Ghidul turistic si investitional al regiunii Mures (editia 1, lb. engleza)

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MURESREGIONAL TOURISTIC AND

INVESTITIONAL GUIDE

Sovata

Reghin

Sighisoara

Targu Mures

1ST EDITION, JUNE 2010

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Laszlo PacsoPage 3

Marius AlexaPage 4

Mihaela StroePage 5

Tugrul AkayPage 7

Filipe CarreraPage 8

Mures CountyPage 9

Targu MuresPage 13

SighisoaraPage 22

ReghinPage 29

SovataPage 31

Saxon Fortified Churches of TransylvaniaPage 26

Business Traveling in Targu MuresPage 33

Romanian String SectionPage 39

Transylvanian WinesPage 40

Health and Wellness trip in MuresPage 43

Mures Industrial ParkPage 45

Taxation in RomaniaPage 52

Legal considerations for foreign investors in RomaniaPage 72

Financial reporting in RomaniaPage 77

Targu Mures TelevisionPage 89

Targu Mures Radio StationPage 91

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Laszlo Pacso

JCI Târgu Mureş was born in order to stimulate the business environment from Târgu Mureş and to cre-ate meeting and networking platforms for business people in November 2009. Then, a group of young talented business people had a shy start in this story, by organizing the fi rst BNE (Business Networking Event), which was an unexpected success. That was the fi rst step.

Encouraged by the obtained success, we continued the steps for creating the JCI Târgu Mureş organiza-

tion and for affi liating to JCI Romania. The entire process did not last more than a month.

We gathered around us, around the group with initiative, a core of special people, who have a lot of passion and enthusiasm. In this way, it was not hard for us to continue the story in the same rhythm. So, there followed another two BNE sessions – one in December 2009 and another in January 2010.

We have created a personal development program, which we called (in a suggestive way) „Serile de Dezvoltare” (The Development Nights).

The name of this program represents the fact that it takes place in short training sessions, every Wednesday on 6:00 PM.

Because we are an organization oriented towards projects, we organized two Project Management training sessions too, and a Business Creativity session – in order to encourage the ideas fl ow into our projects. The results did not wait to appear, and so the „Know-How-Fest” was born. It took place during seven sessions, which were a real success.

It inspired us to want more, to create the fi rst visible wave of change around us. We have dreamed and we have had the courage and the will to make our dream come true. This is how „Târgu Mureş Business Days” was born; the biggest local Business Event organized ever in our small town. The event had turned our small organization into a local brand and a partner worth of trust for develop-ing and promoting our local community.

We have demonstrated that the attitude is the main ingredient when you want to change some-thing, and with a lot of passion, you can accomplish beautiful things out of nothing. We have not stopped. We continued with a Conference series, on various themes like communication and lead-ership. We invested time, money, and energy. We made the book of Filipe Carrera „Networking” happen in Romania too.

We became associates with the TV from Târgu Mureş. Every Thursday we have our own show „Busi-ness Ways”, on 8:30 PM. Now, we are working on editing a tourist and investor guide in Mureş region. With that, we encourage the tourism and the economics exchange in our region. Moreover, we are certain that the story does not end here.

We will continue to generate positive changes and to inspire the business environment with our story. The story of JCI team.

Laszlo Pacso

JCI Targu Mures President 2010

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About JCI Romania 2010

Europe, as the whole world, is confronted today with the important challenges of fast changing commu-nication models, new emerging markets, an unprec-edented immigration phenomenon, a need for dif-ferent approaches in terms of conflicts and ensuring power balance, dealing with the consequences of more than a century long capitalist model, reducing the gap between highly developed and very poor societies and, perhaps above all, climate change, which urges us all to develop new behavioral pat-

terns and have them adopted by the entire population.

In order to keep up with the speedily changes in the global economy, new business models need to be created and responsible individuals cannot but acknowledge that in order to preserve the ac-complishments of the past century or more, we need to invent new principles for the very founda-tion of our actions, be they political, economic or civic ones.

JCI has an extremely valuable asset that recommends the organization as a potentially important actor in the effort to tackle these challenges at a global level: the wide international network of successful and responsible individuals.

Whether we build upon this or not is entirely up to us all.

Although a young organization, JCI Romania is nevertheless constantly growing. Established in late 2003, it already covers all major Romanian cities, having local organizations in Bucharest, Iasi, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Tg. Mures, Suceava, Vaslui, Sibiu, Oradea, Lugoj and preparing new LOMs in Botosani, Brasov and Piatra Neamt.

In the context of a growing economy, but bearing in mind that Romania is yet on its way to re-establish a business culture based on democratic values, justice and real competition, JCI Roma-nia chose a business oriented approach, aiming at bringing positive changes in the local business environment, contributing to building trust among business communities at national, as well as international level, and to enhancing a new vision in terms of the role business-people should pay in the modern society.

By bringing to the JCI European Conference in Aarhus some “sample” of what the Romanian busi-ness environment looks like today, and of what JCI Romania is doing in this context, we hope to contribute to building the level of trust and confidence needed in JCI, so as to get the point where JCI members throughout the world work towards specific common goals that reach further than their local and national communities.

We wish to give special thanks to JCI Tg. Mures for their very interesting projects implemented the last months especially for the Romanian presence at the Trade Show in JCI EC Aarhus.

Let us all enjoy a great successful European Conference together!

Marius Alexa

JCI Romania President 2010

Dear JCI friends,

From my position as Vice-President for International Relations and Deputy National President in JCI Ro-mania, I salute warmly the idea of creating a tour-ist and investor guide for Mures County, one of the richest and beautiful counties from Romania.

The policy for international relations within JCI Ro-mania has as major objectives finding ways of coop-eration between our local organizations and other organizations from JCI network, as well as creat-ing opportunities for organizing events where col-leagues from JCI to come to Romania and discover our potential (both for business and for tourism).

JCI Tg. Mures, even though is one of the newest local organizations, put a lot of passion and effort to promote the beauty of their county and also the business opportunities that could be offered in their area. One of the facts to prove this accomplishment, besides this guide, is organizing a event called Business Days for promoting idea of entrepreneur-ship for more than 500 people, who discovered during both days which are the values and spirit of JCI (presented by the VP Tugrul Akay), which are the best business opportunities from important Romanian entrepreneurs, and which are the best skills needed as entrepreneurs for real success.

Therefore, take a close look to this guide, discover Mures county and its beauty, come to Romania and let’s start to make business together. We are opened for twinning with other organizations (so far JCI Bucharest is in twinning program with JCI Eurasia from Turkey, JCI Iasi is enrolled in a multi-twinning program with JCI Brussels - Belgium, JCI Amsterdam - Netherlands, JCI Stuttgart - Germany and JCI Tarragona – Spain), we re-launch from 2011 International Danube Conference with our colleagues from JCI Lugoj and we bid for EPM 2012 in Sibiu. Romania has a great poten-tial, don’t miss it!

Mihaela Stroe

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Besides my work for more than 4 years serving JCI values and spirit, let me tell you some information about me. My specialization is in nonverbal commu-nication, especially in impression management and detecting deception, where I will receive my PHD de-gree this autumn. Since 2002 I run my own compa-ny called Acta Nonverbal, which offers training and consultancy in nonverbal communication and profil-ing for various business people and companies.

What sets me apart from others is that I am trained to use FBI techniques in business. Since 2003 I col-laborate with Joe Navarro (special FBI agent retired),

one of the first American behavior profilers and nowadays professor at FBI Academy, being the only Romanian trained by him and being licensed to represent him in Romania. With his support I launched recently an online magazine called Nonverbal Magazine (www.nonverbal.ro) which is dedicated to research and work for using nonverbal intelligence in business, careers and interper-sonal relations.

You can find out more about my work, research and achievements reading my blog www.mihaelas-troe.com or connecting with me on www.likendin.com/in/mihaelalilianastroe.

Mihaela Stroe

JCI Romania Vice-President for International Relations 2010

NonverbalMagazine

I participated in press conference and media interview, met with the president of Chamber of Commerce Targu Mureş, businessmen and Governor of the city. They are supporting JCI very much. The press conference was very well on-ganized and huge interest to JCI and also Chamber of Commerce reday to invite Businessmen form Turkey for investment. I see this invitation very good opportunity for Turkish Companies, Targu Mureş is a key to Europe.

JCI Targu Mureş Business Days was very well organized and 200 people were participated they invited 30 spekaers and traininers and had a trade show event with speed networking. I made the opening speech about JCI and International Opportunies of our organization. I found from the praticipants that a very huge interest to JCI and eager to learn what we can do for our community. The President of JCI Targu Mureş Lazslo Paczo is very eager and humble for JCI , good motivator has a very strong impact in the community and he says he wanted to something for his town and that is the reason he joined JCI, I think we need these examples in every community like our founder, Henry Giessenbier. As JCI we are always encouraging our leaders, to be a role model for pozitive change for our community and JCI Targu Mureş is the role model of our vision.

I would like to thank you again to Laszlo Paczo, the President of JCI Targu Mureş and all the mem-bers of JCI Targu Mureş for this wonderfull event and wish you success for doing a lot of pozitive things for their community.

Tugrul Akay

JCI International Europe Vice-President 2010

Tugrul Akay

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Mureş is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureş.

Geography

The county has a total area of 6,714 km².

The northeastern side of the county consists of the Călimani and Gurghiu Mountains and the sub-Car-pathian hills, members of the Inner Eastern Carpathians. The rest of the county is part of the Transylvanian Plateau, with deep but wide valleys.

The main river crossing in the county is the Mureş River. The Târnava Mare River and the Târnava Mică River also cross the county.

Neighbours

• Harghita County in the East.• Alba County and Cluj County in the West.• Bistriţa-Năsăud County and Suceava County in the North.• Sibiu County and Braşov County in the South.

Economy

The predominant industries in the county are:

• Wood industry.• Food industry.• Textile industry.• Glass and ceramics industry.• Construction materials.

• Musical instruments (Reghin).

Mureş County and Sibiu County together produce about 50% of the natural gas developed in Romania. Salt is also extracted in the county.

Demographics

In 2002, Mureş had a population of 580,851 and the population density was 86.5/km:

In terms of religion:

• Romanian Orthodox - 53.3%• Reformed Church - 27%• Roman Catholic Church - 9.5%• Other Christian denominations - 8.2%• Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, Non-religious, other or un-declared - 1.9%

Tourism

Some of the main tourist attractions in the county are:

• The medieval city of Sighişoara.• The old city of Târgu Mureş.• Sovata Resort.• Călimani Mountains - Gurghiu Mountains.• The city of Reghin

Mures County

TOTAL ROMANIANS HUNGARIANS ROMA GERMANS OTHERS

580,851 309,375 228,275 40,425 2,045 731

100% 53.26% 39.30% 6.96% 0.35% 0.12%

Filipe Carrera

My name is Filipe Carrera and I came across JCI Targu Mures in my work as international trainer and book author. With JCI Targu Mures I publish the Romanian version of my book “Networking – Your Professional Survival Guide” that is available in the Romanian market since April 2010. That was only possible thanks to a great team effort that manage in record time to have the book ready to be publish.

Everything was ready to do the official launch of the book in Targu Mures, but the Icelandic ash cloud prevent me of traveling to Romania, but that was a great opportunity for JCI Targu Mures demonstrate once more high entrepreneurial skills, because we did the launch in Targu Mures as planed but using video-conferencing and it was great because we even manage to do some interactive activities even been more than 3,000 Km apart.

Also JCI Targu Mures is using the web and social media to promote book, demonstrating to the world that this is an organization with young and innovative members that use the new tools available to the marketers.

For me nothing of the above was a surprise, JCI Targu Mures has been conducting several project with great success, namely the “Business Days” project that is being recognized as one of the best projects in Europe of JCI (Junior Chamber International), so I believe the many great things are expected from the team of JCI Targu Mures, lead by Lazlo Pacso.

Filipe Carrera

JCI Senator

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Politics

The Mureş County Council has 34 members. After the 2008 local elections, the structure of Mureş County Council by political parties is the following:

Administrative divisions

Mureş County has 4 municipalities, 7 towns and 91 communes:

Political Party Number of Seats

Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania 13

National Liberal Party (Romania) 8

Liberal Democratic Party 7

Social Democratic Party 6

MUNICIPALITIES

Reghin

Sighişoara

Târgu Mureş

Târnăveni

TOWNS

Iernut

Luduş

Miercurea Nirajului

Sângeorgiu de Pădure

Sărmaşu

Sovata

Ungheni

COMMUNES

Acăţari

Adămuş

Albeşti

Aluniş

Apold

Aţintiş

Bahnea

Band

Batoş

Băgaciu

Băla

Bălăuşeri

Beica de Jos

COMMUNES

Bereni

Bichiş

Bogata

Brâncoveneşti

Breaza

Ceuaşu de Câmpie

Cheţani

Chibed

Chiheru de Jos

Coroisânmărtin

Corunca

Cozma

Crăciuneşti

Cucerdea

Crăieşti

Cristeşti

Cuci

Daneş

Deda

Eremitu

Ernei

Fântânele

Fărăgău

Găleşti

Găneşti

Gheorghe Doja

Ghindari

Glodeni

Gorneşti

Grebenişu de Câmpie

Gurghiu

Hodac

Hodoşa

Ibăneşti

Iclănzel

Ideciu de Jos

Livezeni

Lunca

Lunca Bradului

Mădăraş

Măgherani

Mica

COMMUNES

Miheşu de Câmpie

Nadeş

Neaua

Ogra

Papiu Ilarian

Pănet

Păsăreni

Petelea

Pogăceaua

Râciu

Răstoliţa

Ruşii-Munţi

Sâncraiu de Mureş

Sângeorgiu de Mureş

Sânger

Sânpaul

Sânpetru de Câmpie

Sântana de Mureş

COMMUNES

Sărăţeni

Saschiz

Solovăstru

Stânceni

Suplac

Suseni

Şăulia

ªincai

Tăureni

Valea Largă

Vânători

Vărgata

Vătava

Veţca

Viişoara

Voivodeni

Zagăr

Zau de Câmpie

The text in the previous article was tak-en from the public encyclopedia Wiki-pedia. Adress: http://wikipedia.org

This update is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time when this overview was prepared. It is, however, meant as a general guide and comes with the recommendation that profes-sional advice be sought before any action is taken

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Targu Mures is the seat of Mures County in the north-central part of Romania. Geographically, it is distant 346 km from Bucharest , 480 km from Belgrade, 515 km from Budapest and 598 km from Sofia. Located on the Mureş River valley, the city is considered the infor-mal capital of the historical province of Székely Land.

The city spreads out from Fortress Church in the center of the town, built in the 14th century, to form an area of 49.3 square kilometres. As of January 1, 2009 the city had a population of 145,151 inhabitants, making it the 16th largest city in Romania.

Etymology

The current name Târgu Mureş, whose historical form was Oşorhei, is the equivalent of Marosvásárhely as Romanian ‘târg’ means ‘market’ and Hungarian ‘vásárhely’ means ‘marketplace’. Alternate Romanian spellings of its name are Târgu-Mureş,Tîrgu Mureş and Tîrgu-Mureş.

History

The city was first documented in 1332 in the papal registry under the name Novum Forum Siculorum, and as ‘Sekulvasarhel’ (Székelyvásárhely) in 1349. On the place of its Castle Church, the Dominican’s church stood until the Mongol invasion, when it was de-stroyed. In its place, the Franciscans built a new Gothic church in 1260 , which was completed in 1446. Since 1439 the town was the scene of the session of parlia-ment ( diet) 36 times.In 1405, the King of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the city the right to organize fairs. In 1470 King Matthias Corvinus granted the first judicial privilege to the city, and in 1482 de-

clared the city a royal settlement. In 1492, wayvoda Ist-ván Báthory strengthened its monastery with fortifica-tions, this was a pentagon-shaped outer castle tower. In 1506, the troops of Pál Tomori were beaten by the Szeklers rising against the payment of an extraordinary Ox tax imposed on them on occasion of the birth of Louis II of Hungary. In 1557, the Reformed Church Col-lege (i.e. Presbyterians) was established as the oldest Hungarian school of Transylvania. In 1571, the session of Transylvanian parliament under prince John II Sigis-mund Zápolya accepted the free preach of the word of God, including the Unitarian Church. In 1600-1601, as a result of the siege of Giorgio Basta, the fortress turned to ruins. In 1602, the troops of Gergely Né-meth put on fire the remaining houses of the town, therefore, in 1602 the reconstruction of the fortress was started further the advice of mayor Tamás Bor-sos, but it was actually built between 1614 and 1653. Mózes Székely the only prince of Szekler origin visited the city in 1603, when liberated Transylvania from for-eign domination. In 1616, it was granted the status of a free royal city under the name of Maros-Vásárhely by prince (fejedelem) Gábor Bethlen. In 1658, Turkish and Tartarian troops invaded and burned it, 3000 people were taken into captivity. In 1661, as no one show will-ingness to accept the duty of prince, under pressure from pasha Ali, Mihály Apafi was elected prince here. In 1662, resulting from the negligence of the Turkish military residing here, the city was almost completely burnt down. In 1687, it was devastated by German imperial troops.

In 1704, the kuruc troops of Pál Kaszás occupied the fortress, which was re-occupied by Lörinc Pekry from the labanc in 1706. On 5 April 1707, Francis II Rákóczi was raised to the chair of princes. In 1707 it was struck

Târgu Mures

Hereby, the Institution of Mures County Prefect wishes to express full support and appreciation of the Junior Chamber International Mures young entrepreneurs organization, concerning its activity in developing new economy models based on knowledge, this activity being deployed with success and dedication in the sphere of services and information processing.

Through this trustworthy partnership between Institution of Mures County Prefect and Junior Chamber International Mures, we aim to contribute to the stimulation of the Mures County busi-ness community and not only. For us, this partnership represents a very viable way to provide man-agers and entrepreneurs the opportunity to grow both in business and life, which will lead to the development of business environment and the improvement of the quality of life .

Sincerly yours,

Marius Pascan

Mures County Prefect

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by pest, more than 3500 people died, the black death renewed in 1709, 1719 and in 1738-39. The city re-ceived a major boost to its social and economic life when it became home to supreme court of justice of the Principality of Transylvania in 1754. In 1802, the Teleki Library founded by count Sámuel Teleki was opened for the public with 40.000 volumes.

Avram Iancu, the leader of the 1848 Romanian revolu-tion in Transylvania, was a young lawyer in the city of Tîrgu Mureş before engaging in the fight for the rights of Romanians living in Transylvania. On 4 November 1848, the Szekler troops were beaten by the Austrian imperial troops under its walls, and the city was also captured. On January 13, 1949 the troop of major Tol-nay recaptured it. On 30 July 1849, Sándor Petofi and Bem set out from here for the Battle of Segesvár.In 1854, Szekler martyrs Károly Horváth, János Török and Mihály Gálfi were executed on the Postarét for plotting against the Austrian rule, since 1874 a monu-ment marks the place. In 1861, Marosvásárhely became the seat of Marosszék, in 1876 that of Maros-Torda County. In 1880 the statue of Bem was inaugurated in Roses Square, in downtown area; in 1893 the statue of Kossuth was as well. The statue of Rákóczi was also inaugurated in 1907. All three were demolished after World War I between 1919 in 1923. After Transylvania became part of Romania, all three of them were de-stroyed between 1919 and 1923.The provincial appearance of the city changed greatly in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In 1913, the Hungarian Art-Nouveau style city hall complex and Cultural Palace was opened, as part of mayor Bernády György’s urban renewal. After World War I, together with the rest of Transylvania, Marosvásáshely became part of Romania and was re-named Oşorheiu. From having been an 89% Hungarian-populated city (1910),

Romanian population increased throughout the latter half of the 20th century.From 1940 to 1944, as a consequence of the Second Vienna Award, the city was ceded back to Hungary. After Hungary was occupied by Germany in 1944, a Jewish ghetto was established in the city. Maros-vásárhely re-entered the Romanian administration at the end of the war in October 1944, however, on 12 November 1944 general Vinogradov of the Soviet Red Army expulsed the returning Romanian authorities from Northern Transylvania with reference to the mas-sacres committed by members of Iuliu Maniu’s so called Maniu-guard, and the Romanian authorities were not allowed to return until the government of Petru Groza was formed on 6 March 1945.

After World War II, the communist administration of Romania conducted a policy of massive industrializa-tion that completely re-shaped the community. Be-tween 1950-1968, it was the center of the Hungarian Autonomous Province, later named as Mures-Hun-garian Autonomous Region. On 7 September 1959, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Secretary-General of the Romanian Workers Party, and the Prime Minister Chivu Stoica visited the city. It was then decided where to build the fertilizer production plant, and the new resi-dential quarters of the city. It was decided that the resi-dential quarters would not be built in the Maros valley, but on the surrounding hills.

In March 1990, shortly after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 overthrew the communist regime, the city was the stage of violent confrontations between ethnic Hungarians and ethnic Romanians (See Ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureş).

As of 2000, a considerable percentage of its popula-

tion has started to work abroad temporarily. The local economy has started to get stronger after various investors settled in the area. The city has a substantial ethnic Hungarian minority, some of whom identify as Székelys. Since 2003 some Székely organizations have been campaigning for the city to become the center of an autonomous region again. Dorin Florea is the first directly elected ethnic Romanian mayor of the city, though the city council retains a majority of ethnic Hungarians.

Geography

The city is located at the centre of the historical region of Transylvania and covers an area of 49.3 square kilo-metres (19.0 sq mi). It lies at the junction of three geo-graphical regions of Transylvania (Transylvanian Plain, Mureş Valley and Niraj Valley) at 330 meters above sea level. The city extends onto both banks of the Mureş river, however, the downtown area and the greater part of the districts are located on the left bank. The Corneşti-plateau ( Hungarian: Somos-plateau) is the city’s highest point (465m above sea level, co-ordi-nates: 46.5531°N 24.5984°E).

The city is surrounded by the following communes: Sângeorgiu de Mureş, Livezeni, Sântana de Mureş, Sâncraiu de Mureş, (Corunca), Cristeşti, Ceuaşu de Câmpie. Two villages Mureşeni (Meggyesfalva) and Remetea (Remeteszeg) are administered by the city.

Distances between the city and some of the major cities in Ro-mania:• Bucharest: by rail 448 km, by road 346 km;• Braşov by rail 282 km, by road 171 km;• Cluj-Napoca 127 km by rail, by road 105 km;• Sibiu by rail 189 km, by road 124 km;

Climate

Târgu Mureş has a continental climate characterised by warm dry summers and rela-tively cold winters. Winter temperatures are often be-low 0 °C (32 °F). Throughout the year there are 38 days with snow, and more than 60 days when the snow covers the ground. In summer, the average tempera-ture is between 18 °C (64 °F) and 19 °C (66 °F) (the average for June, July and August), even though tem-peratures sometimes reach 36 °C (97 °F) during this period. On average, there are 143 days with precipi-tation over the course of the year, most frequently in

December with 16 days and the least in August, Sep-tember and October with 8 rainy days. The average annual temperature for Târgu Mureş is of 8.6 °C (47 °F). The record minimum temperature registered in the city is of −32.8 °C (−27 °F) in the years 1942 and 1963. The record maximum temperature is of 39 °C (102 °F), recorded in 1936.

Demographics

According to the most recent 2002 census data, the city had a population of 149,577. Among them 69,825 are Hungarians forming the largest urban Hungarian com-munity in Romania, surpassing that of Cluj-Napoca. The 2002 census was the first to show the Hungarians as a local minority. The city is officially bilingual and both Romanian and Hungarian languages are recog-nised as official and used in public signage, education, justice and access to public administration, however, in case of commercial signage and advertisements the bilingual signage is usually used only by companies if they are owned by Hungarians. Roma people make up 2.51% of the city’s population which is consider-ably lower than their proportion of 6.96% in Mureş County.

