Thought Articles

The second stage that an investor will undertake for developing a retail project is the performance of the construction. At this second stage, as the project will be developed based on an existing structure or on a "greenfield project", the investor will have to fulfil all the procedures for the purpose of obtaining authorization for the works to be performed and to contract constructors specialized in performing demolition and/or construction works.

We have tried in this article to present an overview of the stages that investors need to go through with a view to developing a retail project on the Romanian real estate market, with emphasis on the patterns prevailing on the market, and to also point out the traps that one might be faced with during the performance of such projects. Since an exhaustive presentation of the types of transactions that can lead to the development of a retail project is not realistically possible, we will try and classify these transactions subject to two criteria.

Lately, the Romanian Fiscal Code suffered numerous amendments, which created certain controversies regarding the taxation modality. In practice, such repeated amendments generated confusion among both taxpayers and the representatives of the public administration. This article is only meant as a brief comparative presentation of the provisions of the Fiscal Code in force as of 1 January 2007 regarding the income obtained from the transfer of real estate properties belonging to the personal patrimony, by comparing them with the provisions preceding the date 1 January 2007. Be advised that with respect to the income obtained from the transfer of real estate ownership from the patrimony of certain legal entities, taxation shall be made according to the tax on global income of such business entity.

Recently, the Labor Code has been subject to an amendment that has introduced several new aspects related to the employers’ rights and obligations when carrying out collective redundancy procedures.

A recent research made by a reputable international consultancy company shows that Romania is at present the most profitable destination for investments on the real estate market. The review maintains that, during the last 10 years, the prices in the real estate field will increase over four times the present price. Under these circumstances it goes without saying that more and more foreign investors are attracted to major real estate transactions.

This article appeared in the 2006 edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Product Liability; published and reproduced with kind permission by Global Legal Group Ltd, London. What systems of product liability are available (i.e. liability in respect of damage to persons or property resulting from the supply of products found to be defective or faulty)? Is liability fault based, or strict, or both? Does contractual liability play any role? Can liability be imposed for breach of statutory obligations e.g. consumer fraud statutes?