real-estate investment, specific corporate tax impact of participations held in other group companies and transfer pricing).
An important European trader on the gas market: a tax dispute concerning the annulment of supplementary VAT of approximately EUR 13,700,000 established in connection with gas trading operations. The dispute relates to the qualification from a VAT perspective of natural gas transactions carried out by foreign entities which have obtained the trading licence on the territory of Romania through a branch set up for this purpose.
An aluminium company: representation in tax disputes concerning the reimbursement of EUR 9,000,000 VAT resulting from transactions with imported assets with suspensive regime of payment of customs duties, on withholding tax and the deductibility of interest expenses resulting from various loan agreements.
Road hauliers of goods: representation in front of the tax authorities and before courts of law in connection with the annulment, challenging of precautionary measures and enforcement of tax obligations (income tax and social contributions) resulting from the requalification of the daily allowance as salary income (approximately EUR 1,500,000 / approximately EUR 6,000,000).
A wine company: challenge against an approximately EUR 700,000 tax decision issued by the customs authority in connection with duty free shops further to the application of an erroneous tax treatment in Constanța Sud free zone.
A major company operating in the energy market: successful representation in a dispute concerning tax exemption for exported products finalized with the tax authorities refunding EUR 7,000,000, as well as representation in a EUR 1,300,000 separate dispute concerning a challenge against the fine and seizure measure imposed by the Financial Guard for an alleged possession of excise goods outside the suspensive regime which have not been introduced into the excise duty system.
Five of the most important companies active in the renewable energy sector: successfully challenging an order of the Ministry of Public Finance and a Central Fiscal Committee’s decision and obtaining a court decision recognizing that the wind turbine tubular towers are not to be considered as buildings and therefore the producers of energy should not pay taxes on buildings for such towers.
Important railway operator: successful representation in challenging a decision of the Romanian Court of Auditors by which the authority extended its right of control over a company's business decision relating to the conclusion of a scrap sale contract, as well as representation in a second litigation challenging the conclusions of a general financial audit performed by the same Romanian Court of Auditors on the company’s business.
A national company for the distribution of natural gas: a challenge against a Romanian Court of Accounts’ decision concerning EUR 50,000,000 in damages in connection to establishing the necessary quotas for developing natural gas generation, the natural gas quantities the producers are bound to provide to suppliers and consumers monthly, the criteria for the interpretation of collective bargaining agreements.
An IT service provider: a litigation triggered by an administrative procedure pursued by the Ministry of European Funds with a view of verifying the execution of a EUR 2,000,000 PHARE contract from the perspective of the eligibility of expenses representing European and Romanian funds.
Three companies active in the field of fuel and related products: assistance and representation in disputes concerned with an inspection initiated by the authority for environment protection to verify the fulfilment of tax obligations to the Environment Fund.
One of the main suppliers of complete solutions in the field of installations and constructions in Romania, the largest petrochemical plant in Romania and an important pipes producer: representation in several disputes against the Administration of the Environment Fund (AFM) and the Environmental Guard concerning the suspension and subsequent challenging of fines amounting to more than EUR 14,000,000 imposed by AFM for non-compliance with the deadline for the submission of greenhouse gas emission allowances.
Companies operating in the renewable energy industry market: legal assistance in more than 70 disputes resulting from the challenges filed by competitors or local public authorities against the administrative decisions relating to the construction of Europe's largest wind farm.
An important natural resource exploitation company: assistance in relation to a multi-billion USD prospected investment in exploration and exploitation of the biggest and oldest gold mining site in Europe. Our services included representation in various complex disputes pertaining to licences, authorizations, environmental and building permits regarding the development of the project.
A real estate developer: representation in disputes concerning the cancellation of building permits issued for the construction of a bridge of connection with a motorway and the related PUZ.
A consulting company in real estate development projects: representation in several administrative cases regarding the authorisation of a EUR 100,000,000 building project in Bucharest.
A major pharmaceutical company: representation in challenging a Romanian Health Ministry’s decision to grant generic drug status to a competitor’s product where the client held the patent.
A company in a European network of cancer treatment clinics: representation in disputes related to the interpretation of legislation on the organisation of the operation of private medical services.
A renowned banking institution, a major telecommunications company and an operator of a ridesharing platform: disputes for the annulment of fines imposed by the data protection national authority for non-compliance with the relevant regulations.
A bank and an insurance company: representation in several disputes for the annulment of the sanctions imposed by the Romanian regulatory authority for insurance companies, financial institutions, and capital markets.
A major provider of underground cable network infrastructure: representation in challenging a decision issued by the national communications regulatory authority on establishing the technical and economic conditions for the access to the physical infrastructure of the metropolitan network of Bucharest for telecommunications.
A major company operating in the energy market: a challenge against a National Natural Gas Regulatory Authority’s order regulating the natural gas market by the capitalisation of natural gas on the domestic market.
A telecommunications services operator: successfully challenging a decision of the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications sanctioning the client for data services that allegedly discriminate between categories of provided content and as such do not comply with regulations on internet neutrality.