Ethnic Communities

Ethnic structure evolution from 1850 till 2002:

Personalities

Many personalities have been born or lived in the city and helped shaping it in different fields:

• Tamás Borsos (1566-after 1633)• Péter Apor (1676–1752)• Gheorghe Şincai (1754–1816)• György Aranka (1737–1817)• Petru Maior (1756–1821)

YEAR Total Romanians Hungarians Germans Jews Roma Others

1850 7,855 6.0% 82.6% 3.1% 2.6% 3.6% 2.1%

1869 12,678 5.2% 88.9% 3.5% n.a. n.a. 2.4%

1900 20,229 11.6% 83.3% 3.6% n.a. n.a. 1.5%

1910 25,517 6.7.% 89.3% 2.4% n.a. n.a. 1.6%

1930 40,058 26.7% 57.2% 1.7% 12.1% 1.1% 1.2%

1966 86,464 28.3% 70.9% 0.6% n.a. n.a. 0.2%

1977 127,783 34.8% 63.6% 0.6% 0.4% 0.5% 0.1%

1992 164,445 46.1% 51.4% 0.3% 0.1% 2% 0.1%

2002 149,577 50.4% 46.7% 0.2% n.a. 2.4% 0.01%

YEAR Total Romanians Hungarians Germans Jews Roma Others

2002 149,577 75,317 69,825 275 n.a. 3,759 401

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• Sámuel Teleki (1739–1832)• Farkas Bolyai (1775–1856)• Avram Iancu (1824–1872)• Alexandru Papiu Ilarian (1827–1877)• János Bolyai (1802–1860)• György Bernády (1864–1938)• József Dudás (1912–1957)• János Kemény (writer) (1903–1971)• Károly Molter (writer) (1890–1981)• András Sütő (writer) (1927–2006)

The city was the home of composer György Orbán (born 1947), SMURD doctor Raed Arafat (born 1964) and football player László Bölöni (born 1952).

Districts of the city

Places of worship

The Reformed Fortress Church is the oldest church in the town. According to historical evidence, less than a century had passed after the first appearance of the Franciscan order in Transylvania, Hungarian Kingdom, that the Franciscan friars arrived to Marosvásárhely. The building of the church took an entire century, from the middle of the 14th century until the middle of the 15th and it consisted of a monastery building, an older chapel, the church and the steeple. The church was fi-nalized between 1400 and 1450. The church may have been originally decorated with frescos, as traces of mu-ral paintings were found inside. The almost complete disappearance of these paintings is due to the fact that the church became the property of protestant believers

in 1557. The religious reform required for churches to have no paintings, statues or religious frescos.

The existence of the Franciscan order in Marosvásárhe-ly was directly affected by the religious reform which was largely spread in Transylvania during the 16th cen-tury. In 1557, the influence of the Reformed Church over the Hungarians in the town was so strong that it eventually led to the confiscation of the properties of Catholic monastic orders. Franciscan monks, who until that time had been attending the church in the fortress, were forced to leave town. They returned after nearly two centuries when the political climate had become favorable to Catholicism due to the instauration of the Habsburgs in Transylvania. They bought the land in the center of the town where they built a new church and monastery by 1777. The tower, the only part that is still standing, was added to the church’s facade in 1802 by ROMANIAN HUNGARIAN

Centru Belváros

Dâmbul Pietros (1848) Kövesdomb (1848)

Unirii (on the right of the Mureş River)

Egyesülés ( Benefalva and Hídvég villages)

Rovinari (Ady Endre) Ady Endre

Aleea Carpaţi Kárpátok sétánya

Budai Nagy Antal Budai Nagy Antal

Gara Állomás

Livezeni Jedd

1989 December 22 (November 7)

1989 December 22 (November 7)

Tudor Vladimirescu Sásvári-negyed

Răsăritului Kikelet

Mureseni Meggyesfalva

Substejăriş Cserealja

Cornişa Kornisa

Valea Rece Hidegvölgy

architect János Topler. In 1971 the municipality decid-ed to demolish the monastery to create the necessary space for the construction of the National Theater and the square in front of it. A new church was built for the Franciscans on Libertăţii street.At the beginning of the 18th century, one of the most representative Baroque churches of Transylvania was built in the town. St John the Baptist Church was erect-ed in the North-Eastern part of the city center and be-longs to the Roman Catholic parish. The inside of the church is luxurious, with liturgical objects that are true works of art. The main altar, made in 1755 by Anton Schuchbauer and Johannes Nachtigal is of monumen-tal dimensions and has a pseudo-architectural struc-ture. The paintings of the altars in the lateral chapels: Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary, Saint Joseph, Saint John of

Nepomuc, Holy Cross belong to the same Michael An-gelo Unterberger. The stained glass windows made by the Türke Company of Grottau were installed in 1898.

The Big Synagogue was built between 1899 and 1900 at the initiative of the Jewish community “Status Quo” and that was considered to be one of the most beauti-ful synagogues of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The design of the building was drawn up by Gartner Jacob from Vienna and the construction works were coordi-nated by the Hungarian Pál Soós. The entire edifice is dominated by the central cupola. Each side of the cen-tral spire is decorated with a floral rosette similar to the ones on the facade. This type of window is also used several times on the lateral facades. The vast interior is richly decorated, both with shapes and color. The syna-

Page 18 Page 19

gogue has 314 seats on the ground floor and 238 on the top floor. The most recent large scale remodeling of the building took place in 2000 when the walls were reinforced and the interior decoration was re-done.

The existence of the Unitarian faith in the town is linked to the name of Ferenc Dávid, founder of Unitarianism and the first Unitarian bishop. The political circum-stances in Transylvania became favourable for Ferenc Dávid’s activity as the Diet of Torda held between 1557 and 1568 granted freedom of faith to all religions in Transylvania. The Unitarianism became religio-recepta together with all the other Protestant faiths. The king of the state himself, John II Sigismund Zápolya became Unitarian. The Unitarian Church was built between 1929 and 1930 next to the old Unitarian prayer house dating from 1869.

Tourist attractions

The first fortress in the town was erected in 1492 upon order of Transylvanian voivode Stephen Báthory, and was accomplished somewhere between 1602 and 1652 under judge Tamás Borsos. Having a pentagon plan, surrounded by a defense wall, the Citadel has seven forts, five of them bearing the names of the guild which – according to tradition – supported its mainte-nance: the leather dressers’, the tailors’, the butchers’, the ironmongers’, the coopers’. After the Citadel was taken over by the Austrian troops, it became the head-quarters of the military garrison based in the town. In the mean time the Baroque style building was built (on the left hand side of the road in front of the entrance gate) and in the second half of the 18th century the construction works of the ‘barkey’ were started, an ad-dition finished in the 19th century. On the occasion of the Targu Mures days – which have as central point of performance the Citadel – a museum center was opened in the gate fort (erected in 1613) presenting the history of the town and of the Citadel.

The Teleki-Bolyai Library is a historic public library and current museum in the town. One of the richest Tran-sylvanian collections of cultural artefacts, it was found-ed by the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki in 1802, at the time when Transylvania was part of the Habsburg Monarchy, and has been open to the reading public ever since. It was among the first institutions of its kind inside the Habsburg-ruled Kingdom of Hungary. It houses over 200,000 volumes, of which many are rari-ties, constituting a comprehensive scientific database. The book collection is divided into several smaller librar-ies, of which the two main donations are the original 40,000-volume Teleki Library and the 80,000-volume Bolyai Library; the rest, grouped as the Miscellaneous Collection, is made up of several private libraries, vol-umes previously held by religious schools and those of

a Franciscan monastery. Overall, the library constitutes a collection of most traditional types of Transylvanian book.The old City Hall was built between 1906-1907 after the construction plans of Komor Marcell and Jakab Dezső. The entrance area, including the corridor and the staircase leading to the first floor, is the most rep-resentative in this regard. The ribbed stellar vaults that cover this area were inspired by Gothic architecture. The use of such vaults can only be explained by pure-ly esthetic reasons, as there is no practical argument for this choice at the beginning of the 20th century. The vaults are supported by columns with composite caps, and the keystone is a large floral shape which includes the lighting appliance. The vaults are painted with spiraling vegetal motifs. One of the most spec-tacular elements of the front hall is the stone bench with its legs shaped as those of an animal and with wing-shaped handles. Its shell-shaped, golden back has a shield flanked by two volutes on its upper side. The monumental staircase leading to the first floor also boasts some impressive elements such as the upper side of the banister resembling a slithering animal or a wave. The exterior decoration is simpler and is based on Hungarian - Székely folk motives made of polychro-matic ceramics. The ground floor is marked by a solid, embossed pedestal. The empty and full areas on the façade are rather well balanced, even though the win-dows with large openings tend to be predominant. The three semicircular windows in the middle area of the facade are those of the honor hall that has a double elevation with respect to the other rooms. The glass paintings which illustrated Gábor Bethlen, Francis II Rákóczi, Lajos Kossuth, Ferenc Deák and Franz Joseph I of Austria are missing from the halls.

The Cultural Palace is a remarkable construction in the city center. It was built upon initiative of the mayor of the town, György Bernády. Building works started in the spring of 1911. They contributed to the establish-ment of the Hungarian secessionist architecture school in Transylvania by their works in Deva and Oradea. The plan is an irregular rectangle, with protuberances on the sides and at the extremities. The building has five floors: a tall ground floor, a mezanine and three floors diferentiated by the use of various construction materi-als. The facades are characterized by bi-dimensionality and by a liniar-rectangular style, with only a few curvi-linear elements: the six bow-windows covered by semi-caps above the main portal and the circular balconies on the edges. The main entrance is in the middle of the facade on Enescu street and is made up of four massive doors, protected by an architecural element made of glass and with an iron framing. This element, as well as the doors decorated with iron floral motifs are typical for the 1900s style. The exterior is richly decorated, with colored mosaic panels, with relieved

scenes and busts of Hungarians. The most impressive composition is the mosaic on the main facade, an al-legorical scene inspired by the Hungarian folklore. The cardboards were made by Nagy Sándor, an important Hungarian artist, who founded with Körösföy Kriesch Aladár the School of Gödöllő. The art is characterized by bi-dimensionality and vertical rhythmicalness. Most of the mosaics and stained glass windows were au-thored by Róth Miksa, particularly those on the side facing Square.

The Cornesti high (Somostető) - an excellent landscape of Târgu Mureş can be seen from here

Politics

The local Municipal Assembly has 23 members divided into 5 political parties:

Education

Târgu Mureş is an important centre for general and higher education. The most important high schools are the ,,Colegiul Naţional Alexandru Papiu Ilarian,, and the hungarian speaking ,,Bolyai Farkas High School,,. The latter is a continuator of the traditions of the Scho-la Particula, established in Târgu Mureş in 1557, and of the Reformed College banished from Sárospatak at the beginning of the 18th century . The establishment was one of the first schools of the Reformed Church in Transylvania, was first working in the old building of the Franciscan monastery in the fortress, and had Baranyai Decsi, Czimor Janos, Tordai Adam, Laskoi Csokas Peter as teachers, as well as others. After be-ing sacked in 1601 and 1602, the Schola was moved into another building, on the place of the present high school. For centuries it had accommodated the Re-formed College and the present high school. The pres-ent aspect was acquired at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The main statue, facing Bolyai square was erected following the design of architect Baumgarten Sandor in 1908-1909, in Hun-garian Secession style.

Renowned universities like the University of Medicine

Political Party Number of Seats

Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania 10

Democratic Liberal Party 8

National Liberal Party (Romania) 2

Social Democratic Party 2

Greater Romania Party 1

Page 20 Page 21

and Pharmacy, Petru Maior University and Sapientia University account for more than 10,000 students be-tween them. The Sapientia – Hungarian University of Transylvania is an institution of Hungarian higher edu-cation in the historic region of Transylvania, Romania. Its establishment was motivated by needs outgrowing the present choice of Hungarian university education in Romania, especially that the percentage of Hungarian students in Romanian university life does not represent the percentage of Hungarian population in Romania, and university education in Hungarian does not cover the range of necessary specializations. Other universi-ties are the Theatre University, Dimitrie Cantemir Uni-versity.

Health Care

Târgu Mureş has a well-developed healthcare system. It consists of:

• 2 hospitals • A County hospital (the biggest in the county) with 11 specialized units• A Municipal hospital with 7 specialized units• 36 medical offi ces• 9 clinics• Over 20 pharmacies• Ambulances and SMURD

Transport

Transylvania Motorway (also known as A3), which is due to be completed in 2013, will pass near Târgu Mureş. Another future highway that will be connected with the city is the East-West Motorway (A4), that will

start in the western part of the country near Iaşi, Mol-davia and will connect itself with A3. It is due to be completed in 2015.

The city is served by Târgu Mureş International Airport, which provides both domestic and international fl ights. It was renovated in October 2005.

The city transport operators are S.C. Transport Local S.A., S.C. Siletina-Impex S.R.L. and S.C. TudorTrans S.R.L..

Sports

The city is represented in many sports, including: foot-ball, handball, basketball, volleyball and wushu.

Târgu Mureş is the home city of two football teams: FCM Târgu Mureş, which plays in Liga II, and Gaz Metan Târgu Mureş, who competes in Liga III.

Târgu Mureş is also known for its bowling team, Electromureş.

The most important sport right now in the city is basketball, which is enjoying a huge audience with thousands of fans, with the team BC Mureş playing in the fi rst division. They play their matches at the ,,Sala Sporturilor,,(Sports Arena in English).

Local media

WRITTEN MEDIA

Népújság

24 de ore mureşene

Vásárhelyi Hírlap

Cuvântul liber

Zi de zi

Központ

Ziarul de Mureş

Infomaţia de Mureş

Flash

Piaţa Mureşeană

Mediatica.ro

EuroMaros.ro

kakukk.ro

RADIO

Radio Târgu Mureş /Marosvásárhelyi Rádió

One FM

Kiss FM

Twin towns — Sister cities

Târgu Mures has 9 twin towns and sister cities, as listed below:

RADIO

Radio GaGa

Radio 21

Magic FM

Europa FM

TV

ªtii TV

Mureş/Maros TV

Erdélyi Magyar Televízió

Televiziunea Română Târgu Mureş

Realitatea TV Târgu Mureş

Duna TV Marosvásárhely

Antena 1 Târgu Mureş

Prima TV Târgu Mureş

ProTV Târgu Mureş

COUNTRY CITY

Germany Ilmenau

Hungary Baja

Hungary Kecskemét

Hungary Szeged

Hungary Újbuda, Budapest

Hungary Zalaegerszeg

Turkey Güzelçamlı

United Kingdom Bournemouth

United Kingdom East Renfrewshire



Page 22 Page 23

Sighisoara is a city and municipality on the Târnava Mare River in Mureş County, Romania. Located in the historic region Transylvania, Sighişoara has a popula-tion of 32,287 (2002).

History

During the 12th century, German craftsmen and mer-chants known as the Transylvanian Saxons were invited to Transylvania by the King of Hungary to settle and de-fend the frontier of his realm. The chronicler Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in the actual Sighiṣoara by 1191. By 1280 it was known by the Latin name of Castrum Sex, and by 1298 by the Saxon name of Schespurch resp. Schaesbrich. By 1337 Sighişoara had become a royal center for the kings, who awarded the settlement ur-ban status in 1367 as the Civitas de Segusvar.

The city played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of Central Europe for several cen-turies. Sighişoara became one of the most important cities of Transylvania, with artisans from throughout the Holy Roman Empire visiting the settlement. The German artisans and craftsmen dominated the urban economy, as well as building the fortifications protect-ing it. It is estimated that during the 16th and the 17th centuries Sighişoara had as many as 15 guilds and 20 handicraft branches. The Baroque sculptor Elias Nicolai lived in the city. The Wallachian prince Vlad Dracul (fa-ther of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), who lived in exile in the town, let minted coins in the city (otherwise coin-age was the monopoly of the Hungarian kings in the Kingdom of Hungary) and issued the first document listing the city’s Romanian name, Sighişoara.

The city was the setting for George I Rákóczi’s election

as Prince of Transylvania and King of Hungary in 1631. Sighişoara suffered military occupation, fires, and plagues during the 17th and 18th centuries. Important source for the history of the 17th century Transylva-nia, for the period of 1606-1666, the records of Georg Kraus, the town’s notary.

The nearby plain of Albeşti was the site of the Battle of Segesvár, where the revolutionary Hungarian army led by Józef Bem was defeated by the Russian army led by Luders on 31 July 1849. A monument was constructed in 1852 to the Russian general Skariatin, who died in the battle. The Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi is gener-ally believed to have been killed in the battle, and a monument was constructed in his honor at Albeşti in 1897. After World War I Sighişoara passed with Tran-sylvania from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Ro-mania.

Central Sighişoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city, it has been listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

View from Villa FrankaSighişoara is considered to be the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadel in Europe,[citation needed] with an authentic medieval architecture. In Eastern Europe, Sighişoara is one of the few fortified towns which are still inhabited. The town is made up of two parts. The medieval stronghold was built on top of a hill and is known as the “Citadel” (Cetate).The lower town lies in the valley of Târnava Mare river.

The houses inside Sighişoara Citadel show the main

Sighisoarafeatures of a craftsmen’s town. However, there are some houses which belonged to the former patriciate, like the Venetian House and the House with Antlers.

“The House with Antlers” has been brought into the possession of the Messerschmitt Foundation with the help of the Romanian Government and the town coun-cil of Sighisoara in April 2000, defrauding the legiti-mate heirs, the descendents Leicht-Bacon (with English roots), who are mentioned in the cadaster of Sighiso-ara as owners before the communist dispossession of 1950.

In 2001-2003 the construction of a Dracula theme park in the ‘Breite’ nature preserve near Sighişoara was considered but ultimately rejected, due to the strong opposition of local civil society groups and national and international media as well as politically influential per-sons, as the theme park would have detracted from the medieval style of the city and would have destroyed the nature preserve.

Demographics

Ethnic groups:

Sights

Sighişoara is a popular tourist destination, due to its well-preserved walled old town. The landmark of the

city is the Clock Tower, a 64m high tower built in 1556. It is today a museum of history.

Other interesting sights are:

• Sighişoara Citadel - a 12th Century Saxon edifice, is the historic center of the city. Still occupied, the citadel is listed as a World Heritage Site.• Clock Tower - Built in 1360 and standing at 60 me-ters tall atop the citadel hill. Inside is a museum that finishes in a great view from the top.• Weapon Museum - next to Vlad’s birthplace. Very small, but it contains an interesting selection of medi-eval weapons (swords, arrows, etc.).• Covered Staircase - a very old stone staircase with a wooden roof along the whole span. This leads up to the Church on the Hill and the cemetery.• Church on the Hill - contains many frescoes and a crypt. Built on the location of the Roman fort. Close to the cemetery on the side of the hill, which contains many German tombstones.• Bust of Vlad Tepes - Located around the corner from his birthplace, within sight of the Clock Tower.Personalities

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

ROMANIANS (76.06%)

HUNGARIANS (18.36%)

ROMA (3.51%)

GERMANS (1.92%)

OTHERS

COUNTRY CITY

Germany Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria

Hungary Kiskunfélegyháza, Bács-Kiskun

Switzerland Baden, Aargau

France Blois, Loir-et-Cher

Italy Citta di Castello, Perugia

Page 24 Page 25



Sighisoara, „the medieval jewel of Romania” awaits its visitors to uncover the mystery closed in the old walls during the hundreds years of existence. Placed in the heart of the country, Sighisoara has a key role as a point of intersection of main roads, and an important railway junction.

In the middle of Târnava Mare Valley stands the Castle Hill, which descends on the town and is sur-rounded by higher hills like a real belt. These hills with forests, coating each season in other colors from snow white to rust autumn leaves make Sighisoara charm, which invites the travelers to make a stop to enjoy the view, peace and beautiful places, and for those who love hiking, outdoor sports or hunting - Sighisoara and enclosures offer excellent conditions.

Over time, more or less famous personalities have worn steps on the narrow streets. Of these, the most important course is the son of Mircea the Old, Country Romanian prince - nicknamed Vlad Dracula - Member of the Order of the Dragon, who lived between 1431-1436 in the citadel of Sighisoara. Sighisoara is associated abroad behalf of one who was son of Vlad Dracul, the famous Vlad the Impaler, known as Dracula. It is assumed that Vlad had been born in Sighisoara, the former body guard house, where he hosted his father during the exile, which is now called “Vlad Dracul”.

Today, the old city - with lofty towers and walls grim but hospitable that rises vertically for centuries to come, keeping its old walls caring polychrome houses generously described in recent chroniclers of the history of old times is known as the only one inhabited medieval citadel in Europe. Part of UNESCO World Heritage, Medieval Citadel Sighisoara is a magnet for tourists from around the world who come to discover the beauty described in chronicles and recreated in modern times in the most unexpected ways ...

Local hospitality is transposed in many hotels, hostels and restaurants that welcome their guests with services at the highest quality standards.

One of our community’s objectives is the economic development of the city and attracting foreign investors. Sighisoara Municipality offers investors a range of facilities such as very high tourism potential, the old traditions in certain industries (textiles and ceramics), the existence of a well de-veloped manufacturing sector for clothing, the unemployment rate is relatively low, well-developed network of fi nancial institutions and banking, technical and urban networks developed, good dy-namic economic indicators (turnover) for representative companies, support of local authorities.

Page 26 Page 27

Transylvania, a hilly region situated in the centre of Romania, represents a very special cultural landscape. Bearing the mark of a centuries long mingled life of the Romanians, Hungarians and Germans, it has a unique feature: nowhere else in the world are there to be found, preserved, in such a narrow space, so many reinforced churches and fortress-churches, witnessing such a varied material expression of the defence technique. The origin and development of church reinforce-ments are, undoubtedly linked to the troubled history of Transylvania, starting from the Tatar inva-sion, in 1241 - 1242, passing through the Turks’ repeated forays - from 1395 - to the devastating Mohacs defeat of 1526.

All along those bleak years, the churches naturally did their best to protect themselves from the neverending wars waged around the principality of Transylvania until the beginning of the 18th century. The grographic density and, above all, the high number of these buildings - of which, over 150 survived to this day - can be considered a phenomenon characteristic of the historical, legal, religious and social environment of those who built them: the Saxons of Transylvania. During one of the many attempts of the Hungarian crown to occupy Transylvania, king Geza the 2nd (1141 - 1161) decided to bring German colonists to the country, especially from the Cologne archdiocese, who later on would be called Saxons. After other immigrants came in, the colonisation of the pres-ent Saxon localities would end with a few exceptions, before 1300. From a religious point of view, these communities were linked to the Saxon church. From 1542 to the Reformation, the Saxon church of Transylvania - which had adopted the Augsbourg religion - preserved (and still does) the characteristic of a popular church.

From 1542 to the Reformation, the Saxon church of Transylvania - which had adopted the Augs-bourg religion - preserved (and still does) the characteristic of a popular church. In their native land, the colonists had already learned that, in wartime, it was better to leave one’s village and save one’s life and goods, by fleeing to the closest fortress . All that influenced their choice of the kind of colony fit for the place for such a construction. The arable land was shared according to the Flem-ish system; the houses surrounded by gardens were arranged in tight rows and made up villages along with streets, commons and squares; the churches stood in the centre of the village. In most cases, they were built on hills, which made them essy to reach and protect. This kind of gathering up brought about the need for reinforcing the churches that were raised almost everywhere after the Tatar invasion. In spite of subsequent profound changes, it is possible to reconstitute the aspect of church reinforcements, dating from the second half of the 13th century: almost all the basilicas from the colonisation times, as well as later constructions preserved massive towers, built under the west traverse of the central nave. These towers were built with sentry road and battlements, while the access paths were protected by a precinct wall, with a trench and entrance tower. While the first entrenced churches were inspired by the mediaeval pattern of the knights’ strongholds, it seems that the Transylvanian pattern drew its inspiration from the counts’ fortified mansions. Among the latter, only one, the Cilnic mansion in western Transylvania, lived through the centuries. Built in 1260, by count Chyl de Kelling, it includes a massive home-tower, with three storeys and a small chapel, having a semicircular apse, and is surrounded by an oval precinct wall. In 1430, the counts’ descendants decided to open it to the free community of the village, which, in its turn, enlarged the stronghold with an outer precinct wall and a semicircular stronghold and raised in the inner courtyard supplementary walls, with constructions supported by the precinct wall. After an age of unrest, Transylvania underwent a peaceful period and, under Louis the Great (1342 - 1382), the German colonies reached a fine economic boom. Architecture flourished rapidly and there began the construction of the large churches of towns like Sebes, Cluj - Napoca, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Medias

and Brasov. Soon afterwrds, the Turks trod Europe’s land for the first time and, as a result of a heavy Turkish invasion in 1491, all over the place, the defence constructions began and continued to extend systematically.

Bearing the print above all of the mediaeval fortresses, the art of stronghold building - as far as towns are concerned - was then transferred to fortress churches: the walls were raised, with an open sentry road and reinforced by a row of entrenched towers. The gate was reinforced on the outside with supplementary entrenchments. Often a second or third precinct was built. The oldest fortress churches dating from those ages can be found in Tara Birsei region. The churches built in plains were reinforced as they used to be protected only up to the west tower. The most important entrenched church in Transylvania is the Prejmer one. This cross-shaped building , dating from the early Gothic, was influenced by the Kerz Cistercian construction site; it was surrounded by 12 metre high walls. These walls have a square round angle layout and are protected by stockades, water ditches, four towers and two advanced reinforcements. Within this area, the constructions supported by the precinct wall had three or four storeys; divided into 60 compartments, they had basements and 260 store houses.

The fortresses are very different in the other colonised regions where the natural features of the hilly landscape have been rightly used. One of the largest and most renowned fortress-churches is the Biertan one, standing on a hill, in the centre of the village. The hall church, with three naves, dat-ing from the late Gothic, was raised between 1500 and 1516, the preexistent chorus of the edifice having an entrenched storey. The precinct wall, dating from the same time, was reinforced during the 16th century with 8 towers; it is coil shaped, like a three tower belt, around the hill.

The church preserved its furniture dating from the end of the Gothic age, including a complex altar. One can still notice the frescoes dating fron the 16th century, on the southern tower of the inner precinct wall, as well as the tomb stones of several Saxon bishops. Since 1993 this fortress church, as well as the access paths around it, is on the world heritage list drawn up by UNESCO. In the times when the Biertan chorus was reinforced, the religious buildings continued to be entrenched all over the place. A wide range of defence means and architectural grandeur were put to good use for raising the west tower and endowing it with three entrenched storeys. There is a second tower under the chorus or a side entrance.

Saxon Fortified Churches of Transylvania

Page 28 Page 29

Reghin is a city and municipality in Mureş county in Romania, on the Mureş River in Transylvania. It is the place of origin of the Sasregen Hasidic Jewish dynasty. It had a population of approximately 35,700 in 2004.

Location

Reghin lies 29 km north-northeast of Târgu Mureş, ex-tending on both shores of the Mureş River, at the con-fl uence with the Gurghiu River. It was created by the 1926 union of the German-inhabited (formerly Szász-régen) and the Hungarian-inhabited (formerly Mag-yarrégen) city, and later joined with the two smaller communities of Apalina (Hungarian: Abafája; German: Bendorf) and Iernuţeni (Hungarian: Radnótfája; Ger-man: Etschdorf), added in 1956.

History

Reghin was fi rst mentioned in 1228 in a charter of Hun-garian King Andrew II as Regun - however, evidence of its strategic location and defence system suggests that the town might have been considerably older, possibly founded during by Ladislaus I.

Despite the devastations of the city during the Mongol invasion (1241) and during the Tatar and Cuman incur-sions (1285), the town developed rapidly: already in the second half of the 13th century the city was the residence and power centre of the families Tomaj and Kacsik, to whom the nearby lands were awarded by the Hungarian Crown. Reghin became a minor ecclesi-astical centre in 1330, with the building of the Gothic church (Roman Catholic at the time, it now serves the Protestant community) in the German part of the city; it is still the largest church in the area, and hosts the

oldest Medieval Latin inscription of any church in Tran-sylvania. The Hungarian part of the city has an even older church, initially built in the Romanesque style.

At the beginning of the 15th century the settlement gained city rights, and, from 1427, the right to hold fairs. In the 16th and 17th century Reghin was dev-astated by Habsburg and Ottoman troops on several occasions. It burned to the ground in 1848. In 1910, the population of the city included 7,310 inhabitants, of which 2,994 were Germans (Transylvanian Saxons), 2,947 Hungarians, and 1,311 Romanians.

In 1920 Reghin was assigned to Romania by the Treaty of Trianon, together with the rest of Transylvania. In 1940, as result of the Second Vienna Award, the city became part of Hungary, together with the North of Transylvania. Almost 30% of the inhabitants were Jews at that time. In May 1944, the Jews were gathered in the ghetto of Reghin and on June 4, 1944 were de-ported to Auschwitz. In 1945 the city again became part of Romania.

After World War II, Reghin lost some of its former Transylvanian Saxon character - as many Germans left for Western Germany during the latter stages of Com-munist Romania - and ethnic Romanians were settled in their place. The data of the 1992 census showed a population of 24,601 Romanians, 12,471 Hungarian, 1,790 Roma, and 346 Germans.

Landmarks

Traditional German architectural heritage:• the Protestant (Lutheran) church, built in 1330 in honour of Saint Mary. Burnt down in 1708 and in

Reghin

The lateral naves used to be demolished to better pro-tect the building.; stones and wooden beams were used for building entrenched storeys under the chorus or be-low the entire assembly of religious establishments, on consoles or fl ying buttresses, under abutments. The end of the 15th century stands for the last important stage in the history of fortress-church construction: in some places, after the old religious buidings belonging to the entrenched churches had been pulled down, new uni-tary churches were raised, made up of a single body of buildings, with entrenched storeys, supported on con-soles and fl ying buttresses between abutments; these fortresses used to have catapults and battlements. A bell tower, built separately, was included in the precinct wall. After an age of unrest, Transylvania underwent a peaceful period and, under Louis the Great (1342 - 1382), the German colonies reached a fi ne economic

boom. Architecture fl ourished rapidly and there began the construction of the large churches of towns like Sebes, Cluj - Napoca, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Medias and Brasov. Soon afterwrds, the Turks trod Europe’s land for the fi rst time and, as a result of a heavy Turkish invasion in 1491, all over the place, the defence constructions began and continued to extend systematically. Bearing the print above all of the mediaeval fortresses, the art of stronghold building - as far as towns are concerned - was then transferred to fortress churches: the walls were raised, with an open sentry road and reinforced by a row of entrenched towers. The gate was reinforced on the outside with supplemen-tary entrenchments. Often a second or third precinct was built. The oldest fortress churches dating from those ages can be found in Tara Birsei region. The churches built in plains were reinforced as they used to be protected only up to the west tower. The most important entrenched church in Transylvania is the Prejmer one. This cross-shaped building , dating from the early Gothic, was infl uenced by the Kerz Cistercian construction site; it was surrounded by 12 metre high walls. These walls have a square round angle layout and are protected by stockades, water ditches, four towers and two advanced reinforcements. Within this area, the constructions supported by the precinct wall had three or four storeys; divided into 60 compartments, they had basements and 260 store houses. The fortresses are very different in the other colonised regions where the natural features of the hilly landscape have been rightly used. One of the largest and most renowned fortress-churches is the Biertan one, standing on a hill, in the centre of the village. The hall church, with three naves, dating from the late Gothic, was raised between 1500 and 1516, the preexistent chorus of the edi-fi ce having an entrenched storey. The precinct wall, dating from the same time, was reinforced dur-ing the 16th century with 8 towers; it is coil shaped, like a three tower belt, around the hill. Beside their relevance as regards the study of fortifi ed buildings, all churches bear witness for the history of art and architecture in central Europe and mediaeval Transylvania, marked by infl uences from the south of Germany, Bohemia and Austria , from the Roman age to late Gothic. The entrenched churches and fortress-churches are the most relevant Saxon legacy and the token of their fusion with their own past. To point out the sig-nifi cance of the Saxon fortress-churches of Transylvania, a German- Romanian team revealed the project to include on the UNESCO world heritagelist some rep-resentative examples of different kinds of communities, once German, including the villages: Cilnic, Valea Viilor, Saschiz, Viscri and Prejmer (as at present only the Biertan fortress- church is on the list).



Page 30 Page 31

1848, after which it had been rebuilt.• the Roman Catholic church, which was consecrated in 1781.

Traditional Hungarian architectural heritage:• the Protestant (Calvinist) church, 13th century, in 1910 completely rebuilt.• a Calvinist church built in 1890.

Traditional Romanian architectural heritage:• the Greek-Catholic church, built in 1744, nowadays Romanian Orthodox.• the Greek-Catholic church, built between 1811 and 1813, nowadays Romanian Orthodox.

New landmarks:• a Romanian Orthodox Cathedral was built in the city in the 1990s.• the renowned zoological and folklore collections.

Demographics

Ethnic groups at the 2002 census:

Personalities

• Josef Haltrich (1822–1886), ethnographer, historian.• Ferenc Kós (b. 1828), writer• Rudolf Wagner-Régeny (1903–1969), composer

• Georg Maurer (19071971), writer• Jutta Pallos-Schönauer (b.1925), Painter• Petru Maior (1756–1821), Writer and Educator• Vasile Gliga, luthier and successful businessman• Viorel Frunza, miniature luthier

Twin Town - Sister Cities

ROMANIANS 23,611 (65.35%)

HUNGARIANS 10,396 (28.77%)

ROMA 1,831 (5.06%)

GERMANS 237 (0.65%)

OTHERS

COUNTRY CITY

Republic of Moldovan Ungheni



Nestled and hidden valley in the Carpathian Moun-tains, lies the spa resort of Sovata. This is probably one of the most natural, un-spoilt regions left in Europe. Ancient forests, villages and folklore create a truly magical atmosphere. This region is rich in mountainous scenery, untouched nature, farytale castles, turrets and churches. In addition there are some truly breathtaking geographical monuments, such as the Bicaz Canyon and its sorrounding area.

Transylvania, the land “beyond the forests”

In the middle of Romania, Transylvania attracts with high-roofed wooden churches, exceptional architec-ture and folk art, medieval towns, mysterious castles and a troubled history.

You will be seduced by the countless beauty and won-ders, forested peaks, sweet waved valleys and sparkling streams of the Salt Land.

Secret of health, miracle of the nature

Sovata – a spa for women, is best known for its great results in therapy of gynaecological disorders due to increasing fertility Sapropelic mud and extremely salty water of the heliothermal lake which have earned Sovata a fame. Danubius Hotels offers 2 and 4 star hotels in Sovata. Danubius Health Spa Resort Sovata has a newly established health spa department. The hotel awaits clients, who are looking for healing and relaxation. Treatments in Sovata are indicated in case of rheumatic and muscular disorders, rehabilitation after accident, chronic infl ammatory gynaecological diseases, hormonal disorders, allergic problems of the

respiratory system. There are two other hotels in the beautiful spa resort Sovata, the two star spa hotel, Ho-tel Bradet and Hotel Faget.

Enjoy the soothing water of Lake Bear that is the only lake whose exact date and time of dawn are known for sure.

You can fl oat easily on the surface of the water be-cause of the high concentration of salt. Wander among the thermal ponds dotted around lake bear each pos-sesses different healing effect. You will spend extreme-ly pleasant moments close to Sovata, in Parajd where the underground playground and ecumenical chapel of the Salt Mine give shelter and healing for those with respiratory problems.

Sovata



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Business traveling in Targu MuresIf you plan coming to Romania for business, you might need a fine place to stay. We suggest a place that’s eas-ily accessible by plane or by car;

A place where your business, your image and your health are taken care of in the finest manner; we sug-gest the President **** Hotel, in the city of Targu Mures, right in the heart of Transylvania.

On the European road that binds the city to other two major cities in Romania, Cluj – Napoca and Brasov, we are located less than five miles from the city’s interna-tional airport and minutes away from the railway station. Transfer to the hotel and back is provided by car or by bus for free.

When it comes to picking a room, you can choose from 20 double rooms with marital bed, 52 twin double rooms, 2 junior suites, 2 standard suites and 2 presidential suites.

We appreciated the way the hotel strives to put time on your side; no matter where you stay, you get free high-speed wireless internet access, international phone lines or room service.

Other “minor” amenities you’ll find included for every room are the air conditioning, LCD TV and TV cable, in-room seif, Jacuzzi and unique furnishing. Yes, that was correct, jacuzzi and unique furnishing available in every room.

The hotel also provides a 24hours desk, concierge, drycleaning services, shoe shine, limo or towncar available with a driver.

After seing the rooms and we took a look at the business center, and we were very impressed to find the excellent conditions it offers for almost anytype of corporate event you may imagine.

The three conference halls have a total capacity of over 400 seats and each one is fully equipped with high quality sound sistem, projector, projection screen, flipchart, TV, DVD player and simultani-ous translation sistems.

Manadas Conference Hall is the largest conference hall in Tirgu Mures and one of the largest in Transylvania, with a total capacity of 350 seats. The President conference Hall has a capacity of 100 seats and the Mirrors Conference Hall, 30 seats.

Beyond the conference halls, we have the President Trade center, which is one of the biggest exhibi-tion spaces in the region with almost 3.500 square meters surface.

Thumbs for the parking space too. No need to worry where will your guests park as the parking space is ready to receive more than 200 cars, it’s free and it’s guarded 24/7.

So weather you plan on organizing a large tradeshow, a conference with hundreds of people or just a smaller meeting for some of your partners, we believe these conference halls are made to suite perfectly with everything it takes for your event to be a success.

And when it comes to event we mustn’t forget the restaurants. We knew that Hotel President was notorious because of their most spacious ballrooms in the area and during our visited we clearly understood why.

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Manadas, President and Only Pink, dedicated to events, offering great services, both for corporate or private quests. The ballrooms are equipped with high quality sound systems and they are also air-conditioned.

The chefs in cookery will offer their mastery to delight you with their specialties both in the Argentinean res-taurant – Steakhouse Manadas and the Italian one – Il Padre.

Overall the restaurants can host almost 2.000 people. (Aici vad imagini din fi ecare restaurant si apare in back-

ground o imagine cu numarul de locuri al fi ecarui restaurant) Steak House Manadas – 120 seats; Manadas Restaurant – 500 seats; President Restaurant – 500 seats; Only Pink Restaurant – 800 seats.

After your work is done for the day, imagine a special place where you can escape for at least a few hours from phonecalls, emails, tight deadlines to enjoy a well deserved break.

We introduce you to one of the most amazing locations in the area, Aqua Rock Spa - a 1.500 square meters tropical lagoon right next to your workplace. We were delighted by the natural ambi-ence of rocky walls and caverns, with exotic vegetation.

Within Aqua Rock Spa, you can enjoy Aqua Therapy area, with a 26 meters long, 12 meters wide and 1,6 – 2 meters deep pool. We also have a kids pool and two jacuzzi situated nearby the round fi replace and in the rocky cavern.

The Spa Zone suggests Finnish sauna, aroma therapy sauna, Roman bath, kneipp, Turkish bath – hamam, Scotish showers, basin sink after sauna, massage and relaxation, a fi tness center and cromo-therapy chambers.

But what we loved the most about Aqua Rock Spa is the Salt mine. 6 meters under ground level, composed of salt sauna and a salt cavern with two waterfalls. It has special therapeutic properties due to the salt espacially brought from the Himalayan mountains in Pakistan. Now THAT is what we call relaxation.

Afterwords, you can prolong your relaxation at the drink and food court –where you’ll fi nd a bistro bar and a fi ne italian restaurant.

The Hotel offer the visitors of our Spa the highest standard of confort and servicing, just like they do in all the areas of their business.

So feel free to pay them a visit. Weather it’s for your business trip, your health or your simple re-laxation, we believe The Hotel President has the amenities and luxury to make your staying there a wonderfull memory.

This article represents our recommandation for visiting places in the area

Page 3�

Romanian String Section

“Like people, each one is unique.” Instruments made in Italy in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries by the legend-ary Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari families sell for mil-lions, even as musicians and dealers argue passionately about the superiority of originals over modern copies.

The link between past and present is the special spruce and maple wood of the Transylvanian forests near the Gliga factory in Reghin. It is a resource so prized by violin makers that the nearby Gurghiului Valley is com-monly known as Italian valley, after the luthiers who are said to have journeyed there from Cremona, Italy, the

home of the masters, in search of perfect wood. According to Gliga, who grew up in the valley, the critical ingredient is the abundance of flamed maple (also called curly sycamore), the strikingly grained wood of choice for the back of violins. More specifically, it’s an aberration normally found in only one in a thousand sycamores, whose wavy fibers produce exceptional resonance. The Gliga factory has immediate access to this vital resource and in Vasile Gliga a keen and experienced eye. “When I see a log, I automatically know how many violins I can get out of it,” he says. Each stack of spruce or maple is tagged with details of the year it was cut and the specific part of the instrument in which it will be used. Wood is aged up to six years. As with fine wines, the final product achieves depth and flavor with maturity.

Communism’s contribution to Gliga’s success was the party’s inability to set up a violin factory in Bucharest. The capital’s facility was closed, and Reghin became the only town in the country where violins were made. As a result, the experts are all still there. “Skilled workmanship imbues a violin with special characteristics,” says Gliga. He believes the unique qualities of the local wood coupled with the skill of his work force mean Gliga instruments can successfully compete with those being made by long-established European companies.

There are, Gliga says, 200 steps involved in producing high-quality violins. Apart from the initial millwork, Gliga violins are handmade with tools often fashioned by the artisans themselves for the delicate shaping and carving of the instrument. Using teams of three or four people, each special-ized in one step of the process, the Gliga factory can maximize its output while maintaining high quality. That teamwork is a variation on the accepted manufacturing theme: purists argue that the finest instruments are those made entirely by one master. Gliga says several people working to-gether actually add to a violin’s character: “The workers here are like one big family, so many souls working and feeling the wood — processing, carving, polishing, varnishing. I feel like a father to them, and the violin is our newborn baby. Then, in the hands of a musician, it grows up.”

There’s still a snob factor associated with violins, says Naomi Sadler, editor of the British magazine The Strad. “It’s true that old Italian instruments are lovely, but some of the top makers today are also producing incredibly good instruments,” she says. While most of the best players will use only an original Cremonese masterpiece, at least one world-famous violinist was impressed by a Gliga instrument. In a 1995 letter to Gliga, Yehudi Menuhin wrote, “Dear and very fine craftsman ... I shall treasure the instrument you made ...” At his headquarters in Reghin, Gliga displays the Menuhin letter with pride, convinced that the reputation of Transylvania as a center of violin-mak-ing excellence will eventually be acknowledged. And that maybe then he will be able to return to his workbench.

Page 40

Transylvanian WinesThe importance of the Transylvanian wine-growing re-gion is not given by the actual extent of the vineyards, which barely reach 14,000 hectares, but by the quality of the wines produced here, with particular noble and unique features, as well as by the enormous potential of the area for viticultural expansion. Vine growing is favored in these regions by a relief that seems to be spe-cially destined for such purpose, consisting of endless hill slopes waiting to be covered with vineyards.

Not long before, each Transylvanian settlement had its own vineyards, perched even on steep slopes, with beautifully aligned rows flowing from top to bottom. From the yard of his parents’ house in Lancram, the eyes of the child Lucian Blaga have been drawn by the “vine slope” on the eastern edge of the village. Most of these plantations disappeared due to the collectiv-ization, because – as they were located and planted – only the vineyards’ owners could harvest them. Will such garden-vines ever reappear around villages? Will they ever reanimate the Transylvanian landscape? Let us hope so! It would be a shame if it were no longer possible.

Five major vineyards are outlined on the current (and on the old) viticultural map of Transylvania. The Tar-nave vineyard classifies at the top of the list, with its wine-growing centers at Blaj, Jidvei, Medias, Tarnaveni, Zagar and Valea Nirajului. Its neighbor by location and similar by fame – is the Alba vineyard, dividing its vines between the Alba-Iulia and Ighiu viticultural centers; a little to the south there is the Sebes-Apold vineyard, while the Aiud one spreads to the north. Finally, located high up on the map, there is the ancient Lechinta vineyard, with its famous viticultural centers at Lechinta, Teaca, Bistrita and Batos.

The Transylvanian vines are by no means widespread, yet the wines obtained here – well known and highly appreciated – have turned into products largely required for export and on the domestic mar-ket. Is there anyone who hasn’t experienced the Blaj and Jidvei wines or the Alba-Iulia and Apold sparkling wines? Is there anyone left who hasn’t been thrilled by their outstanding qualities?

We are on a quest for these wines, treading with excitement on the way of Transylvanian vines. We shall depart from the center of the region, from the Tarnave vineyard; we shall pass through the Alba and Aiud vineyards and end our journey up in the north, in the Lechinta vineyard. Of course, this is not an exhaustive quest, but it is enough to get a glimpse of the viticulture in this area and of the quality of its wines.

Transylvania’s international airport at Targu Mures hasrecently completed major upgrade in faclities ready to assist thearea’s development.

New international flights are expected to start soon tocomplement the daily flights of Malev via Budapest and Taromvia Bucharest to the world. Wizz Air fly to and from Budapest .Charter flights operate from Scandinavia and business aviationis expanding.

A flight training school is due to open in May as well as an airtaxi service. The airport, in the heart of Transylvania, is the

gateway to this beautiful historic area including the Szeklerlands, the expanding city of Targu Mures and the close bymedieval City of Sigisoarhra , the birthplace of Vlad Tepes ofDracula fame.

The late evening flight from Bucharest Henri Coanda airportis ideal for visitors to Romania who can spend time lookingaround Bucharest before flying to Transylvania . The return flightto Bucharest is early morning to connect with internationalflights from Henri Coanda on Tarom and other internationalairlines.

Transylvania International Airport Targu Mures,completes expansion programme

Parc Industrial Mures547612 Vidrasau-Ungheni 1/G Mures,RomaniaTe +40(0)265 433 620Fax+40(0) 265 433 632

We offer you a warm welcome to Transylvania.In the area around the airport there are good industrial, commercial and residential investment opportunities.For manufactures we offer low cost land complete with all services with payment over 5 years interest free.Start up units in fully serviced accomodation and other assistance in this key expanding area at the centre of the highway network.Great location for logistics and multinodal platform.Is it the right location for business. Visit and see for yourself the international manufacturing companies who chose this area.Residential land low cost and ready for development.Tourism investment projects including joint venture.We offer our clients full assistance from purchase thru to completion of their project.Translation services in all major European Languages.

Page �3540052 Targu Mures, P-ta Victoriei, No 28-30, Mures Tel: +40 (0) 265 230289 wwww.transilvaniaturism.ro, E-mail: offi [email protected]

On our health and wellness trip though the region we couldn’t miss the Nova Vita medical center. The result of an investment that exceeds 10 mil Euros, Nova Vita is one of the best private hospitals in the country, offering medical services at international standards.

The hospital is a very successful combination of the lat-est medical technologies, nationally appreciated doc-tors and excellent comfort.

The main fi elds of treatment Nova Vita addresses are medical recovery and surgery. They also have a maternity ward, a pediatric section for newly born babies, oncology department and palliative treatment.

What makes Nova Vita so special when it comes to recovery is, like we mentioned before, the state of the art technology, experienced doctors and great comfort.

Targeted for neurologic, post traumatic and physical recovery, Nova Vita center has the equipment that helps identify very precisely the diagnostic and than deliver the exact intensity of treatment your body can manage.

If the intensity of your treatment is too low, your recovery will slow down and if it’s too high your body will need time to rest from the intense recovery effort. This is why is so important to have the exact intensity correctly identifi ed.

Since Nova Vita is one of the very few private hospitals able to offer that, top performing athletes from all over the country visit the place as well.

When it comes to comfort, the rooms are equipped with TV, air conditioning and bathrooms so that you will feel like in a home away from home.

Beyond the modern technologies, fi ne doctors and great comfort another strong reason to visit the Nova Vita Center as a foreigner is the very accessible price comparing to the fees from the western countries.

During our visit we had the opportunity to talk to several of the people behind this amazing medi-cal center.

So if you are looking for top recovery medical services in comfortable conditions and affordable fees, it is our pleasure to recommend Nova Vita, a place that will make you feel brand new.

Health and wellness trip in Mures

This article represents our recommandation for visiting places in the area

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MuresIndustrial Park

The Industrial Park is set up on the Vidrasău platform (Ungheni village), 15 kilometers far from the center of Târgu Mureş municipality.

Mureş County is located in Transylvania, in the center of Romania and it has good

connections with Western Europe and the neighbor countries.

The area of the region is 40,9 ha from which a part of 29,4 ha. is concessionable and is located in the immedi-ate vicinity of the major communication lines:

• 2 kilometers far from the European Road E60 (DN15), in the immediate vicinity of the railroad Târgu Mureş - Războieni• neighbor with the Transilvania International Airport of Târgu Mureş. The airport has airlines to the majority of the European cities.

(for ex. Budapest, Nuremberg, Barcelona, Thessaloniki, Dublin, Venice, Dortmund, Lion, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Roma, Milano, etc.).

The capacity of the park consists of 42 separate units, each of them having theoretically 5.000 -6000 sqm. Also, the park has the possibility to assure administrative support too.

The infrastructure required for the Industrial Park is divided into two functional parts. The industrial region contains the communication elements and the direct utilities for the producing units. The administrative and services region which generally helps the functioning of the park.

a) The administrative and services region consists of:• Administrative building (offices for rent);• Heating plant and transformer station;• Water management and a water-storage tank of 500 m3;• Car park;

b) The industrial zone contains the infrastructure necessary for carrying on the production activities, respectively:• Internal roads and detours;• Connecting the utilities to the park;• Internal network for utilities;• potable water at a flow of 80 m3/h;• natural gas with a flow of 1.680 m3/h in the first stage and 10.000 m3/h in the second stage;• electric energy, with maximum installed power of 3,2 MWA;• canalization of rain water, sewage and industrial waste water;• telecommunication through our own central office with 120 telephone lines;• Access road;• Treatment plant of the residual water resulted in the Park;• Circulation pump station for water, residual water and rain water;• System of hydrants;

The object of the Industrial Park is attracting the technical featured, nonpolluting industry. In this regard we follow the development of the production activities in the following industries:a) information technology;

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b) electronics and telecommunication;c) machines and equipments;d) production of industrial components and subassem-blies;e) food technology;f) woodworking;g) light industry;h) services related to manufacturing activities;i) other services characteristic for industrial parks;

The expected main results are:• creating new jobs where an important ratio of these is represented by highly qualified workers;• attracting new technologies;• developing the sector of services;• improving the urban environmental condition by transferring some industries from these regions into the industrial park;

We must mention that the line of the future highway Braşov – Târgu Mureş – Cluj Napoca – Borş will pass near the Industrial Park, and it will be con-nected with the intersection between the DN15 highway and the access road of the park.

All necessary infrastructures are provided on the platform, and it is predicted that the park will help improve of the local environment. Also, it is predicted that the park will attract the local industry, reducing in this way the pollution of other regions.

Administrating the Industrial Park

The possession of all realized infrastructures was transferred as collective property to the Mureş County Council and the administration of these is done by the trading company „Parc Industrial Mureş” S.A.

The parcels from the Industrial Park will be let by lease for a period up to 49 years, period that can be prolonged with other 25 years. The value of due is settled by the Parties through negotiations, complying with the effective legal regulations, respectively the minimum value of due is from 0.12 to 1.8 Euro + VAT / sq.m / year.

If the investor is interested in buying the land, the lease is at the maximum value of 2,34 Euro/ sq.m./ year during 5 years, after this 5 years of lease he is entitled to buy the land at 11 euro/sqm

Facilities provided for investors

• The opportunity of immediate occupancy of the parcels, the area of these can vary depending on needs of investors;• Providing the complete support of infrastructure for the industrial activities, (access roads, water supply, electric current supply, natural gas supply, sewage and telecommunication) at the limit of the industrial zone;• The price of utility services is settled by the national suppliers;• Tax incentives:

- Exemption from tax paid for destination change or for removing the land from the agricultural sphere;- Tax reduction provided by industrial parks: no taxes for land and no taxes for buildings, for all period of industrial park title.- The two new concession possibilities, namely concession with diminished/low/reduced royalty and concession followed by the land’s sale, render the Industrial Park of Mures County the most desired industrial park in Romania:

o 1st variant: It has been decided that the concession means should be carried out with the

help of an assessment/valuation form containing criteria such as: technological level of investment, value of investment, work places, the rapidity with which it is made functional, experience and market of the investor – all these criteria shall have a deter-minant role in the assessment procedure.The level of the royalty shall be established according to the scores obtained and shall vary between a minimum of 0.12 EUR/sqm/year and a maximum of 1.80 EUR/sqm/year.In this case the land cannot be purchased.o 2nd variant: the land is granted for the price of 2.34 EUR/sqm/year, for a period of 5 years, and thereafter it may be purchased at 11 Euro/sqm.

- Administration tax : 0,083 euro/sqm/month

Support services included in the adminis-tration fee, ensured by the park adminis-tration

• Reception, info-point;• Support for the readily information of the local public authorities concerning the grievances of the claim holder companies. • Involve claim holders and lodgers in the park promotion and PR activities;• Business club;• Advice and information for business development;• Facilitate contacts with the Academic Centre of Tîrgu Mureş; • Facilitate organization of customs clearance procedure at place of residence; • Maintenance, road repairing, common green spaces and cleaning of public space • Public lightning of the environment as well as of access roads and footways; • Guard and security of common areas and of the park perimeter, control of a register of vehicle traffic within the boundaries of the Mures Industrial Park • Quick interventions to the installations of facilities located outside the perimeter of the lodger, except for major repairs agreed upon in the task log and set forth in a contract; • Sewerage, storm management, wastewaters, maintenance and operation of a wastewater treat-ment plant:• The right to use the conference hall in the administrative building four times a year, once per trimester, including all the belonging equipment-i.e computer, audio-video system, public address system, video projector • Provide for an online news report of the main decisions concerning the activities carried on within the Mures Industrial Park, approved by the competent authorities and agencies in the field. • Facilitate access to services of customs commissioning, banking services and occupational health services within the boundaries of the industrial park.

Irrespective of the variants chosen, the investor shall be in a win position.Visit our website – contact– for further details, or better pay a visit to the industrial park.

Restrictions

The neighborhood of the flight-strip of International Airport Târgu Mureş requires some restrictions for the industries located in the Industrial Park; the most important are as follows:• The height of the buildings is limited to 10 m;• Industries, which can influence the security of aerial navigation by reducing the atmospheric visibility or by producing intensive electro-magnetic waves that could interfere with the control ap-paratus of the air-traffic, are not admitted.

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Page 52 Page �3

1. Corporate taxes at a glance

(a) See section on profits tax.(b) The withholding taxes referred to above are levied on income earned in Romania by non-resident individ-uals and legal entities (referred to below as “non-resi-dents”), income that is not attributable to a Romanian permanent establishment of the non-resident income recipient.(c) See section on dividends.(d) See section on withholding tax.(e) Withholding tax generally applies to services ren-dered in Romania, except for international transport and services related to such transport. However, in-

come from management and consulting services is tax-able regardless of whether these services are rendered in Romania or abroad, if such income is obtained from a resident, or if it is a cost of a permanent establish-ment in Romania.(f) Withholding tax applies to the proceeds from liqui-dation of a Romanian legal entity.(g) See section on determination of taxable income.

2. Taxes on corporate income and gains

The Fiscal Code came into effect on 1 January 2004. The code has integrated key tax legislation and pro-vides the basis for a more stable framework of tax leg-islation by requiring amendments to follow a specific juridical route.

2.1 Fiscal yearIn Romania, the fiscal year is the calendar year.

2.2 Profits taxResident entities as well as legal entities having their headquarters in Romania, but incorporated as per the European legislation (i.e. European companies) are subject to tax on worldwide income. An entity is resi-dent in Romania if it is incorporated according to the Romanian legislation, or its place of effective manage-ment is in Romania (for foreign legal persons), or if its headquarter is in Romania (for legal persons incorpo-rated as per the European legislation).

Associations or consortia between Romanian legal en-tities, which do not qualify as legal persons, are taxable in Romania separately at the level of each partner. For such associations between a Romanian legal entity and individuals or foreign entities, the tax must be com-puted and paid by the Romanian legal entity on behalf

Taxation in Romania

Profits tax rate (%) or the minimum income tax 16 (a)

Capital gains tax rate (%) 16 (a)

Branch tax rate (%) 16 (a)

Withholding tax (%) (b)

- Dividends 0/10/16 (c)

- Interest 0/10/16 (d)

- Royalties 0/10/16 (d)

- Services 16 (e)

- Commissions 16

- Entertainment and sports activities 16

- Proceeds from liquidation 16 (f)

- Branch remittance tax N/A

Net operating losses (years)

- Carry-back N/A

- Carry-forward 5 (7) (g)

of the individuals or its foreign partners.Non-resident companies are subject to tax on their Romanian-sourced income only. Sale of shares held in Romanian companies by non-resident companies, and sale of real estate located in Romania, are also subject to profits tax in Romania (see section on Capital gains tax).

A permanent establishment in Romania may be con-stituted inter-alia by: an office, a branch, a factory, a mine, land for oil and gas extraction, or a building site that exists for a period exceeding six months. Also, a permanent establishment includes the place where an activity continues using the assets and liabilities of a Romanian legal entity undergoing a restructuring pro-cess (e.g. merger, spin-off).

Romanian legal entities should register with the rel-evant tax authorities any contracts signed with non-resident legal entities or individuals performing in Ro-mania construction and assembly works, surveillance, consultancy, technical assistance or any other activity performed in Romania if such activities could give rise to a permanent establishment of the non-resident in Romania. The contracts should be registered by sub-mitting a declaration within 30 days from the date they were concluded. The form and content of the respec-tive declaration is approved by order of the National Agency of Fiscal Administration (ANAF).The fine for non-compliance with the above registra-tion requirements is RON 1,000 – RON 5,000.

2.3 Rates of profits tax and the minimum taxStarting from May 2009, taxpayers pay the higher of the standard profits tax rate and the minimum quarter-ly/annually tax. The standard profits tax rate is 16%. The minimum annual tax ranges between RON 2,200 – RON 43,000, depending on the level of total income derived in the previous year.The minimum tax does not apply in certain cases (e.g. to companies that are temporarily inactive).Profits tax payable by companies earning revenues from bars, nightclubs, discos, casinos and sports bets, including revenues from an association agreement, is computed at the standard 16% rate, provided the tax amount is not less than 5% of the total declared revenue. In case the profits tax payable is below this threshold, the taxpayer is liable to pay profits tax com-puted at 5% of the declared revenue from such activi-ties. The minimum tax provisions mentioned above are not applicable to these taxpayers. Starting from 2010, the Romanian Ministry of Finance did not set the percentage of tax to be applied to the revenues earned by micro enterprises. Thus, the com-panies that used the micro enterprise taxation regime will become subject of the standard profits taxation.In this respect, companies that were taxed under the micro enterprise regime are required to make quarterly anticipated payments amounting to one quarter of the

micro enterprise revenue tax liability for the previous fiscal year, in line with an inflation rate.Representative offices are taxed on a yearly basis at a lump sum of the RON equivalent of EUR 4,000, pay-able in two equal instalments, until 25th of June and 25th of December.

2.4 Capital gains taxNo separate capital gains tax is payable by resident en-tities. Capital gains of non-resident entities from the sale of immovable property in Romania, or from sale/transfer of shares held in a Romanian legal entity, are taxed at the standard corporate tax rate of 16%. During the period 1 January – 31 December 2009, profits derived by non-resident legal entities from transactions with participation titles held in Romanian companies and traded on the regulated market in Ro-mania were treated as non-taxable.

2.5 DividendsDividends paid by resident legal entities or by European companies to their shareholders (i.e., Romanian legal entities, EU resident legal entities and legal entities from the countries of the European Free Trade Association, i.e. Iceland, Norway, and Lichtenstein) are exempt from withholding tax in Romania, provided some conditions are met, including the condition that the sharehold-ers own a minimum 10% of the share capital of the Romanian legal entity for an uninterrupted two years period ending at the date of dividend payment. Unless the above conditions are met, a 10% tax rate applies to dividends paid by resident entities to other resident entities, while a 16% tax rate applies to dividends paid to any non-resident legal entities (or a tax rate available under a tax treaty, if favourable). Starting from 2010, under the Methodological Norms for the application of the Fiscal Code, the dividends distributed by the Romanian legal entities to voluntary pension funds or to private pension funds are exempt of dividend tax. Starting from 2010, in order to benefit of the more favourable provisions of the double tax treaties and the EU legislation, non-residents have to provide to the income payer a tax residency certificate as well as a statement on the fulfilment of the income beneficiary condition.If the condition of the shareholding period is fulfilled at a later stage, the dividend beneficiary is entitled to exemption and may request reimbursement of the tax withheld in Romania.Dividends paid by a Romanian entity to individual share-holders are subject to a 16% withholding tax rate.Dividends reinvested beginning with 2009 with the purpose of securing and creating new jobs for the busi-ness development of the Romanian legal entities are exempt from dividend tax.


Dividends invested in the share capital of another Ro-manian legal entity in order to create new jobs or aim-ing at the development of its activities are exempt from dividend tax. The procedure to apply the above provisions on rein-vested dividends should have been detailed into an Order of the Ministry of Finance which to date has not been issued. Payments made by a Romanian legal entity to any of its shareholders for goods or services provided by the latter, in excess of the market value of the transaction, are assimilated to dividends from a tax point of view. The same tax treatment applies to payments made for the supply of goods and services used for personal pur-poses by the company’s shareholders or associates. The dividend tax must be withheld and paid to the state budget by the 25th of the month following the payment of dividend. In case of dividends distributed, which were not effectively paid by the end of the year, the dividend tax must be paid by 25 January of the following year.

2.6 Foreign tax reliefForeign income of Romanian entities is included in tax-able income. This includes passive income as well as capital gains. However, a credit is allowed for foreign taxes paid, up to the level of the Romanian tax on that income.Dividends received from EU resident entities constitute non-taxable income at the level of the Romanian recipi-ent, if the Romanian beneficiary of dividends holds at least 10% of the shares of the EU entity for an uninter-rupted period of minimum two years.

2.7 Tax exemption on reinvested profitThe profits invested by taxpayers in the production and/or acquisition of technological equipments used for deriving taxable income is exempt from profits tax, should the respective equipments be maintained in the patrimony of the taxpayer at least half of the assets’ normal useful life.The profits tax exemption applies for new assets, i.e. which were not subject to prior use, and is granted up to the value of the profits tax due for that period. In the cases where further to the application of this ex-emption, the profits tax is lower than the minimum tax, the taxpayers are liable for paying such minimum tax.The profits tax exemption is applicable up to 31 De-cember 2010.The amount of profit covered by the profits tax exemp-tion shall be mainly distributed for the set-up of re-serves until reaching the amount of accounting profit for the financial year (if the case).The tax value or the entry value of equipments produced/acquired shall be reduced with the amount covered by the profits tax exemption. In conclusion, the profits tax exemption is only a deferral of the profits tax, up to the moment

when the respective assets are taken out of the pat-rimony.

2.8 Determination of taxable profitStarting point for determining taxable profitThe taxable profit is computed as the difference be-tween the revenues from all sources, including the delivery of goods and the supply of services, and the expenses incurred for purpose of earning the income in a fiscal year, minus the non-taxable revenues, plus the non-deductible expenses.The following revenues are considered as non-taxable:• Dividends received by a Romanian entity from an-other Romanian legal entity. Dividends received from a non-resident (except for EU resident entities, under certain conditions) are taxable (see also the Foreign tax relief and Dividends sections)• Gains in the value of the participation titles held in other entities, registered further to the increase of capi-tal in those entities through incorporation of reserves, profits or issue premiums as well as gains from the val-uation of the participation titles and long-term bonds, carried out according to accounting regulations• Revenues from the reversal of non-deductible ex-penses and provisions for which no deduction was al-lowed• Non-taxable income, expressly provided by specific regulations and• During the period 1 January 2009 - 31 December 2009, income derived from transactions with participa-tion titles traded on the regulated market in RomaniaDeductionsAs a general rule, expenses incurred for the purpose of earning taxable revenues, including those regulated by legal norms, are considered deductible for the profits tax computation.The Fiscal Code also provides for certain types of ex-penses that are specifically deductible, including:• Contributions for insurance against labour accidents and occupational illness and expenses with insurance premiums for insurance against professional risks• Advertising and publicity expenses for the promo-tion of business, products and/or services, if properly documented, as well as expenses with other goods and services provided with the view to boost sales• Transport and accommodation expenses in Romania and abroad incurred by employees and directors as well as by other individuals assimilated to them• Subscription fees, dues and other mandatory contri-butions, as provided by legal norms• Contributions to the fund for the negotiation of the collective labour contract• Expenses associated with vocational and professional training of employees• Marketing expenses, market research, promotion expenses in existing or new markets, participations in fairs and exhibitions, business trips

• Research and development expenses that do not meet the recognition criteria as intangible assets from an accounting perspective• Expenses for the improvement of management, of information systems, for the implementation, mainte-nance and improvement of quality management sys-tems, for the acquisition of certificates attesting quality standards• Expenses for the protection of environment and con-servation of resources• Expenses related to losses made by companies when writing off doubtful or disputed uncollected receivables in case of bankruptcy of the debtor (based on a final court decision), as well as in other cases such as death of the debtor (when the receivable cannot be collected from the heirs) or liquidation in case no successor ex-ists and when the debtor has major financial difficulties that affect its entire patrimony and• Registration fees, dues, and contributions owed to commercial chambers, unions, and owners’ associa-tionsKey items which are partially deductible include, inter alia:• Provision expenses and contribution to reserve funds within specified limits (see the Provisions and reserves section)• Protocol and entertainment expenses (e.g., gifts to clients, business lunches), up to 2% of the adjusted ac-counting profit for the protocol expenses before tax• Daily allowances for domestic and foreign travel ex-penses up to the level of 2.5 times the ceiling set for public institutions• Social expenses (i.e., birth, death, incurable disease support, expenses aimed at the proper functioning of certain units or activities of taxpayers, e.g., kindergar-tens, health units, canteens, sports clubs, sponsorship for schools, as well as gifts in cash or in kind granted on Christmas to the employees’ underage children, gifts in cash or in kind granted to the female employees, the cost for the supplies for treatment and rest of own em-ployees) currently up to 2% of the personnel costs• Expenses for meal vouchers, granted according to the law• Perishables within the limits provided by govern-ment-approved norms• Interest expenses and foreign exchange differences within the limits described in the Thin capitalisation rules section• Expenses on behalf of employees in relation to op-tional occupational pension schemes, within the limit of the RON equivalent of EUR 400/ employee during a fiscal year• Voluntary health insurance premiums within the limit of the RON equivalent of EUR 250/ participant during a fiscal year• Expenses for the operation, maintenance or repair, excluding fuel expenses related to cars used by man-

agement and administrative personnel, limited to one car per person and• Additional allowance amounting to 20% of eligible costs for research and development activities (quarter-ly/annual computation)Key expenses which are non-deductible include, inter alia:• Romanian and foreign profits tax (a tax credit is al-lowed for taxes paid in other countries – see the For-eign tax relief section)• Sponsorship expenses (a tax credit is allowed for sponsorship expenses on meeting certain conditions – see the Sponsorship section)• Late payment interest, penalties, and fines paid to Romanian or foreign authorities• Expenses with inventory or tangible assets that are missing from stock or that are damaged and non-chargeable, for which no insurance contracts were concluded, including the corresponding VAT as appli-cable• VAT on goods given to employees as benefits in kind, if the value of such goods was not taxed at employees’ level• Any expenses made in favour of shareholders or as-sociates, other than those generated by payments for goods provided or services rendered at the market value• Insurance premiums that are not related to the tax-payer’s assets or its business scope, except for those relating to rented or leased assets or assets used as col-lateral for a business-related loan• Insurance premiums and other employment-related expenses that are not taxable at the level of the em-ployee• Expenses related to non-taxable income with certain exceptions• Service expenses, including management and consul-tancy expenses, for which their provision for business purposes cannot be supported by written contracts and documents• Losses in the value of shares held in other entities, except for losses made by selling such shares (the ex-ception does not apply for shares held in Romanian companies traded on the regulated market during 1 January – 31 December 2009)• Contributions paid in excess of the legal limits or those that are not regulated by legal norms• Expenses related to the decrease in the value of fixed assets upon revaluation• Losses recorded when writing off uncollected bad or litigious receivables, for the part that is not covered by a provision and• During the period 1 May 2009 – 31 December 2010, fuel expenses related to vehicles (except for certain sit-uations specifically mentioned under law, for vehicles used for e.g. paid transportation services, rental activi-ties, security services, repairs, sales activities)


SponsorshipTaxpayers incurring sponsorship expenses in accor-dance with relevant legislation are entitled to a tax credit (i.e., deduction from the profits tax payable of an amount equal to the sponsorship expense) if the following conditions are cumulatively fulfilled:• Sponsorship expenses do not exceed 0.3% of turn-over and• Sponsorship expenses do not exceed 20% of the profits tax liabilityProvisions and reservesUnder the existing regulations, the following provisions and reserves are deductible for profits tax purposes:• Contributions to the legal reserve fund, generally up to 5% of the adjusted annual accounting profits be-fore tax, till the reserve fund reaches 20% of the share capital• Bad debt provisions, if certain conditions are met• Provisions for quality performance guarantees grant-ed to clients• Specific provisions created by credit institutions, non-banking financial institutions registered in the NBR General Register, as provided by the laws governing these entities, as well as specific provisions created by similar legal entities• Technical reserves set by insurance and reinsurance companies, as provided by the relevant regulatory laws, except for the equalization reserve and• Risk provisions for financial market operations, as provided by the regulations of the National Securities Commission (CNVM)Thin capitalization rules Usually, interest expenses incurred by companies (other than credit institutions) are subject to the following limitations: • Debt-equity ratio – interest expenses are fully deduct-ible if the debt-equity ratio is not higher than three. In case such ratio is higher or is negative, interest ex-penses are non-deductible for profits tax purposes and can be carried forward until they are fully deductible under the same conditions and • Interest expenses for loans granted by companies other than financial institutions are deductible based on the following limits:• The reference interest rate of the NBR relating to the last month of the quarter, for loans denominated in RON or• The annual interest rate of 8%, on loans in foreign currencies (the threshold was established for 2009 fis-cal year, but it can be updated based on Government Decision)The difference between foreign exchange losses and foreign exchange revenues relating to long-term loans (over one year) is treated as interest expense and is sub-ject to the debt-equity ratio limitation (see above).Interest expenses as well as foreign exchange differ-ences related to loans obtained from Romanian banks

(including subsidiaries of foreign banks), leasing com-panies (for leasing operations), and other legal entities allowed to grant loans according to the law are not subject to the thin capitalization rules.Deductibility of interest expenses incurred by financial institutions is not limited based on the above-men-tioned rules.Tax depreciationThree alternative methods are available for the compu-tation of tax depreciation, namely:• Straight-line depreciation• Reducing balance depreciation and• Accelerated depreciation (for equipment and pat-ents)These methods must be followed consistently.Buildings can be depreciated only on the straight-line method. Land is not a depreciable asset.From a tax perspective, the law prescribes the concept of “useful lives”, which are provided by Government Decision, as follows:

The useful life for each type of asset is provided as an interval. Upon commissioning, the taxpayer is allowed to choose a useful life within such an interval. Patents, licenses, author rights, know-how, manufac-turer’s brands, trademarks, as well as other similar in-dustrial and commercial property rights, development expenses, considered as intangible assets from an ac-counting perspective, are depreciated over the period provided for their utilization or the contractual period, as the case may be. Goodwill is not considered a de-preciable asset for tax purposes.Equipment intended for research and development ac-tivities may be depreciated using also the accelerated depreciation method.Up to 30 April 2009, revaluations of fixed assets, per-formed in accordance with the accounting regulations, were taken into account for tax purposes (except reval-uations of entirely depreciated fixed assets made after 1 January 2004). As of 1 May 2009, the tax revalua-tion of assets is effectively eliminated, as revaluation reserves are taxable for corporate income tax purposes proportionally with the deduction of the incremental tax depreciation, respectively upon the disposal of the revalued fixed assets.

2.9 Reorganization, liquidation, other transfersUnder the domestic legislation, the below mentioned principles apply in relation to business reorganization

ASSET YEARS

Buildings and constructions (e.g., roads and fences) 8 to 60

Machinery and equipment 2 to 24

Furniture, fittings, and protection 2 to 24

Vehicles 3 to 9

operations.Capital contributions in exchange of shares are not considered taxable transfers. The tax value of the as-sets received as contribution is equal to the tax value of these assets when held by the contributor. At the same time, the tax value of shares received by the contribu-tor equals the tax value of the contributed assets.Asset distribution by a Romanian legal entity to its shareholders, either as dividend or following liquida-tion, is taxable, except in case of:• Merger of two or more Romanian legal entities, whereby the shareholders of merging entities receive shares in the resulting entity• Split of a Romanian legal entity, whereby sharehold-ers receive proportional stakes in the resulting entities• Acquisition of all assets and liabilities pertaining to one or more Romanian legal entities by another Roma-nian entity only in exchange of shares and• Acquisition by a Romanian legal entity of at least 50% of shares in another Romanian entity, in exchange of its own shares, and, as the case may be, for a cash pay-ment not exceeding 10% of the nominal value of the newly issued sharesIn the above-mentioned cases, the following rules ap-ply:• Transfers of assets and liabilities and exchange of shares held in one Romanian entity with the shares in another Romanian entity are not taxable• In the split of a Romanian legal entity, the distribution of shares is not treated as dividend payment• Tax value of assets/liabilities for the receiver equals the tax value of the same items for the transferor• Tax depreciation for assets continues in the same manner as before the transfer• Transfer of provisions/reserves is not taxable if the re-ceiver takes them over and maintains them at the same value as before the transfer• In a share exchange (as mentioned at the first point above), the tax value of shares received equals the tax value of the shares transferred and• In a split, the tax value of shares held before the distribution is allocated between these shares and dis-tributed shares proportionally with their market value immediately after the distributionStarting 1 January 2007, similar principles apply to cross-border reorganizations, as a result of the imple-mentation of the EU Merger Directive in the Romanian Fiscal Code. Under the Directive, cross-border business reorganizations (i.e., mergers, spin-offs, transfers of assets and exchange of shares) between different EU member states should be tax neutral subject to certain conditions.However, the tax loss of the transferring entity could not be taken over by the Romanian permanent estab-lishment of the receiving entity.

2.10 Transfer pricingAccording to domestic tax legislation, transactions between related parties must be carried out in accor-dance with the arm’s length principle (i.e., transactions should be carried out at the same price as if concluded between non-related parties). The methods for the assessment of market value include the Comparable Uncontrolled Price Method, the Cost Plus Method, the Resale Price Method, and any other method recog-nized by the transfer pricing guidelines issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop-ment (OECD). According to the Romanian legislation, taxpayers in-volved in transactions with related parties should pres-ent, upon tax authorities’ request, a transfer pricing file, whose content is approved by ANAF Order. The deadline for presentation of the file is a maximum of three months and may be extended only once for the same period. Failure to present the file allows the tax authorities to impose a certain level of transfer pricing using a simplified methodology.It is possible for the taxpayer to apply for an advance pricing agreement with the authorities that would in theory eliminate the risk of an adverse transfer pric-ing assessment, as long as the taxpayer respects the terms and conditions of such agreement over its valid-ity period.

2.11 Relief for lossesTax losses posted starting with 2009 may be carried forward for the following 7 years and are not updated for inflation purposes. Tax losses before 2009 may be carried forward over a period of only 5 years. Loss carry-forward is not available for entities that cease to exist as a result of a split or merger. The carry-back of losses is not permitted.

2.12 Tax consolidationThe legislation for the consolidation of companies is at an early stage of development, and until now only the consolidation for accounting purposes has been regulated. There is no provision in the legislation on consolidation for profits tax purposes.

2.13 Filing tax returnsTaxpayers are required to file profits tax returns and pay profits tax quarterly by the 25th of the month fol-lowing the quarter for which the computation is made. The final annual tax return should be filed by 25th April of the following year. As an exception, certain catego-ries of taxpayers are required to pay profits tax by 25th February of the following year, while other categories of taxpayers (e.g. taxpayers that finalise the year-end closing by 25th of February of the following year) may submit the profits tax returns and pay the related tax by the same date. Legal entities ceasing to exist during the course of the


year need to file the final annual tax return and pay the profits tax by the date of submission of the financial statements to the Trade Registry.Banks and branches of foreign banks in Romania are required to pay quarterly profits tax in advance, based on inflation-adjusted past-year tax results. The other profits tax payers will apply this system start-ing from 2012.

3. Withholding taxes

Withholding tax is applicable on a number of payments made by Romanian tax residents to non-resident re-cipients.Types of payments which are subject to withholding tax are presented in the table below.

Under certain conditions, an exemption is available for dividends paid to companies incorporated in the EU, as well as in the European Free Trade Association (‘EFTA’) countries (see the Dividends section). Under the EU Interest & Royalties Directive implement-ed in the Fiscal Code, interest/royalty payments made by a resident legal entity to an EU or EFTA resident legal entity or to an EU or EFTA permanent establishment of an EU or EFTA resident company are exempt from with-holding tax in Romania if inter-alia the beneficiary holds a minimum 25% of the share capital of the domestic legal entity for an uninterrupted two-year period at the date of the payment. The Directive was incorporated in the Fiscal Code with a transition period lasting until 31 December 2010 during which the withholding tax rate for interest/royalty will be 10%. If the above conditions are not met, the 16% tax rate applies to interest/roy-alty payments made to EU resident legal entities (or a tax rate available under a tax treaty, if favorable). If the shareholding period condition is fulfilled at a later stage, the beneficiary would be entitled to an exemp-tion and may request a reimbursement of the with-holding tax paid.Also, generally a reimbursement could be requested by the non-resident or the beneficiary of income re-spectively in case of tax withheld in excess of the rates imposed by the tax treaties or the EU legislation, re-spectively.Interest income related to term deposits, deposit cer-tificates and other savings instruments provided by

banks and other authorized lending institutions from Romania, set up or acquired between 4 June 2005 and 31 December 2005, is subject to a withholding tax rate of 10%. For interest income related to term deposits, deposit certificates, and other savings instruments pro-vided by banks and other authorized lending institu-tions from Romania, set up or acquired after 1 January 2006, a 16% withholding tax rate is applicable.Interest income derived from Romania (e.g. from term deposits and/or other saving instruments) by non-resi-dent individuals (irrespective of whether they are EU or non-EU residents) is exempt from withholding tax in Romania.The following income types are not taxable:• Income obtained by non-resident collective invest-ment bodies (without corporate status) from the trans-fer of securities held directly or indirectly in a Romanian legal entity• Income earned by non-residents from transfer of de-rivative instruments• Income derived by non-residents on foreign capital markets from transfer of participations and other secu-rities issued by Romanian residentsThe following categories of interest derived by non-residents are not subject to withholding tax:• Interest income on on-sight deposits and current ac-counts• Interest related to public debt instruments in RON and in foreign currency and revenues from the trade of State bonds and debentures issued by local authorities, in RON and in foreign currency, on the domestic and foreign capital market, as well as interest related to in-struments issued by the National Bank of Romania for monetary policy purposes and revenues from the trade of securities issued by the National Bank of Romania• Interest on debt instruments/titles issued by Roma-nian companies, if the debt instruments/titles are trad-ed on a regulated securities market and the interest is paid to a person that is not a related party of the issuer of the debt instrument/title• Interest and/or dividends paid to pension funds, as they are defined according to the legislation of the EU Member States or of the EFTA StatesUnder the EU Savings Directive, savings incomes paid to EU resident individuals are exempt from withholding tax in Romania subject to certain conditions. Incomes received by non-residents from consulting and assistance services based on contracts financed by international financing bodies, with which Romanian state authorities or Romanian legal entities have signed financing agreements, are not subject to withholding tax if the interest rate charged for such financing is less than 3% per year. The qualifying entities are the European Bank for Re-construction and Development, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Association for International

TYPE OF PAYMENT WHT RATE (%)

Royalties (see explanations below) 0/10/16

Interest (see explanations below) 0/10/16

Commissions 16

Dividends (see explanations below) 0/10/16

Various services 16

Gambling income 20

Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Investment Bank. The exemption applies also in the case of non-resident entities earning income from consulting services based on non-reimbursable financing agreements signed be-tween the Romanian government and foreign govern-ments or organizations. The withholding tax must be paid to the state budget by the 25th of the month following the one in which payment was made.The withholding tax for dividends distributed but not paid to the shareholders until the end of the year in which the annual financial statements have been ap-proved must be declared and paid by the 25th of Janu-ary of the following year.Companies are required to file an annual withholding tax return until 30 June of the year following the rel-evant tax year.Romania has signed over 85 agreements since the 1970s for the avoidance of double taxation, which may reduce the applicable withholding tax rate.In order to apply the more beneficial provisions of a treaty, the income beneficiary has to provide a certifi-cate of tax residence issued by the foreign tax author-ity. The domestic law does not allow application of double tax treaties in case of net-of-tax arrangements when it is the Romanian payer of income, and not the beneficiary, that bears the tax.In order to apply the more beneficial provisions of the EU legislation, the non-resident has to provide to the income payer (beside the tax residence certificate) also an own liability statement indicating the fulfillment of the beneficiary requirements.

4. Value added tax (VAT)

4.1 RegimeThe Romanian VAT system is harmonized with EU VAT Directive.

4.2 Taxable persons GeneralAny person supplying taxable goods or services in the course of business on a regular basis is considered a taxable person. The term “business” refers to all in-dependently carried out activities of producers, traders and suppliers of services. Taxable persons established in Romania with an annual turnover exceeding EUR 35,000 are required to regis-ter for VAT purposes. Persons not meeting the above-mentioned turnover criterion may also register for VAT purposes.The registration may be performed before carrying out any taxable and/or exempt with right of deduction op-erations (by opting for registration or by declaring an envisaged turnover higher than the registration thresh-old upon starting the activity). Persons that were not

registered as VAT payers will have to register within 10 days from the end of the month, during which the above threshold was reached or exceeded.A taxable person having the place of business outside Romania but established in Romania via a fixed establishment is required to register for VAT purposes in Romania (i) before receiving services from taxable persons estab-lished in another Member State in whose respect he is liable to pay VAT (general B2B rule), (ii) before supply of services from that fixed establishment to a benefi-ciary, taxable person established in another Member State, in whose respect the beneficiary is required to pay VAT, (iii) before e.g. performance from that fixed establishment of activities which are taxable and/or ex-empt with credit.A taxable person having the place of business in Roma-nia, but not registered for VAT yet, is required to regis-ter for VAT purposes before supply / receipt of services to / from taxable persons established in other Member States in whose respect the beneficiary is liable to pay VAT (general B2B rule).Until January 2012, VAT tax groups may be formed only by taxable persons deemed as large taxpayers. The VAT tax groups do not have the meaning defined by the EU VAT Directive, but, in Romania the members of such a group could only offset their VAT payable/refundable positions (with impact on the VAT cash flow).VAT representativeTaxable persons that are established in the Community (but outside Romania), and obliged to pay Romanian VAT (for certain transactions and provided they do not give rise to a fixed establishment in Romania), have to register directly or appoint a fiscal representative for VAT purposes to fulfill their VAT obligations in Roma-nia. If the person liable to pay tax is a taxable person who is not established in the Community, such a per-son is required to appoint a tax representative as the person liable to pay tax. Under certain cases, if the for-eign taxable person does not register for VAT purposes, the VAT liability shifts, in principle, to the Romanian beneficiary of the supply (under the reverse-charge mechanism).

4.3 Taxable operationsTransactions subject to VAT refer to the supply of goods and services, import of goods, and intra-Community acquisitions of goods. To be taxable in Romania, a sup-ply must cumulatively meet certain requirements (e.g. it is made for consideration, the place of the transac-tion is in Romania).Supply of goodsSupply of goods refers to the actual transfer of the right to dispose as owner of the goods from one per-son to another against payment, directly or through an intermediary.As a rule, a supply of goods has the place of supply where the goods are located at the moment when

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the delivery takes place — with certain exceptions for goods to be transported, installed, delivered on board of ships, aircraft, trains, and for distance sales — pro-vided certain conditions are met.Supply of services The place of supply of services to a taxable person act-ing as such is the place where the person receiving the services has established the place of business. If servic-es are supplied to a fixed establishment of the taxable person, located in a place other than the place where he has established the place of business, the place of supply of services is the place where the fixed estab-lishment of the person receiving the services is located (general B2B rule). The place of supply of services to a non-taxable person is the place where the supplier has established the seat of business. If services are supplied from a fixed estab-lishment of the supplier, located in a place other than where the person has established the seat of business, the place of supply of services is the place where that fixed establishment is situated (general B2B rule).There are a few derogations from the general rule con-cerning the place of supply of services (e.g. services in connection with immovable property, cultural, artis-tic, services passenger transport, etc). Also, Romania implemented the place of use and enjoyment rule for certain services supplied to taxable persons established in third countries (e.g. services to tangible movable property, local transport of goods).The term “services” applies to all transactions not treated as supply of goods.Import of goodsGoods brought from outside the Community and in-troduced into EU territory in Romania are considered to be imports and fall within the scope of VAT with certain exceptions (i.e., entry of goods under a qualify-ing customs duty suspension procedure).Intra-Community acquisition of goodsIntra-Community acquisition of goods means acqui-sition of the right to dispose, as owner, of movable, tangible property dispatched or transported to the des-tination indicated by or on behalf of the purchaser or the supplier to Romania from another EU member state from which the goods are dispatched or transported.“Reverse-charge” VATIn case of taxable intra-Community acquisitions, cer-tain acquisitions of goods/services and imports (if the postponement certificate is obtained by the taxable persons registered for VAT purposes performing such operations), for which the “place of supply” is deemed to be in Romania, the law imposes the application of the so-called VAT “reverse-charge” mechanism by the Romanian beneficiary provided certain conditions (which vary for different operations) are met.Under the reverse-charge mechanism, the beneficiaries must recognize the related output VAT in their return for the respective month. The input VAT may, as a gen-

eral rule, be recovered in the same VAT return to the extent of the beneficiary’s right to deduct VAT.

4.4 Simplified recording of VATFor certain supplies (e.g., waste and scrap materials, wooden material), a simplified VAT mechanism is appli-cable, provided that both the seller and the purchaser are registered as VAT payers in Romania.Under this mechanism, the purchaser has to simultane-ously recognize the related VAT, both as an output and input VAT in the return of the respective month, with-out any cash flow implications (provided the purchaser has a full right to deduct VAT).

4.5 Specific VAT schemes and simplification rulesRomania adopted in the national legislation simplifica-tion rules referring, inter alia, to• Triangulation transactions• Consignment/call-off-stock• Multipartite transactions within the Community re-lated to works on movable tangible property• Repairs during the guarantee period• Returns of goods within the CommunityAlso, a series of special VAT schemes are applicable, such as:• Special scheme for small undertakings• Special scheme for travel agents• Special scheme for second-hand goods• Special scheme for investment gold, etc.

4.6 Taxable baseVAT is assessed on the total amount received or to be received by the supplier as consideration for the supply of goods or services; this includes taxes, commissions, packaging, transport and insurance expenses. Certain elements such as price discounts are not included in the taxable base.As of 1 May 2009, the VAT related to the acquisition of motorized road vehicles, as well as the one related to the acquisition of fuel for the vehicles, owned or used by taxpayers (provided they meet certain criteria), is generally non-deductible. The rule applies until 31 December 2010, with certain exceptions (vehicles used for commercial/resale purposes, used for paid passen-ger transport including taxi, the ones used for supply of services against consideration, for interventions, se-curity and protection, etc.) in case of finance lease of such vehicles a VAT deduction on lease installments is allowed, in principle.

4.7 Tax ratesThe following rates apply in Romania:• 19% standard rate, which is applicable to supplies of goods and services not subject to VAT exemptions or to the reduced rate• 9% reduced rate, which is applicable to the supplies of certain goods/services specifically enumerated in the

Fiscal Code, such as sale of medicines, hotel accommo-dation, books, tickets for museums, cinemas, etc.• 5% reduced rate, which is applicable to supplies of social housing, including related land (certain condi-tions have to be fulfilled for applying this provision)

4.8 Exempt operationsSupplies within the scope of VAT are classified as tax-able operations and exempt operations.Exempt operations are divided as follows:• Exempt supplies with credit for input tax (e.g., ex-emption for intra-Community supplies of goods under certain conditions, exports and other similar supplies, international transportation, as well as specific exemp-tions related to international traffic of goods, etc.)• Exempt supplies without credit for input tax (e.g., healthcare services, educational services, financial and banking services, supply of immovable property, except for new buildings, lease and renting of immovable property with certain exceptions)• Exemption for import and intra-Community acqui-sitions of goods whose local supplies are exempted, etc.The Fiscal Code provides specific rules on goods ben-efiting from special customs regimes. The following transactions are VAT exempt with credit for input tax:• Supply of goods placed under a bonded warehouse customs procedure• Goods introduced in free zones• Goods under an inward processing procedure, etc. 4.9 Credit for input VATGeneral ruleCarrying out taxable supplies allows offsetting output VAT against input VAT. Exempt supplies do not allow the recovery of input VAT, except in the case of VAT exempt supplies with credit, for which input VAT can be recovered. Companies performing both taxable transactions and exempt transactions without credit shall deduct VAT based on the direct allocation method and pro rata mechanism. VAT deduction is allowed also based on invoices sent by electronic means which com-ply with certain conditions.Refund of VATIf the input VAT exceeds the output VAT, the recover-able balance VAT (defined as “negative VAT balance”) may be:• Carried forward to the next period• Refunded by the tax authorities, based on the option expressed by the taxpayer in the VAT return. The op-tion can be exercised only for a negative VAT balance exceeding RON 5,000Starting February 2010, VAT returns with refund elec-tion for at most RON 10,000 are by default assigned low tax risk. Also, large taxpayers may decrease the tax risk assigned to their VAT refund claims from high to low (with some exceptions) by filing bank guarantee

letters for equivalent amounts . For low tax risk claims, VAT refund should be per-formed without a tax audit or documentary analysis and in a shorter period of time. However, in the above-mentioned cases, the respective taxpayers would be nevertheless subject to a subsequent VAT audit.A taxable person established in the Community that is not registered or liable to register for VAT purposes in Romania may request a refund of VAT paid in Ro-mania.A taxable person not established in the Community that is not registered or liable to register for VAT pur-poses in Romania may request the refund of the VAT paid if, under the laws of its country of establishment, a taxable person established in Romania has the same right in that country.Taxable persons established in or outside the EU can claim a VAT refund if the application refers to a pe-riod:• Less than a calendar year but not less than three months; the amount requested for reimbursement cannot be less than the RON equivalent of EUR 400• Equal to a calendar year or the remaining period of a calendar year; the amount requested for reimburse-ment cannot be less than the RON equivalent of EUR 50

4.10 InvoicingDocuments or messages, both electronic and hard copy versions, are accepted by the Romanian authorities if they meet the requirements provided by the Romanian Fiscal Code in respect of form and content of invoices. Moreover, any document that specifically and without ambiguities modifies or refers to an initial invoice will be considered as invoice.Taxable persons supplying goods or services should generally issue invoices by the 15th of the month fol-lowing the one in which the chargeable event occurs, unless the invoice has already been issued.

4.11 Payment and filing requirements Taxpayers must file VAT returns with the tax authori-ties and pay VAT on a monthly basis, specifying the taxable amount and the tax due. The tax return must be filed and the respective VAT paid by the 25th of the following month. In case of taxpayers whose annual turnover is less than EUR 100,000 and who carry out no intra-Community acquisition of goods, VAT returns should be filed with the tax authorities on a quarterly basis and VAT shall be paid quarterly.A VAT recapitulative statement should be filed with the tax authorities on a monthly basis on or before the 15th day of the following month. Such statement should comprise: intra-Community supplies of goods exempt from VAT, intra-Community acquisitions of goods for which the beneficiary is obliged to pay VAT, and acquisitions as part of operations within the trian-gulation scheme, as well as acquisitions and supplies of intra-Community services taxed based on the general

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B2B rule.Taxpayers should also submit a declaration of all sup-plies/acquisitions of goods/services taking place in Ro-mania to/from other taxable persons registered for VAT purposes in Romania. The declaration should be sub-mitted on a half-yearly basis, by the 25th of the month following the end of semester.Companies registered for VAT purposes in Romania, having deliveries of goods to/arrivals of goods from other EU member states which exceed an annual amount of RON 900,000/RON 300,000 are obliged to submit INTRASTAT declarations on a monthly basis.

5. Community customs legislation

Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2913/92, establishing the Community Customs Code (CCC), and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93, laying down provisions for implementation of CCC, have become directly ap-plicable in Romania as from the accession date (i.e., 1 January 2007). As of 1 July 2009, the persons who perform activities which are regulated by the customs legislation must register for customs purposes.Also, the statute of authorized economic operator may be granted upon request under certain conditions. The respective statute concedes certain administrative in-centives to its holder.

5.1 Common customs tariff The specific customs duties payable upon releasing the goods into free circulation, are established based on the Community Customs Tariff (adopted for each year by the Commission) and related preferential tariff mea-sures. There is an online EU customs tariff database (TARIC) which comprises the following:• The combined nomenclature of goods• The rates and other items of charge normally appli-cable to goods covered by the combined nomencla-ture, as regards customs duties and import charges laid down under the common agricultural policy, or under the specific arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products• The preferential tariff measures contained in agree-ments which the European Community has concluded with certain countries or groups of countries and which provide for the granting of preferential tariff treat-ment• Preferential tariff measures adopted unilaterally by the European Community in respect of certain coun-tries, groups of countries, or territories• Autonomous suspensive measures providing for a reduction in, or relief from, import duties chargeable on certain goods• Other tariff measures provided for by other Commu-nity legislationCustoms duties are expressed as a percentage of the

customs value of goods. Other taxes, duties and levies may be required to be paid upon import in addition to customs duties, such as excise duty, VAT, etc.The CCC and its Implementing Regulations include new rules and provisions in respect of the status of the goods, customs valuation, amendment of customs declarations, binding origin information and binding tariff information, quota administration system, etc. 5.2 Establishing the customs value of goods Where the goods to be imported into Romania as from the Accession date will be subject to a sale, the cus-toms value should be based generally on the sale price increased with certain other costs that may have been incurred with purchasing the goods (e.g., insurance, transport, commissions, royalty and license fees). The cost of (i) transport and insurance of the imported goods, and (ii) loading and handling charges associated with the transport of the imported goods to the place of entering into the customs territory of the Commu-nity shall be added to the price actually paid or payable by the importer when declaring the customs value of the goods, to the extent that they are incurred by the buyer but are not included in the price actually paid or payable for the goods.

5.3 Customs procedures As provided by the Community Customs regulations, the goods may be placed under one of the customs procedures, as follows:• Release of goods for free circulation• Transit• Customs warehousing• Inward processing• Processing under customs control• Temporary admission• Outward processing• Exportation• Free warehouse• Free zoneThe release for free circulation confers non-Communi-ty goods the status of Community goods. This means that the customs duties and charges have been paid and, as a result, the goods may freely move within the territory of the European Community from a customs perspective. The specific customs procedures suspending the pay-ment of the import duties are generally subject to au-thorization from the customs authorities.The transit procedure allows the movement of non-Community goods from one point to another within the customs Community territory, without such goods being subject to import duties and other charges or to commercial policy measures for a certain period of time. Certain Community goods meant for export could also be placed under the transit procedure.A customs warehouse is any place approved by, and under the supervision of, the customs authorities

where goods may be stored under certain conditions. The customs warehousing procedure allows the stor-age in a customs warehouse of the following:• Non-Community goods, without such goods being subject to import duties or commercial policy mea-sures• Community goods, where Community legislation governing specific fields provides that their placement in a customs warehouse attracts the application of measures normally used for export of such goodsThe inward processing procedure provides non-Com-munity goods intended for re-export from the terri-tory of the Community in the form of compensating products, without application of import duties or com-mercial policy measures. This specific procedure is also applicable to goods released for free circulation with repayment or remission of import duties chargeable on such goods if they are exported from the territory of the Community as compensatory products.Processing under customs control procedure allows non-Community goods to be used in the territory of the Community in operations which alter their nature or state, without application of import duties or com-mercial policy measures, and shall allow the products resulting from such operations to be released for free circulation at the rate of import duty appropriate to them.The temporary admission procedure allows the use in the customs territory of the Community, with total or partial relief from import duties and without them being subject to commercial policy measures, of non-Community goods intended for re-export without hav-ing undergone any change except normal depreciation due to their use.The outward processing allows Community goods to be exported temporarily from the customs territory of the Community in order to undergo processing opera-tions and the products resulting from those operations to be released for free circulation, with total or partial relief from import duties. The export allows Community goods to leave the cus-toms territory and entails the application of exit for-malities, including commercial policy measures.Free zones and free warehouses are parts of the cus-toms territory of the Community or premises situated in that territory and separated from the rest of it in which non-Community goods are considered, for the purpose of import duties and commercial policy import measures, as not being on Community customs terri-tory, provided they are not released for free circulation or placed under another customs procedure or used or consumed under conditions other than those provided for in customs regulations.

5.4 Customs regime for individualsCustoms regulations provide for specific customs duty treatment for the personal belongings of individuals establishing domicile or residence in the Community,

goods introduced into the Community upon marriage, inherited goods, as well as goods shipped between in-dividuals.Goods from the personal luggage of travelers brought into EU without commercial purposes may be exempt from customs duty. The customs duties, VAT and excise duties exemption can be granted up to a total value of EUR 430 per traveler for air and sea travellers and up to a total value of EUR 300 per traveller for other travelers.For certain goods, such exemption is granted within the following quantity limits: Tobacco products:• 40 cigarettes• 100 cigarillos (cigarillos are cigars of a maximum weight of 3 grams each)• 50 cigars• 250 grams smoking tobaccoAlcohol and alcoholic beverages:• a total of 1 litre of alcohol and alcoholic beverages of an alcoholic strength exceeding 22% vol, or un-dena-tured ethyl alcohol of 80% vol and over, or • a total of 2 litres of alcoholic beverages of an alco-holic strength not exceeding 22% vol;• a total of 4 litres of still wine, and • 16 litres of beerThe duty exemption mentioned above for tobacco and alcoholic beverages does not apply for travelers under 17 years.

6. Excise duty

Excise duty is a consumption tax payable on certain categories of goods including alcoholic beverages, gas-oline, tobacco products, coffee, electricity and certain other items. The tax is payable on import and sales of locally produced items on the domestic market and is set as fixed EUR amount per unit (“specific excises”) or as a percentage of a specified taxable base.The excise duties in respect to the main categories of goods are given in EUR in the table below:

Taxpayers are normally required to submit monthly tax returns and pay the excise duties for excisable goods by the 25th of the following month, with certain excep-tions. In case of imported goods, the related excise duty, if applicable, should be paid at the time of mak-

CATEGORY OF PRODUCTSEXERCISE DUTY RATES VALID

FOR 2010

Alcoholic products up to EUR 750 per hl

CigarettesEUR 48.5/1,000 cigarettes + 22% of the declared maximum retail price

Coffee EUR 153-EUR 900 per ton

Car fuel EUR 347-EUR 547 per ton

Electricity EUR 0.5 or EUR 1/MWh


ing import declaration at customs. A special supervision and control system is provided for the production and distribution of excisable goods.A specific reimbursement procedure for harmonized excise duties based on fiscal risk analysis is available for supplies of certain excisable goods.

6.1 Fiscal warehouse regimeThe fiscal warehouse regime allows the production, transformation and/or storage of products subject to harmonized excise duties (e.g., beer, wines, other fermented beverages, intermediary products, ethyl alcohol, tobacco products, mineral oils) without the payment of related excise duties. Generally, the fis-cal warehouse regime cannot be used for retail sale of such products.The Fiscal Code allows production (and storage) of electricity and natural gas outside fiscal warehouses.

6.2 Excise duty suspension regimeIn certain condition, the excisable goods could be moved under an excise duty suspension regime within the territory of the Community. The movement of the excisable goods under the suspension of excise duty must be covered by an administrative document. The paper document that previously accompanied the movement of the excisable goods under the suspen-sion of duty (the Administrative Accompanying Docu-ment or AAD) was replaced with an electronic message from the consignor to the consignee, certified by the authorities of the Member States involved. For this purposes, a computerised system for monitor-ing movements of the harmonised excisable goods under suspension excise duty within the Community, named EMCS (Excise Movement and Control System) was implemented starting with 1 April 2010. For movements of excisable goods under the suspension of duty on the Romanian territory, the component EMCS - RO of the computerized system is used.

7. Local taxes

Local taxes in Romania are regulated by the Fiscal Code. Local taxes represent a distinct category of taxes set by the local administration, which are payable by both individuals and entities in Romania.The local councils may annually increase local taxes over the level established for any local tax provided by the Fiscal Code up to 20%, with a few exceptions.The legislation also provides for some exemptions, for example local councils may grant building and land tax exemptions to legal entities, provided these are in line with the state aid legislation.These local taxes include:

7.1 Building taxBuilding tax is payable by owners of buildings located

in Romania, regardless of their residence. The tax rate ranges between 0.10% and 0.20% for individuals and between 0.25% and 1.50% for legal entities. For buildings not revaluated three years prior to the con-cerned year, the tax payable by legal entities may vary between 5% and 10%. The tax is applied to the value of the building (established values are provided) for in-dividuals and to the book value of the building for legal entities. The tax must be paid annually, in two equal instalments by 31 March and 30 September.

7.2 Land taxLand tax is payable by owners of land. Generally, the tax is established as a fixed amount per hectare, de-pending on the location of the land within certain de-termined zones, towns or villages and depending on land use. The tax is payable annually, in two equal in-stallments, by 31 March and 30 September.

7.3 Vehicle taxVehicle tax is payable by owners of land/water vehicles, which should be registered in Romania. The tax de-pends on the engine capacity or vehicle characteristics (e.g. number of axles, suspension system, weight, etc.). The tax is payable annually, in two equal installments, by 31 March and 30 September.

7.4 Tax for construction authorizations The tax is established as a percentage on the construc-tion value and is payable upon obtaining the construc-tion authorization.

7.5 Publicity and advertising tax Advertising tax is payable by the 10th of each month during the execution of the contract by the suppliers of publicity and advertising services rendered in Romania, except for publicity and advertising services through audio, video and the print medium. The tax rate is established by the local councils and ranges between 1% and 3%. It is applied to the value of the publicity and advertising services. Users of outdoor advertising must pay an outdoor media advertising tax computed as a fixed amount established by the local councils per square meter, depending on the surface used for ad-vertising. Such tax should be paid in four equal instal-ments by 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 November.

7.6 Resort taxThe tax is payable by individuals over 18 years for their stay in resorts and is included in the accommodation tariff. The tax rate is established by local councils and ranges between 0.5% and 5% on the accommoda-tion tariff.

7.7 Show taxShow tax is payable by individuals and entities for pub-

lic performances at a rate of between 2% and 5% of revenues, or a fixed fee depending on the surface area of the premises. The show tax is payable monthly, in arrears by the 15th of the month following the per-formance.

7.8 Other local taxesThe local councils may impose a daily fee for temporary use of public places and for admissions to museums, memorials, or historical, architectural, and archaeologi-cal monuments, and also for the ownership or use of equipment that is held for the purpose of obtaining income using public infrastructure, as well as fees for activities with an impact on the environment.

8. Stamp duty

Stamp duty is payable on most judicial claims, issue of certificates and licenses, and documentary transactions which require authentication.There are two types of stamp duty, which include the following:• Judicial stamp duty• Extra-judicial stamp dutyJudicial stamp duty is levied on claims and requests filed with courts and the Ministry of Justice, depending on the value of the claim. Quantifiable claims are taxed under the regressive tax mechanism. Non-quantifi-able claims are taxed at fixed amount levels. A judicial stamp duty may also be levied at the transfer of real estate property under certain circumstances. Extra-judicial stamp duty is charged for the issue of various certifications such as identity cards, car regis-trations, etc.

9. Individual taxation

Romanian citizens domiciled in Romania are considered to be Romanian tax residents and are taxed in Romania on their worldwide income. Foreigners and Romanian individuals without a Romanian domicile may be sub-ject to taxation in Romania on worldwide income un-der certain circumstances.

9.1 ResidenceAn individual is considered to be a Romanian tax resi-dent if he/she fulfils at least one of the following con-ditions:• Individual is domiciled in Romania• Individual’s centre of vital interest is located in Ro-mania• Individual is present in Romania for a period or pe-riods exceeding in aggregate183 days during the 12 months to the end of the calendar year concerned• Individual is a Romanian citizen working abroad as an employee of the Romanian state.

9.2 TaxpayersIndividuals liable to income tax fall into the following two categories:• Residents, Romanian individuals domiciled in Roma-nia for income obtained from any source, both from Romania and abroad, and residents other than Roma-nian individuals domiciled in Romania - only for Roma-nian-sourced income;• Non-residents, who either:

- Carry out independent activities through a perma-nent establishment in Romania, for the net income attributable to the permanent establishment, or- Carry out dependent activities in Romania, for the net income from such dependent activities, or- Earn other types of income

If a non-resident individual complies with the second or third condition, mentioned in the Residence section above, for a period of three consecutive years, he/she becomes subject to taxation on worldwide income starting from the fourth year. Until the end of the three year period, the respective individual is subject to Romanian income tax only for Romanian-sourced income.Individuals who are tax residents in countries that have signed double tax treaties with Romania may benefit from a reduced tax rate or a tax exemption under the terms of the respective treaties. Individuals who are tax residents in countries that have not entered into a double tax treaty with Romania may become subject to Romanian taxation from the first day of presence in Romania.

9.3 Categories of income subject to taxationA flat income tax rate of 16% applies to the following categories of income:• Income from independent activities• Salary income• Rental income• Pension income• Prizes• Agricultural income• Other income

The Fiscal Code provides special tax rates in case of in-come obtained from investments, gambling, and trans-fer of real estate from personal patrimony.

9.4 Employment incomeTaxable compensation includes salaries, benefits in cash or in kind, wage premiums, rewards, temporary disability payments, paid holidays, and any other in-come received by an individual based on an employ-ment agreement. Taxable compensation also includes compensation received by daily or temporary workers, fees and compensation paid to directors and manag-ers of private commercial companies, to members of the board of directors and General Shareholders Meet-ing, to members of the administration council, and to


members of the audit committee.For employment income, the taxable amount is de-termined by deducting the following from the gross income:• Mandatory social security contributions• Personal deductions allowed, if any• Monthly trade union contribution• Contribution to the voluntary occupational pension scheme (up to EUR 400 per year)

9.5 Income from independent activitiesIncome from independent activities includes the fol-lowing:• Income from commercial/freelance activities• Income from intellectual property rightsIncome from commercial/freelance activitiesThe net taxable income from commercial/freelance activities is computed as gross income less specified deductible expenses that may be subject to certain lim-its. Individuals authorized as freelancers are obliged to maintain single entry books. Alternatively, income earned by certain categories of freelancers who do not have employees is subject to income tax based on income quota(s), which are an-nually established by the Ministry of Economy and Fi-nance.Freelancers are required to make anticipated payments on a quarterly basis, by the 15th of the last month of each quarter. Income from intellectual property rightsThe net income from intellectual property rights results by deducting from the gross income the following:• Deductible expenses representing 40% of gross in-come• Compulsory social security contributionsPayers of intellectual property rights compensation are required to compute, withhold, and pay a 10% ad-vance income tax by the 25th of the following month.

9.6 Income from other independent activitiesIncome from the following sources is also taxed at 10% advance income tax:• Income from sale of goods on consignment• Income from agent, commission or commercial man-date agreements• Income from civil conventions based on the Civil Code• Income from accounting, technical, judicial and ex-tra-judicial expertisePayers of such income are required to compute, with-hold and pay the advance income tax by the 25th of the following month. Separately, payers of income required to compute, withhold, and pay the advance income tax are also required to submit a statement for each individual by the end of February for the previous year. Only payers of salary income are exempt from this

obligation. Income from all types of independent ac-tivities is subject to an annual regularization, which is performed by applying a 16% tax rate to the annual taxable income, less carried forward tax losses (if any) for a period of five consecutive years.Taxpayers who earn income from independent activi-ties, for which 10% advance income tax is withheld at source, can choose for final taxation with 16% at source. Final taxation is allowed also for income from intellectual property rights, sale of goods in consign-ment, commercial mandate, agent, commission agree-ments, accounting, technical, legal expertise (allowed before only for income paid based on civil services agreements).

9.7 Rental incomeGross rental income consists of amounts in cash or in kind stipulated in the rental agreements and related to a fiscal year (regardless of the time of effective cash-ing), as well as certain expenses borne by the tenant and which, based on the law, are the landlord’s liabil-ity.The taxable amount is determined by deducting a 25% expense quota from the gross income. Tax on rental income is determined by applying 16% on the taxable amount. As an exception, taxpayers may opt for the determination of the net rental income based on single entry accounting.

9.8 Investment incomeInvestment income includes:• Dividend income• Interest income• Gains from transfer of securities• Income from futures/forward transactions with for-eign currencies and other similar operations• Income from liquidationDividend incomeDividends are defined as any grant of benefits in cash or kind by a legal entity to shareholders or associates as a consequence of holding participation titles (with cer-tain exceptions). Any amount paid by a legal entity for goods or services provided by a shareholder is treated as dividend for the portion of the value of such goods or services that exceeds the market value. The tax rate applicable to dividends distributed to resi-dent individuals is 16% and is calculated, withheld, and paid by the payer of dividend. The tax should be paid by the 25th of the month following the dividend pay-ment. In case of dividends distributed but not paid until the end of the year, the tax is payable by 25 January of the following year. The dividend tax is final (i.e., the in-come is not subject to regularization). The withholding tax for non-resident individuals is either 16% or a more favorable rate if a double tax treaty is applicable.Interest incomeTaxable income from interest is any income in the form

of interest other than the following exempt incomes:• Interest from current account/on-sight deposits• Interest from on term deposits and saving instru-ments realized starting with 1 January 2009• Interest related to debt instruments and municipal bondsThe tax rate applicable to interest income is 16%, and is calculated, withheld and paid by the payer of interest by the 25th of the month following the interest pay-ment. The interest tax represents a final tax. The withholding tax applied to interest income earned by non-resident individuals, as per the domestic legisla-tion, is 16% or a more favorable rate if a double tax treaty is applicable.Gains from transfer of securitiesCapital gain represents the positive difference between the sale price and the purchase price of different types of securities, reduced by related costs, as the case may be. In case of transfer of shares in a limited liability company, the capital gain represents the difference be-tween the sale price and the nominal value/purchase price of such shares. In case of redemption of invest-ment titles held in open investment funds, the capital gain is the positive difference between the redemption price and the purchase/subscription price. A capital gain on share sale obtained as a result of a stock op-tion plan is defined as the difference between the sale price and the preferential acquisition price. A concept of “net capital gain” has been introduced as represent-ing the difference between gains and losses registered during one year (i.e., positive or negative differences between the sale and purchase price, less the related transfer costs). Losses generated from transfer of shares starting with 2010 can be carried forward to the following year. This provision does not apply for the losses incurred in 2009. The net capital gains from sale of shares in open com-panies and open investment funds has been subject to 16% tax applied to gains obtained from the sale of the shares sold within 365 days inclusive of acquisition, and 1% tax for those shares held for a period exceed-ing 365 days.Gains from transfer of shares and participation titles in closed companies are subject to 16% tax.During the period 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2009, income from shares of listed companies was non-taxable for income tax purposes. Income from futures/forward transactions with foreign currencies and other similar operationsGains from sale-purchase transactions of foreign cur-rencies with subsequent term settlements, as well as from any other similar operations, are taxable at the fi-nal rate of 16%. An anticipated tax of 1% is computed and withheld by the intermediary of such transactions (e.g., a bank), upon finalization of the operation. Sub-sequently, the anticipated tax is payable by the 25th of

the following month. The final tax of 16% is computed by the taxpayer when filing the annual tax return.

9.10 Income from pensionsIncome from pensions comprises any amount received in form of pension from funds created from manda-tory social contributions made to a social insurance sys-tem. Income from pensions includes any amount from optional occupational pension schemes and those fi-nanced by the state budget. Monthly pension income of up to RON 1,000 is not taxable. The tax is final, and is to be determined by levying 16% on the taxable amount. The tax computed for pension is withheld on the date of actual payment of the pension and remit-ted to the state budget by the 25th of the following month.The withholding of tax on income from pensions is not applicable in case of individuals with severe dis-abilities.

9.11 Income from agricultural activitiesTaxable income from agricultural activities is deter-mined on income quotas issued by specialized territo-rial directorates of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and shall be approved by the territorial general directorates of public finance. Alternatively, taxpayers earning income from agricultural activities may choose to determine the income based on single entry bookkeeping. The tax is computed by levying 16% on the taxable income.Income derived from sale of agricultural products ob-tained after harvest under certain conditions is subject to a reduced income tax rate of 2%.

9.12 Prizes and gambling incomeThe tax on prizes is 16%, and is levied on the net in-come representing the balance between gross realized income and the tax free amount (i.e., currently RON 600). The tax is payable by the 25th of the following month and the liability to compute, withhold, and pay the tax rests with the payer of the income. The tax is fi-nal. The tax on gambling is also final and is determined by applying a tax rate of 20% on the net income, not exceeding RON 10,000, and a tax rate of 25% on the net income that exceeds RON 10,000. The net income in the case of gambling income is computed similarly to income from prizes.

9.13 Taxation of real estate transactionsThe real estate transfer tax, which has to be paid by the taxpayer on the transfer of the property right or its divisions, is computed as follows: • For buildings and their related land, as well as land without constructions, acquired and sold within a three-year period inclusively:

- 3% of the sale amount, if this amount is up to RON 200,000 inclusively


- For a sale amount over RON 200,000, the due tax is RON 6,000 plus 2% of the amount which exceeds RON 200,000

• for buildings and their related land, as well as land without constructions, acquired and sold after three years:

- 2% of the amount, if the amount is up to RON 200,000 inclusively- For a sale amount over RON 200,000, the due tax is RON 4,000 plus 1% of the amount exceeding RON 200,000

9.14 Income from other sourcesIncome from other sources includes, inter alia:• Insurance premiums borne by a freelancer or any other entity on behalf of an individual who is not an employee of the respective freelancer/entity. Such in-come is taxable in the hands of the recipient at 16%, through withholding, the tax being final• Income received by pensioners who are former em-ployees arising out of the employment contracts con-cluded with their former employers or based on cer-tain special laws, in the form of price differences for certain goods, services or other rights. Such income is taxable in the hands of the recipient at 16%, through withholding, and the obligation for the calculation and withholding rests with the payer of such incomeTax on income from other sources is payable by the 25th of the month following the realization of the in-come.

9.15 Personal deductionsRomanian individuals domiciled in Romania, as well as foreigners meeting the residence criteria for three consecutive years, are entitled to personal deductions, which vary depending on the gross monthly income and the number of dependents, as follows:• For gross monthly income up to RON 1,000, the monthly deductions vary between RON 250 for per-sons without dependents and RON 650 for at least four dependents• For gross monthly income between RON 1,000 and RON 3,000, personal deductions are regressive in com-parison to the above and shall be set by order of the Minister of Economy and Finance• For gross monthly income higher than RON 3,000, no personal deductions are granted

9.16 Filing and payment requirementsTaxpayers, with certain exceptions, have to file an an-nual income tax return with the tax authorities by 15 May of the following year. However, for the incomes earned starting with 2010, the deadline will be 25 May of the following year. Moreover, the taxpayer will be responsible for comput-ing the annual income tax on the basis of the infor-mation provided in the annual income tax return. The

income tax payment deadline will be also 25 May of the following year.Taxpayers earning only salary income throughout the entire fiscal year fulfill their tax obligations through employer withholdings. Employers withhold the in-come tax on a monthly basis. Expatriates employed abroad but performing an activity in Romania should file monthly tax returns and pay monthly tax in Roma-nia by the 25th of the following month if certain condi-tions are met.

9.17 Social securityUnder Romanian employment regulations, both em-ployer and employee are required to contribute to the social security system.

9.18 Social security contributions at the individual level• Social security contribution (i.e., pension) – 10.5% on the gross monthly income• Health fund contribution – 5.5% on the gross monthly income• Unemployment fund contribution – 0.5% on the gross monthly income9.19 Social security contributions at the employer level• Social security contribution – between 20.8% and 30.8% depending on working conditions, of the total gross amount paid to employees on a monthly basis• Health fund contribution – 5.2% of the total gross amounts paid to employees on a monthly basis• Unemployment fund contribution – 0.5% of the total gross amount paid to employees on a monthly basis • Contribution for medical leave and indemnity – 0.85% of the total gross amount paid to employees on a monthly basis, capped at 12 national minimum gross salaries multiplied with the number of insured persons• Contribution to the National insurance fund for work accidents and professional diseases – the contribution ranges between 0.15% and 0.85% of the total gross amount paid to employees on a monthly basis, de-pending on the risk category• Labor Chamber commission – 0.25% or 0.75% of the total monthly salary fund, depending on whether the company or the Labor Chamber keeps the work-books• Contribution to the Guarantee fund for payment of salary debts – 0.25% of the total gross amount paid to employees on a monthly basisIn 2010, employers hiring unemployed persons on the newly created jobs and maintaining such work relation-ship for at least 12 months, are entitled, under certain circumstances, to an exemption from paying the social security contributions related to such employees for a period of 6 months. From February 2010 until 31 December 2010, em-ployees whose labor contracts were suspended on the employer initiative and employers of the respective em-

ployees, whose activity was temporary interrupted for economical, technical, structural or similar reasons are exempt from paying the social security contributions for a period not exceeding 90 days. This exemption period will be counted in the individual’s total contribu-tions period. Furthermore, the indemnities received during the em-ployment suspension period, of at least 75% of the base salary, are not included in the salary income and are not taxable for a period not exceeding 90 days, starting from February 2010, but no later than 31 De-cember 2010.

9.20 Contribution to the health fund by foreign individualsCitizens of the European Union countries and Switzer-land (as of 1 June 2009) benefit from coverage of med-ical expenses incurred on Romanian territory, as well as exemption from the social security contributions based on certificates of coverage (E101 forms) issued accord-ing to the EU legislation on social security.However, if an individual is not subject to social contri-butions in the home country, that person will fall under the jurisdiction of the Romanian social security system and will be liable to pay social security contributions due under Romanian regulations.

10. Fiscal Procedure Code

The Fiscal Procedure Code regulates the rights and ob-ligations of parties engaged in fiscal juridical relations regarding:• Administration of taxes (i.e., activities related to fiscal registration, declaration, assessment, verification and collection of taxes, solving of appeals against fiscal as-sessments) provided by the Fiscal Code• Administration of customs duties• Contributions, fines, and other revenues of the gen-eral consolidated budgetThe Fiscal Procedure Code constitutes the common law for administration of taxes and if silent on certain mat-ters, provisions of the Civil Procedure Code are to be applied.

10.1 General principles for administration of tax-esConsistent application – states the obligation of the tax authorities to apply in a consistent manner the provi-sions of tax legislation with a view to correctly assess taxes due by taxpayers. Right to be heard – according to this principle, the tax authorities are obliged to allow the taxpayer to express its position with respect to the deeds and circum-stances relevant for decision-making prior to making a decision. The Fiscal Procedure Code stipulates several exceptions from this general principle.Confidentiality – tax authorities are obliged to ensure

the confidentiality of information pertaining to taxes and taxpayers.

10.2 Representation and certificationTaxpayers may appoint representatives in their relations with the tax authority. Representatives of taxpayers without Romanian tax residence should themselves be Romanian tax residents. Starting from 1 January 2010 annual profits tax decla-rations must be certified by an authorized tax consul-tant, except where auditing is mandatory. 10.3 General procedure provisionsCompetence of tax authoritiesThe tax authorities are empowered to administer tax claims, perform tax audits, and issue application norms for the tax legislation. Customs authorities are empow-ered to manage customs related duties.The competent tax authority for administration of taxes is the tax authority of the district, locality or Bu-charest where the taxpayer or the income payer has its tax domicile. In the case of taxpayers performing activi-ties through a permanent Romanian establishment, the competent tax authority is determined based on the place where the permanent establishment is located.Correction of material errorsThe tax authority may proceed to correction of mate-rial errors identified in the tax administrative acts on its own initiative, or further to an application submitted by the taxpayers. Material errors are errors or omissions with respect to the name, capacity of parties of the fiscal legal rela-tionship, computation errors or other errors similar to these, and do not refer to the substance of the tax act. The corrected act will be notified to taxpayers.Obligation to provide informationTaxpayers or their appointed representatives are obliged to provide, in writing, the tax authorities with the re-quested information necessary for the determination of the facts regarding the tax position. The tax authori-ties may request information from other persons, such information being considered only if confirmed by other evidence.Charge of proof Taxpayers are held responsible to prove the facts and deeds supporting their declarations and appeals to the tax authorities, whereas the latter have the obligation to motivate the amount payable by taxpayers.

11. Fiscal sanctions

Failure to submit tax returns and failure to pay taxes in due time entails fines and penalties as follows:

11.1 Failure to file tax returnsNon-filing of tax returns by the respective deadline may

Page 70

attract the following fi nes:• RON 500 to RON 1,000 for individuals• RON 1,000 to RON 5,000 for legal entitiesFailure to submit the recapitulative statement shall be sanctioned with a fi ne of 2% of the total amount of intra-community supplies/acquisitions of goods that have not been declared/undeclared differences due to submission of Recapitulative statements that contain incorrect or incomplete amounts. The fi ne will be re-duced by 50% if the taxable person corrects the Reca-pitulative statement by the legal term of submission of the next statement.Failure to provide transfer pricing documentation in conditions requested by the tax authorities is subject to a fi ne of up to RON 14,000.Taxpayers remain liable for the payment of fi nes for late fi ling of returns regardless of the payment of the tax due.

11.2 Interest and penalties on delays in payment of tax dueFailure to pay taxes at the prescribed date is penalized with late payment penalty, which is currently 0.1% for every day of delay. Additionally, for failure to withhold or failure to pay taxes withheld at source (taxes on salary type income,

dividend income and non-residents’ income), a fi ne ranging between RON 1,000 and RON 27,000 be ap-plied, depending on the fi scal obligations.

11.3 Deferral of outstanding tax liabilitiesFiscal liabilities under the administration of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration could benefi t from the deferral of payment, as an incentive to ease the effects of the economic downturn.The deferral can be granted for a period of maximum 6 months, which cannot exceed 20 December of the year in which it was granted. In this case the interest is charged at 0.05% for every day of deferral.In order to benefi t from and to maintain this fi scal in-centive, tax payers must submit a formal request and meet certain conditions, including inter-alia the follow-ing:• They have submitted all tax returns due• They should establish a guarantee or offer certain goods (covering both the deferred liabilities and the late payment liabilities due for the deferral period)• They should pay within the legal term the current tax obligationsThis tax incentive is granted only once for a given cal-endar year. The provisions are applicable until 30 June 2010.

Venkatesh SrinivasanPartner, Head of Tax and [email protected]

This update is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time when this overview was prepared. It is, however, meant as a gen-eral guide and comes with the recommendation that professional advice be sought before any action is taken

Avocat Magos

Page 72 Page �3

Foreign investors coming to Romania would be well advised, before starting their business, to inform them-selves about every available option to set up and carry out their activities in a profitable manner that corre-sponds to their business profile and investment plans. This overview provides basic information about the le-gal requirements for a foreign investor in Romania.

1. Choosing a form of company

For a foreign investor coming to Romania to set up business, choosing a form of company, as provided by Romanian legislation, represents the first step of the investment. The most frequently used forms of com-panies are:

a) Limited liability company (SRL) – the shareholders’ li-ability is limited to the amount subscribed as participa-tion to the company’s share capital. The share capital of an SRL must be at least RON 200, approximately EUR 47 (calculated at the exchange rate of RON 4.2/EUR), divided into shares with a par value of at least RON 10 each. A limited liability company may be formed by a minimum of one shareholder and a maximum of 50 (fifty). These shareholders may include individuals and/or legal entities. A person, either natural or legal, cannot be the sole shareholder of more than one SRL. If a person intends to form several companies, it would be necessary for a minimum of one share to be held by another person or entity. Moreover, a limited liabil-ity company cannot have, as sole shareholder, another limited liability company that is also owned by a sole shareholder.

b) Joint-stock company (SA) – the shareholders’ liability is limited to the amount subscribed in the company’s share capital. Further to the amendments introduced by Law 441/2006 to the Romanian Companies Law, the

minimum statutory capital for a joint-stock company shall be RON 90,000, approximately EUR 21,428 (cal-culated at the exchange rate of RON 4.2/EUR). Shares must be held by a minimum of 2 (two) shareholders, individuals and/or legal entities (there is no maximum limit), and can be open to either public or private par-ticipation. The par value of 1 (one) share shall not be less than RON 0.10. The shareholders may empower the administrators to increase the share capital of the company with a speci-fied amount (the Authorized Capital). Such Authorized Capital may not exceed half of the value of the share capital.For the administration of joint-stock companies two alternative systems may be elected: the unitary and the dualist system.

1. The unitary system - the company shall be managed by one or several administrators, always in an odd number, organized as a Board. The Board may assign the management of the company to one or several directors. For those companies whose financial state-ments are subject to auditing, such an assignment is compulsory and the minimum number of administra-tors is three.

2. The dualist system – the management of the com-pany is ensured by a Directorate and a Supervisory Board:• The Directorate carries out exclusively the activity and management of the company and reports to the Su-pervisory Board;• The Supervisory Board exerts permanent control over the Directorate of the company and reports to the General Meeting of the Shareholders.The administrators and the directors, in case of the uni-tary system, and the members of the Directorate or of

Legal considerations forforeign investors inRomania

the Supervisory Board, in case of the dualist system, may not conclude a labour agreement with the com-pany. A services provision agreement (management agreement) is required instead.

c) Representative office – usually set up by foreign com-panies in Romania in order to carry out non-commer-cial activities, such as advertising and market research on behalf of the parent company. Representative of-fices cannot conduct commercial activities in Romania. In order to register a representative office, company officials should apply to the Ministry Economy, Com-merce and Business Environment and pay an annual fee of the RON equivalent of USD 1,200 for the license. Upon the authorization, the representative office must be also registered with the Ministry of Public Finances and with the Romanian Chamber of Commerce. An annual income tax of the RON equivalent of EUR 4,000 must be paid.

d) Branch of foreign company – does not have its own legal personality or share capital. Being a unit of the parent company, branch activities cannot exceed the scope of activity of the parent company.

e) Consortium – domestic legislation allows for the conclusion of a joint venture agreement (in Romanian “contract de asociere in participatiune”). Under this agreement, parties act together for the accomplish-ment of a common business goal. This form of doing business in Romania does not create a legal entity. Generally, one party is in charge of the bookkeeping of the joint venture.

f) Societas Europaea (SE) – A SE may be created on registration in any of the EU member states in accor-dance with the EC Regulation 2157/2001. European law requires member states to treat an SE as if it were a public limited company, formed in accordance with the law of the member state in which it has its regis-tered office. By using the SE, businesses operating in several member states can establish themselves as a single company, rather than following different rules for each country in which they have subsidiaries. SEs are only suitable for large companies. Limited liability companies are the most popular ve-hicles among local and foreign investors for carrying out business activities in Romania, because they have fewer administrative requirements and greater flexibil-ity in operations than other types of companies. They also have a low initial capital requirement. However, the number of joint-stock companies in Romania is increasing, because of their attractiveness to investors interested in equity investing. A joint-stock company must be set up whenever:

a) the company wants to carry out certain types of ac-tivities (e.g. insurance, banking activities etc.);

b) the entrepreneurs foresee any advantage or neces-sity with respect to the acquisition of its own shares

by the company (for instance, offering them to the managers);

c) the entrepreneurs plan to list the company on a stock exchange or on the OTC market;

d) the entrepreneurs contemplate financing the com-pany through issue of bonds or other financial instru-ments;

The other forms of doing business are not common among foreign investors in Romania. However, foreign investors still use representative offices if their activity only involves promoting one of their group companies in Romania. Branches are mainly used in cases where foreign investors plan for a short presence in Romania or if the investors decide, for capitalisation (in the case of banks) or commercial reasons, not to legally sepa-rate the Romanian entity from the parent company.

2. Mergers and acquisitions

After completing the first investment stage – establish-ing a Romanian legal entity – foreign investors may, during the course of business, restructure their activi-ties through mergers and acquisitions as stipulated by Romanian law.

Law 31/1990 (the Romanian Company Law), as amended and republished, and the methodological norms approved under Order 1376/2004 (regarding accounting procedures for mergers, spin-offs, dissolu-tion, liquidation of companies, withdrawal and exclu-sion of shareholders, as well as the fiscal regime of such operations) represent the general legal framework for mergers and acquisitions in Romania. The Romanian Companies Law regulates both merger by absorption (whereby one or more existing companies are absorbed by another existing company) and merger by fusion (whereby a new company is created by integrating two or more existing companies), as well as spin-offs. The merger/spin-off should be decided separately, by each participating company voting in the General Meeting of Shareholders. Following this, a merger/spin-off plan is prepared and registered with the Trade Registry, in order for it to be examined by an expert and to get the approval of the delegated judge, as well as to have it published in the Official Gazette.

Regarding the completion of the merger/spin-off op-eration, two situations may arise:

a) where pursuant to the merger/spin-off new com-panies resulted, the operation takes effect upon the incorporation date of the new company or the last of the new companies.

b) for the other cases (e.g. merger by absorption, spin-offs where the transfer is made to already exist-ing companies), the operation takes effect on the date when the resolution of the last company approving the operation is registered with the Trade Registry, save for


where the participating companies jointly agree on a different date. However, this date cannot be prior to the end of the last financial year of the company/com-panies that transfer its/their assets and liabilities and cannot be later than the end of the current financial year of the absorbing or the beneficiary companies.

Government’s Emergency Ordinance 52/2008 amend-ing Romanian Company Law regulates both cross bor-der mergers and Societas Europaea.

The amendments regulate the cross-border mergers in-volving limited liability companies (Romanian: societati cu raspundere limitata – SRL), joint stock companies (Romanian: societati pe actiuni – SA), joint stock part-nerships (Romanian: societati in comandita pe actiuni – SCA) and Societas Europaea having their registered office in Romania and companies established pursuant to the law of a member state and having their regis-tered office, central administration or principal place of business within the European Union.

Supplementary obligations are provided for the del-egate judge and for the Romanian Trade Registry that shall undertake cooperation duties with similar institu-tions of the member states where companies involved in the merger process are headquartered, in order to verify the legality of the procedures.

Furthermore, the implication of the employees in the decision-making process of the companies that are parties of the cross border merger is evidenced.

The cross border merger procedure (meaning terms, conditions, documents, information to be provided and included in the respective documents) is more or less the same as the procedure provided by the Romanian Company Law with respect to the local mergers. There-fore, there are several steps that should be considered whenever such a project is envisaged, as follows:

a) Drafting the merger project, containing specified in-formation, shall be published at least 1 month before the date of the general meeting to decide upon the merger;

b) Drafting the report of the management, report of an independent expert;

c) The approval of the merger by the general meeting is also required;

d) Publicity formalities related to the merger project and the merger resolutions.

The Romanian Company Law provides for simplified procedures in the case when a parent company merges by absorption with a subsidiary it wholly owns.

With regard to acquisitions, Company Law regulates the acquisition of shares in any type of company. In case of limited liability companies and joint-stock companies, the acquisition procedures are different as shares in a limited liability company are not freely trans-ferable to third parties (a special quorum and a majority

in the General Meeting of Shareholders are required), whilst shares in a joint-stock company are not subject to specific restrictions regarding their transferability to third parties, if not otherwise provided for.

There are also some instances where companies in-volved in a merger or acquisition are subject to certain competition regulations. However, as a general rule, there are no competition issues to be considered when companies participating in a merger and/or acquisition are part of the same group of companies. Mergers and acquisitions involving at least one public company must be done in accordance with Capital Market Law 297/2004 and by observing the regulations issued by the National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNVM).

3. Real estate

Pursuant to Romania’s joining the EU, as of 1 January 2007, foreign investors interested in real estate acquisi-tions should note that EU nationals and entities, as well as stateless persons domiciled in any EU state, accord-ing to the provisions of Law 312/2005, can acquire land in Romania, under the same conditions as Romanians, provided they reside in Romania. The above terms do not apply to buildings, which may be owned by any individual or legal entity irrespective of nationality or residence status in Romania (such individual or entity will not, however, own the land on which the building is situated).

However, regardless of the above mentioned legal framework in regards to mandatory components of land acquisitions, in practice, the Notaries Public are reluctant in authenticating the sale purchase/transfer agreements. The said situation is also due to the nu-merous controversies between the legislator, lawyers and Notaries Public.

Moreover, Law 312/2005 which regulates the condi-tions under which EU citizens and entities, stateless persons and other foreigners may acquire land in Ro-mania, provides that EU persons that do not reside in Romania may acquire land here only after the expira-tion of a 5-year period after Romania’s accession to EU.

With respect to agricultural and forest land, there is a 7-year freeze during which no EU national (save for Romanians) or other foreigner may acquire such type of land. However, farmers carrying out independent activities and who are: (i) citizens of member states or stateless persons domiciled in a EU member state, who have established their residence in Romania, or (ii) stateless persons domiciled in Romania - may acquire agricultural and forest land under the same conditions as any Romanian citizen commencing with 1 Janu-ary 2007, without the possibility for such persons to

change the specific purpose of such land.

For foreign citizens, stateless persons and legal enti-ties from non-EU states, ownership over land may be acquired in accordance with the provisions of interna-tional treaties, based on reciprocity terms.

4. Investment incentives

Foreign and domestic investors are offered equal op-portunities to invest in Romania. In general, incentives are intended to boost the economic development of the country, particularly the acceleration of industriali-sation in disfavoured zones, as well as the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and micro en-terprises.

4.1 Small and medium enterprisesLaw 346/2004 provides incentives for private investors who set up or run small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Domestic legislation defines an SME as a company that:

(i) has an annual average number of employees below 250; and

(ii) whose net annual turnover does not exceed EUR 50 million, or whose total assets value does not exceed EUR 43 million, according to the latest approved finan-cial statements; and

(iii) fulfils the independence criterion: it should not hold more than 25% of the shares or voting rights of anoth-er entity and not more than 25% of its share capital or voting rights should be held by other entities that are not SMEs or by natural persons that are authorised to independently carry out commercial activities.

Regarding the independence criterion, the following exceptions are allowed: enterprises owned by public investment companies, venture capital companies, in-stitutional investors, business angels (on condition that the total investment amount of such investor into the same company does not exceed EUR 1,250,000), uni-versities and non-profit research centres, local public administration authorities. Banking companies, insur-ance and reinsurance companies, companies manag-ing investment funds, financial investment companies (i.e., security trading companies), and companies which have foreign trade as the sole object of activity cannot qualify as SMEs.

Romanian legislation provides certain financing incen-tives to SMEs such as state assistance and loans guar-anteed by the state.

5. Micro enterprises

The Fiscal Code establishes the taxation regime for mi-cro enterprises. To qualify for this regime, the following

conditions should be met by Romanian legal entities by 31 December of the previous year:

• More than 50% of the total revenues obtained from activities other than consulting and management

• At least one employee, but not more than nine

• Annual turnover less than EUR 100,000

• Share capital owned by natural persons or legal en-tities, other than the state, local authorities or public institutions

For 2009 micro enterprises were required to pay 3% tax on any income, except certain items of revenue specifically provided (e.g., income from stock varia-tions, income from provisions). In case the resulting in-come tax is lower than the minimum annual corporate tax, the amount to be paid will be the equivalent of the latter sum. The tax is paid quarterly, by the 25th of the month following the reporting quarter.

Companies complying with the above conditions and taxed under the general profits tax legislation may opt for the special tax regime for the year 2010. Newly set-up companies may indicate their option, with respect to the applicable tax regime, during registration with the Trade Registry.

5.1 Disfavored zonesEmergency Ordinance 24/1998 regulates disfavored zones. Such zones are determined by Government De-cision for a period of at least three, but not more than 10 years.

Currently, there are 3 disfavored zones situated in the mining areas of the country, valid until December 2010.

Legal entities that obtained a permanent certificate of investor in a disfavored zone before 1 July 2003 benefit from a tax exemption for profits on new investments, for the period during which the disfavored zone status exists.

The incentives granted under this law are subject to the limitations imposed by state aid regulations. Most of the disfavored zones had ceased to be valid after April 2009.

5.2 Industrial parksAccording to Government Ordinance 65/2001, indus-trial parks are strictly delimited areas where research and development, industrial production, and techno-logical development activities are carried out.

An industrial park may be set up through collaboration between central and local administration authorities and companies, research and development institutes, and/or other interested partners. The duration of the industrial park is granted at founders’ request, but it cannot be lower than 15 years. An industrial park is administered by a Romanian legal entity, called the ad-


ministrator-company. No shareholder company using the facilities and/or infrastructure of the industrial park can hold direct or indirect control over the administra-tor-company.

The following incentives currently apply to the setting up and development of industrial parks:

• Exemption from taxes due on conversion of agricul-tural land used for industrial parks

• Buildings, constructions and land located inside in-dustrial parks are exempt from local property tax

• Other incentives granted in compliance with the law by the local administration

5.3 Free trade zonesLaw 84/1992, as further amended, regulates the free trade zones regime.

Free trade zones are characterized by a specifi c cus-toms regime: the customs supervision is limited to the borders of such areas.

Means of transport, products and other goods are admitted into the free trade zones, regardless of their country of origin or destination. However, the import of goods, subject to prohibition under domestic law or under international agreements to which Romania is a party, is forbidden.

5.4 Mineral resourcesRomania is rich in natural resources, especially oil, gas, salt, gold and silver ore and non-ferrous metals. Recent geological and geophysical studies have shown there are many mineral deposits (gold, silver, lead, zinc, cop-per, iron and manganese) and oil reserves (both on land and offshore), with considerable potential for exploita-tion. These offer substantial opportunities for foreign investors interested in these sectors.

Mining Law 85/2003, as further amended, regulates mining activities in Romania. Its defi ned scope is to ensure maximum transparency in mining activities and fair competition, without discrimination between op-erators, depending on the property type and the origin of the capital.

Subterranean and aboveground mineral resources lo-cated on Romanian territory, within the continental shelf and within Romania’s Black Sea economic area are part of the state’s public property.

Mining is carried out through a mining license granted by the National Agency for Mineral Resources for a maximum period of 20 years, and the right to extend it for successive fi ve-year periods in exchange for an annual mining royalty and surface tax.

Each mining license is established by Government De-cision, and its provisions will remain valid throughout the license period, under the conditions in which they were concluded.

Foreign operators should set up a permanent subsid-iary in Romania within 90 days of obtaining the min-ing license, to be maintained throughout the period of operation.

5.5 Petroleum LawPetroleum Law 134/1995 regulating all operations involving oil and gas reserves within Romania was abolished and replaced by Law 238/2004 as further amended by the Government Emergency Ordinance 101/2007, as approved by Law 262/2009.

Oil resources located on Romanian territory are exclu-sive public property of the Romanian state.

The Romanian state’s interests in the mineral oil sector are represented by the National Agency for Mineral Re-sources. Through its representative authority, the state can grant a Romanian or foreign legal entity the right and the obligation to perform oil operations, based on an oil concession. The concession period may not ex-ceed 30 years, with the possibility to extend the said period with up to 15 years.

The oil operations can be conducted through exploita-tion licenses or exploration permits only within some perimeters, as delimited by the National Agency for Mineral Resources. Titleholders of an oil license are li-able to pay a petroleum royalty, in accordance with the provisions of Petroleum Law 238/2004.

Foreign operators should create a permanent establish-ment in Romania (i.e. a branch or company) within 90 days of obtaining the oil and gas license, to be main-tained throughout the period of activity.

Unlike Law 134/1995, Law 238/2004 does not grant any incentives to the holders of an oil license.

Eirinikos [email protected]


The main legislation currently regulating the account-ing and fi nancial reporting environment comprises the Accounting Law 82/1991 (Accounting Law), re-published in 2008, and Minister of Public Finance Order 3055/2009 (MoF Order 3055/2009) including subsequent modifi cations and related legislation. The Accounting Law indicates the requirements for the general accounting framework for Romanian entities and MoF Order 3055/2009 covers fi nancial reporting and related accounting requirements. The provisions of MoF Order 3055/2009 have been prepared to refl ect relevant European Directives in force, namely Directive IV for stand-alone fi nancial statements and Directive VII for consolidated fi nancial statements.In this article we focus on the following fi nancial re-porting legislation:• Approval of Accounting Regulations to comply with European Directives – Minister of Finance Order 3055/2009 (MoF Order 3055/2009)• Conformity of Accounting Regulations with Inter-national Financial Reporting Standards and respecting conformity of accounting regulations with European Directives – Minister of Finance Order 907/2005 (MoF Order 907/2005)• Application of International Financial Reporting Stan-dards – Minister of Finance Order 1121/2006 (MoF Or-der 1121/2006)

Sources of accounting principles Accounting in Romania is regulated by the provisions of Law 82/1991, republished in June 2008 (Accounting Law) and modifi ed by Law 259/2007. In accordance with the Accounting Law, it is manda-tory for all legal entities and authorized individuals to keep accounting records in Romanian language and

the national currency. For internal information pur-poses, entities may choose to draw up statements in another currency. Legal entities or individuals have to keep written evi-dence of all transactions and record these transactions in their accounting books. The records required by the Accounting Law include: Journal Registers, Stock Reg-ister (based on an annual inventory of assets and liabili-ties), and Nominal Ledger (based on analysis of the ac-counting information posted from source documents or Journal Registers). The books and the accounting records may be hand-written or in an electronic format and can be used as evidence in court and are subject to review by Romanian fi scal and judicial authorities. Accountants should prepare a trial balance from the nominal ledger on an annual basis and this trial bal-ance is the basis for preparation of periodic fi nancial statements. Accounting regulations issued require a specifi c chart of accounts and specifi c reporting disclosure contents and formats for entities. From 1 January 2006 up to 31 December 2009, MoF Order 1752/2005 and starting with 1 January 2010 MoF Order 3055/2009 provides the applicable base to be followed in two accompany-ing regulations:• Accounting regulations for compliance with the 4th Directive of the European Economic Communities (AR4) and• Accounting regulations for compliance with the 7th Directive of the European Economic Communities (AR7)MoF Order 3055/2009, applicable from 1 January 2010, in conjunction with the accompanying account-ing regulations issued, provides: prescribed layout and content of the annual fi nancial statements, accounting principles and valuation rules, rules on the preparation,

Financial reporting in Romania


approval, auditing and publication of the annual finan-cial statements.

Fundamental concepts MoF Order 3055/2009 , as was the situation for MoF Order 1752/2005, looks to cover in one piece of leg-islation the financial reporting applicable to entities of all sizes, with differing level of disclosure relating to size and public interest consideration. MoF Order 3055/2009 is, in the main, largely providing further clarification on matters already included in MoF Order 1752/2005.MoF Order 3055/2009 stipulates that the following general principles apply:• Accruals basis – Transactions and other events are recognised when they arise and are entered in the ac-counting records and reported in the financial state-ments for the related period. • True and fair view – Annual financial statements are to be prepared to give a true and fair view of the as-sets, liabilities, financial position and period results of an entity in accordance with the provisions indicated in MoF Order 3055/2009. • Comparative figures are to be disclosed for all state-ments prepared. • Going concern – The entity is presumed to be carry-ing on its business as a going concern. If this principle is not appropriate and the administrator(s) are aware of this, there is a doubt on the ability of an entity to continue its activities. This should then be disclosed in the explanatory notes. • Consistency – There should be an application of valu-ation rules on a consistent basis from year to year. • Prudence – In particular:

−Only profits made at the balance sheet date are to be included. −Includes all liabilities relating to financial year or pre-vious years, even if such liabilities become apparent or become known between the balance sheet date and the date of completion of preparation. −All depreciation (value adjustments) is to be includ-ed irrespective of whether the result for the financial year is a loss or a profit.

• Independence – Income and charges relating to the financial year are recorded irrespective of the date of receipt or payment. • Separation – Components of asset and liability items are valued separately. • Intangibility – Opening balance sheet for each finan-cial year must correspond to the closing balance sheet for the previous financial year. • No offset – Offset between asset and liability items in the period end balance sheet is not allowed. • Economic substance and reality of events – Carrying values and transactions should be considered and not only the legal form and/or substance.

Any departures from the above principles are seen as being exceptional and would require disclosure in the explanatory notes indicating reason for not applying and the effect on the disclosure of assets and liabili-ties carrying value, the financial position and period results. MoF Order 3055/2009 also stipulates that the follow-ing qualitative characteristics of financial statements should apply:• Understandability: information provided in financial statements should be readily understandable by us-ers, assuming users have a reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and accounting and a willingness to study the information with reasonable diligence.• Relevance: information must be relevant to the deci-sion-making needs of users. Information has the qual-ity of relevance when it influences the economic deci-sions of users by helping them evaluate past, present or future events or confirming, or correcting, their past evaluations. Relevance is determined by the nature and the materiality of the information.• Reliability: information has the quality of reliability when it is free from material error and bias and can be depended upon by users. Reliability of the information can be attained through faithful representation, sub-stance over form, neutrality, prudence and complete-ness.• Comparability: users must be able to compare the financial statements of an entity through time in order to identify trends in its financial position and perfor-mance. Also, they must be able to compare the finan-cial statements of different entities in order to evalu-ate their relative financial position, performance and changes in financial position.

Valuation principles and accounting policies

Valuation in general is based on purchase price or pro-duction cost. In specific situations, contribution value and fair value (including revaluations) may be used. MoF Order 3055/2009 mentions that assets and liabili-ties will be valued according to the contents of this Or-der and to norms issued by the Ministry of Finance. Accounting principles are meant to reflect cost values, but “fair value” should also be considered for carrying values for annual financial statement preparation. This includes revaluations of tangible assets. It is indicated that valuations should be completed by a professional valuator (i.e., a member of a relevant professional body with national or international recognition) and that re-valuations of tangible assets can only occur for assets existing as of the year end. MoF Order 3055/2009 includes guidance on valuation methods and accounting principles to be considered in the maintenance of financial records and in the prepa-

ration of annual financial statements.There is no direct mention of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in MoF Order 3055/2009 or the accompanying accounting regulations (AR4 and AR7). There is, as far as AR4 and AR7 are concerned, a con-sistency in many areas with IFRS, and it can be assumed (although there is no definitive guidance), that where further guidance is required, IFRS could be referred to for applicable accounting policy disclosures required in the notes to the financial statements. In many areas, IFRS will provide further guidance on valuation meth-ods and accounting policies.At the same time, there are some IFRS that are not ap-plied or have only limited comment in AR4, such as:• Deferred taxation MoF Order 3055/2009 does not make any reference to deferred taxation.• For “financial instruments” there is some mention of treatment, but it is very limited and certainly includes little of what is included in IAS 32 “Financial Instru-ments – Disclosure and Presentation”, IAS 39 “Finan-cial Instruments – Recognition and Measurement” and IFRS 7 “Financial Instruments – Disclosure”.IAS 17 “Leases”, there are definitions included in MoF Order 3055/2009 of a “finance lease” and an “operat-ing lease”, as well as the accounting treatment to be applied for these items, but there is more limited disclo-sure requirements than IAS 17.. MoF Order 3055/2009 provides also guidance on sale and leaseback arrange-ments treatment.• IAS 23 “Borrowing costs”- MoF 3055/2009 gives the option to entities to capitalize interest and commissions paid for obtaining the financing directly attributable to qualifying assets.• IFRS 6 “Exploration for and Evaluation of Mineral Re-sources”-some definitions and accounting treatments is included in MoF 3055/2008 which are similar to IFRS 6. However there are no details included for testing of impairments of exploration and evaluation assets.In addition matters covered in a number of IFRS stan-dards are only touched on to a limited extent or not at all, such as: • IFRS 2 “Share-based Payment”-:there are some defi-nitions for share based payments granted to employees and an accounting treatment to be applied to these items included in MoF 3055/2009 but these are very limited described and limited disclosure requirements than in IFRS 2.• IFRS 5 “Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discon-tinued Operations”- MoF 3055/2009 only makes ref-erence to reclassification of fixed assets to inventories when the entity decides to modify the destination of a fixed assets.• IFRS 8 “Operating Segments”- MoF 3055 mention some definitions of segments and factors to be con-sidered for identification of such segments. However all criteria size and all disclosures as requested in IFRS 8

are not included in Mof 3055/2009.• IAS 19’’ Employee Benefits”- MoF 3055/2009 in-cludes for post employment benefits an indication of the criteria to be considered in determination of post employment benefits provisions (age, length of services and personnel turnover) and that the provision should be established by a specialist in the field.• IAS 11 “Construction contracts, IAS 40 “Investment Property”; and IAS 41 “Agriculture”-are touched to a very limited extent or even not at all (e.g. IAS 41).• For intangible assets, there are some specific treat-ments prescribed that are not in all cases consistent with IAS 38 “Intangibles”. This includes treatment for depreciation of goodwill arising from acquisition. • Errors from previous periods are included as a current year retained earnings adjustment, with appropriate disclosure and a requirement that any loss generated is to be covered by current year profit before any profit distribution from the current year is made. Compara-tives are not adjusted for any prior period item. IAS 8 “Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Esti-mates and Errors” requires adjustments to be made to previous year comparatives for certain accounting policy changes and previous period errors. • For the preparation of consolidated financial state-ments (see further comments below) there are some differences compared to IFRS 3 “Business Combina-tions” including: • Treatment of amortization of the goodwill arising on acquisition over 5 years; IFRS carry at full value less im-pairment assessment.• Negative goodwill on acquisition is recognised in the income statement only to the extent that certain criteria are met; IFRS 3 requires immediate expensing through the income statement. • If on acquisition values cannot be determined, then a value based on acquisition date or nearest available date carrying values can be used for consolidation and for determination of goodwill on acquisition. • IAS 2 “Inventories” allows FIFO, weighted average and in specific cases, by item identification basis and retail price method. MoF Order 3055/2009 in addition to the cost determination basis indicated above allows that a LIFO method can be used. • The extent of specific disclosure requirements under MoF Order 3055/2009 is more limited than IFRS re-quirements, however to reflect a “true and fair view” as indicated in MoF Order 3055/2009, it is considered that appropriately detailed disclosure notes should be completed. • IFRS provides far more guidance on accounting poli-cies and principles in specific areas and for specific in-dustries. In MoF 3055/2009 there is further guidance, amongst other points, on:• Where IFRS consolidated financial statements are prepared there is no requirement to also have MoF

Page 80 Page 81

3055/2009 consolidated financial statements.• Provisions, including the involvement of an expert, for determination of pension provisions and introduc-tion of “constructive obligation” concept for consider-ation of recognition of reorganization provisions.• The concept that the time-value of money should be considered when recognizing a provision is included starting with 1 January 2010.• What should be recorded in chart of account catego-ries. This is included as an Annex.In relation to accounting policies, AR4 indicates that:• Specific principles and policies adopted by the entity in preparing, drafting and completing its annual finan-cial statements• The management of each entity shall set the account-ing policies for the operations carried out, to reflect the specific activity of the entity• In establishing accounting policies, an entity needs to ensure that the general accounting principles (“funda-mental concepts”) as included in AR4 are observed• Accounting policies should be:

− Relevant for the needs of the users in the decision-making process− “Credible” – present a “true and fair” situation, be neutral, be prudent and be complete in all significant aspects− Only be changed if required by law or to present more relevant or “credible” information

A limitation with MoF Order 3055/2009 is the extent to which entities have flexibility in choosing accounting policies to be applied, meaning that there may not be consistency in reporting under MoF Order 3055/2009 between similar entities (in terms of industry, type of business and size of operations).

Disclosure, reporting and filing requirements MoF Order 3055/2009 has been effective from 1 Janu-ary 2010 for reporting year ending on or after 31 De-cember 2010. MoF Order 3055/2009 differentiates between entities that need to meet all financial reporting requirements and those that can complete abridged financial report-ing. The entities are differentiated by “size criteria”. The size criteria indicated are:

An entity that meets two out of three criteria during

two consecutive financial years or that is a listed com-pany is required to annually complete financial state-ments that comprise:• Balance sheet• Profit and loss statement• Statement of changes in equity• Cash-flow statement• Explanatory notesSome subcategories of main balance sheet items can be combined, where amounts are immaterial or where combination would provide greater clarity. This does not apply for listed companies. Entities that do not meet the size criteria are required to prepare: • Abridged balance sheet• Profit and loss statement• Explanatory notes to the simplified financial state-ments• At their own discretion, entities below the size thresh-old may prepare a statement of changes in equity and/or cash-flow statement.In addition, the annual financial statements for all enti-ties (regardless of size) should be accompanied by a written declaration of the responsibility for entity man-agement for the annual financial statement and an Administrator(s) Report on operations. Certain groups may be required to complete consoli-dated financial statements (see further comment be-low). MoF Order 3055/2009 details a specified chart of ac-counts listing to be applied and includes direction for the mapping of individual accounts to the balance sheet and income statement formats. The general chart of accounts has the following cat-egories:• Class 1 – Equity accounts• Class 2 – Non-current assets• Class 3 – Inventories and work in progress• Class 4 – Third party accounts (receivables and pay-ables)• Class 5 – Treasury accounts• Class 6 – Expense accounts• Class 7 – Revenue accounts• Class 8 – Special accounts (off-balance sheet)• Class 9 – Management accounts Specified formats are provided in AR4 for:• Balance sheet (full and abridged)• Profit and loss statement • Statement of changes in equity• Cash-flow statement.Explanatory notes are to be completed to:• Present information on the accounting regulations underlying the preparation of the annual financial statements and the accounting policies used; • Provide additional information that is not disclosed in the financial statements , but which is relevant for the information user to understand the financial state-

Turnover(for the period)

EUR million

Total assets(at year end)

EUR million

Average number of employees

for the period

31 Dec. year end

Over 7.3 Over 3.65 50

ments. Specific details for compulsory explanatory notes prep-aration are included in MoF Order 3055/2009 (AR4). These include:• Non-current assets• Provisions• Profit distribution• Analysis of operating result• Statement of receivables and payables• Accounting principles, policies and methods• Interest and financing sources• Information regarding employees, administrators, management and supervisory bodies• Computation and analysis of the main economic and financial indicators• Other informationIf there is any departure from the indicated general accounting principles (“fundamental concepts”) that underlie MoF Order 3055/2009 requirements, then dis-closure of the reason and impact is required.MoF Order 3055/2009 in AR4 details disclosures that are required as part of explanatory notes to the annual financial statements.Specific disclosure requirements are also indicated for matters such as:• Accounting policies, including valuation methods and basis for conversion of transactions into national currency, as applicable• Changes to accounting policies, including impact on current financial year results (no retrospective period adjustments are made under MoF Order 3055/2009 for changes to accounting policies)• Name of entity, main place where activities are per-formed and registered office, main activities, name of parent and ultimate holding company• Related parties for relationship, balances at period end and transactions during the period• Non-current asset details and movements• Information on revaluations, including method of re-valuation and impact• Information on financial instruments• Details on participating interests and investments• Disclosures by category for receivables, payables and inventory and other relevant information• Provisions, for comments on composition and move-ments• Reconciliation between accounting results and fiscal result and tax payable at period end• Information on composition of share capital by type and securities issued during the year• Turnover details by separate activities and geographic markets• Information on distribution of net profits, including details on dividends proposed and/or paid• Commitments and contingencies• Events after balance sheet date• Financial auditors fee disclosures

• Average number of employees by main categories and related personnel costs• Information on payments to Administrator/(s), man-agement and supervisory boards• Amounts paid under lease agreements and ongoing obligations under lease agreements

Report of the Administrator(s)

A Report of the Administrator(s) is to be completed with each financial year to accompany the annual fi-nancial statements.The Report is to provide comment on the current year’s activities of the entity, the financial position and a de-scription of the main risks and uncertainties facing the entity. Disclosure of financial ratios and non-financial ratios is encouraged.

Specific items to be addressed, as applicable are: • Significant events that occurred during the financial year• Probable evolution of the entity• Research and development activities• Purchase of own shares• Branches of the entity• Use of financial instruments and potential associated risks• Corporate governance code (for listed entities more details are to be included).

MoF 3055/2009 includes comments on aspects of in-ternal controls and procedures that an entity should have in place in relation to its financial records and fi-nancial reporting.

Approval and publication

The annual financial statements include details of the persons that have prepared the financial statements. The Administrator (or Chairman of the Administration Board) and the preparer are required to sign the annual financial statements.On completion the annual financial statements and the Report of the Administrator(s) are presented to the general meeting of shareholders. The annual financial statements, the Report of the Administrator/(s) and the Report of the Financial Audi-tor are published in compliance with legislation. Current publication requirements are for the annual fi-nancial statements and related reports to be submitted to the Trade Register in the location where the entity is registered.

A company which does not have its own accounting department and/or a qualified person in charge of the accounting records, and which has turnover greater than the lei equivalent of EUR 50,000, must contract

Page 82 Page �3

an authorized person (individual or firm) to prepare its financial statements

Company Law 31/1990, as modified by Law 441/2006 indicates that:• Annual General Assembly of Shareholders (AGM) is to be held within five months from the financial year end [Art. 111 (1)].• Company is to submit the approved annual finan-cial statements (including Administrators’ Report and Financial Auditors’ Report/Censors Report, where ap-plicable) to the Trade Register [Art. 185 (1)] within 15 days of the AGM.• The Trade Register is to forward an electronic version of the information contained in the annual financial statements to the Ministry of Finance according to Norms [Art 185 (4)].Modifications to the Accounting Law have extended the period for submission of annual financial report the Ministry of Finance to 150 days after year end (Law 259/2007).

In addition there are specific submission requirements for:• Entities regulated by the National Securities Com-mission (CNVM) where submission of annual financial statements accompanied by the financial auditors’ re-port is required within four months of the financial year end. • Insurance / re-insurance entities that are regulated by Insurance Supervision Commission (CSA) where sub-mission of annual financial statements accompanied by the financial auditors’ report is required within four months of the financial year end.• For Banks individual financial statements (prepared in accordance with NBR Order 5) and consolidated finan-cial statements (where applicable) are to be submitted to the National Bank of Romania within four months of the financial year end.

Dividend distribution

Dividend distribution is based on the statutory account-ing profit of an individual entity.

Consolidated financial statements

In addition to comments in MoF Order 3055/2009 [Art 11 and 12], specific guidance is provided in the accom-panying “Accounting Regulations – Compliance with the 7th Directive of the European Economic Communi-ties” (AR7).Consolidation is required where an entity has the ma-jority of voting rights in another entity or substantially controls another entity. If any entity in the group is a listed company, then con-solidated financial statements must be prepared.

There are certain considerations as to whether consoli-dated financial statements are required, the first con-sideration is if the group parent is a listed company or if the preparation is required by a state institution or for employees’ information. If the above is not the case, then the next consideration is if the company group meets “size criteria”. The re-quirement for the preparation of consolidated financial statements, in this case, is to meet two of the follow-ing three criteria based on the latest annual financial statements:

Even if a company group meets the requirements of the “size criteria”, as indicated above (and it is not list-ed), it is not required to prepare consolidated financial statements if the Romanian parent entity of the group is also a subsidiary entity and its own parent entity is governed by Romanian law or EU member state law and: • Where the parent entity holds all the shares in the exempted entity, or• Where the parent entity holds 90% or more of the shares in the exempted entity and the remaining share-holders in or member of the entity have approved the exemptionA subsidiary does not need to be included in the group consolidation if:• It is not material to provide a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position, results for the period for the consolidated group as a whole• The individual entity:

− Has severe long-term restrictions to hinder opera-tions− Information necessary for the preparation of con-solidated accounts cannot be obtained without dis-proportionate expense or undue delay− The shares of that entity are held exclusively with a view to a subsequent resale

AR7 provides guidance for consolidated financial state-ments in relation to:• Preparation principles• Content of explanatory notes • Report of Administrator(s)• Audit requirements• Approval, execution and publication• Layout of consolidated balance sheet and consoli-dated profit and loss statementThe guidance provided is consistent with the EU 7th Directive.

Turnover(for the period)

EUR million

Total assets(at year end)

EUR million

Average number of employees

for the period

31 Dec. year end

Over 35.04 Over 17.52 250

MoF Order 3055/2009 provides that where an entity is preparing IFRS financial statements (see comment be-low), then its consolidated financial statements can be on the same basis and it does not need to prepare MoF Order 3055/2009 consolidated financial statements.

The timing for submission of consolidated financial statements is by 31 August following the reporting year end (Law 259/2007). The consolidated financial statements are to be audited by a financial auditor and there should be an accompanying Administrators’ Re-port and are to be approved by a General Assembly of Shareholders and published in accordance with legisla-tion in force.

IFRS application in Romania

MoF Order 907/2005 provides that credit institutions have to prepare an additional set of financial state-ments prepared in accordance with IFRS for the year ending 31 December 2006, while “public interest” en-tities are allowed to prepare an additional set of IFRS financial statements.“Public interest” entities are defined as being:• Lending institutions• Insurance / re-insurance brokers• Entities trading securities on a regulated market• Listed companies• National companies• Entities part of a group for which the parent com-pany prepares consolidated financials statements in ac-cordance with IFRS• Entities financed by loans not reimbursable or loans guaranteed by the state

MoF Order 1121/2006 provides further guidance on the completion of financial statements in accordance with IFRS for the years ended 31 December 2007 and onwards. MoF Order 1121/2006 requires that in ad-dition to credit institutions, listed companies that are required to prepare consolidated financial statements should do so in accordance with IFRS for the year end-ed 31 December 2007 and for subsequent years. There is not a requirement to have IFRS financial statements for non-consolidated listed entities, except for entities in specific regulated sectors (such as financial institu-tions).

Individual entities, whether preparing IFRS financial statements or not, is required to prepare and submit to the AGM and to the relevant Romanian authorities an annual set of financial statement prepared in accor-dance with MoF Order 3055/2009.

Banks and insurance companies

Over recent years, there have been changes in financial reporting for banks and insurance companies to bring Romanian requirements in line with European Union directives and International Financial Reporting Stan-dards for banks.As indicated above, MoF Order 905/2005 requires compliance with IFRS for banks and insurance entities for the financial year 2007 and subsequent years. For statutory purposes, lending institutions are required to follow the regulations included in NBR Order 5/2005 which harmonizes the accounting regulations applying to lending institutions with those included in European Directives.Requirements for insurance / re-insurance brokers re-porting to CSA are covered under CSA regulations, which include CSA Order 7/2007.

Considerations for investors and users of financial reporting information

Historically, Romanian accounting records have been heavily influenced by the use of information for tax compliance purposes. The primary function of financial/accounting details collection and recording process has been seen by many Romanian entities and management/staff within the entities (both State and private) as being for taxa-tion compliance and taxation reporting purposes. As a result of this, the reported information has tended to reflect a “form over substance” disclosure, that is, greater importance is placed on having particular docu-ments or recording something in a specific way, rather than in “accurately” reflecting the financial position of the enterprise at a point in time or indicating whether the results for the period are an appropriate represen-tation of what has occurred.

Audit requirements

All entities meeting the size criteria requirements and public interest entities are required to have a financial audit. Entities preparing simplified financial statements do not require a financial audit, unless required by oth-er legislation (such as Company Law). The financial auditor issues a report, which as indicated in the Company Law is addressed to the shareholders (or equivalent) at the Annual General Meeting of Share-holders. Matters to be included in the Report of the fi-nancial auditor are indicated in MoF Order 3055/2009, as well as in the Romanian national auditing standards and Company Law.Law 278/2008 (7 November 2008) approved Emergen-cy Order 90/2008 (EO 90/2008). Law 278/2008 enacts in Romanian legislation the European Union 8th Direc-tive requirements for the conduct of statutory audits


and for the operation of a public oversight body for the statutory audit function. Aspects of the operation of Law 278/2008 are subject to issuance of further regulations. Under Law 278/2008 the Romanian Chamber of Au-ditors continues as the body responsible for establish auditing standards in Romania and to monitor the profession in relation to membership and qualifi cation standards, including establishment of examinations and membership criteria, ongoing training programs, ethical standards and quality review procedures. Under Law 278/2008 the Romanian Chamber of Auditors re-ports to and is under the authority of a public oversight body.Law 278/2008 includes a requirement that Internation-al Standards on Auditing, as translated into Romanian, will be the Romanian national auditing standards and includes additional requirements for public interest en-tities and the statutory audit of public interest entities.

Regulated industries

If applicable, the report of the independent fi nancial auditor is also issued to the regulatory bodies such as CNVM (Securities Commission), CSA (Insurance Indus-try), BNR (National Bank of Romania) and CSSPP (Pen-sion Funds) with the annual fi nancial statements.

Appendix

The main areas where MoF 3055/2009 (that has effect from 1 January 2010) has included additional com-ments and/or clarifi cations to those in MoF 1752/2005 are the following:

1. Extended application scope:• Subunits devoid of legal personality, with the regis-tered address in Romania, that belong to legal entities with Romanian head offi ce or domicile• Joint ventures between foreign legal entities, regis-tered in Romania, as well as joint ventures between a Romanian legal entity and a nonresident legal entity

2. Amendments regarding the accounting concepts:• Additional details for the recognition of assets (prob-ability of future economic benefi ts) and liabilities (prob-ability of future outfl ows of resources)• Defi nition of future economic benefi ts• Defi nition of revenues and expenses• Listing of users of the annual fi nancial statements• Details of qualitative characteristics of the annual fi -nancial statements

3. Amendments regarding the accounting principles:• In relation with the accrual basis of accounting prin-ciple, there is reference to the matching principle of revenues and expenses resulting at the same time from

the same transaction• The norms add clarifi cations regarding the applica-bility of the going concern principle, the permanence of methods, the prudence principle, the intangibility of opening balance and the offsetting principle; Clarifi -cations regarding changes in accounting policies: pro-spective application, starting with the new fi nancial year after the decision has been taken• The substance over form principle and the materiality principle shall be applied by all entities, regardless of their size (previously, they were applied only by enti-ties which prepared fi nancial statements with 5 com-ponents)

4. Modifi cations regarding accounting treatments:• Commercial discounts: the commercial discounts granted by the supplier, mentioned on the acquisition invoice, adjust the acquisition cost. On the other hand, the commercial discounts received after the acquisition invoice, are recorded in the accounting books sepa-rately, in revenues or expenses accounts, regardless of the period to which the discounts relate (new accounts introduced 609/709).• Transaction costs treatment: capitalization allowed for short term securities that are not listed on a regu-lated market, as well as in the acquisition cost of the long term securities (for short term securities listed, not allowed).

5. Clarifi cations/ completions regarding the accounting treatments:• Borrowing costs: allowed capitalization for interest and commissions related to loans• Intangible assets:

− Research and development costs: additional clari-fi cations− Expenses with exploration and evaluation of the mineral resources− Distinction between tangible and intangible ele-ment of an assets− Goodwill recognized in the standalone fi nancial statements− Customers lists- not recognized as an intangible− Public-private agreements for concession of ser-vices

• Leasing transactions: further details and explanatory notes• Tangible assets:

− Costs directly attributable to the construction of a tangible asset− Treatment of demolition costs− Treatment of tangible assets suspended from use− Extension of the useful life of a fi xed asset− Impairment of fi xed assets− Change in destination of the fi xed assets (from FA to inventories)− Presentation in the income statement of gain or

losses resulted from sales of fi xed assets • Financial instruments: new developments are added in case of accounting treatment of derivates and trans-actions with derivates (spot, swap and forward, option transactions)• Transactions with certifi cates for emission of green-house gases• Provisions:

− Retirement benefi ts provisions: additional clarifi ca-tion included− The time-value of money when recognizing a provi-sion

• Bonuses representing the participation of employees to profi t• Share based payments granted to employees• Customer loyalty points: recognized as a provision and not reducing the revenues• Revaluation of cash/ receivable and payable denomi-

nated in foreign currencies at each month end

• Receivables and payables from penalties: recognized on a accrual basis• Correction of errors: the immaterial errors related to previous fi nancial periods can be corrected through the profi t and loss account• Financial discounts: recorded in the period when are received/ granted, regardless of the period they relate to• Incoterm rules are to be applied in determining trans-fer of ownership for inventories and for fi xed assets• Additional disclosures requirements to the notes to the fi nancial statements• Clarifi cation for the components of fi nancial state-ments required for the newly established entities• Changes to the General Chart of Accounts: some new account introduced or a change in the existing ones

Camelia HorlaciCountry Managing Partner Advisory [email protected]


Garry CollinsPartner, Assurance [email protected]

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Tirgu Mures Television

Acum se intampla, acum ai aflat!( You find out when it happens!). You are the first to know and we are proud that you heard it from us! Simple, impartial and straight forward! As you like it!

Tirgu Mures Television. News. Information. Events. Here, each moment is lived to the fullest!

Tirgu Mures Television has first reached its audience in January 2006. 4 years later up to 90% of Mures county stays connected to their surrounding realities through us. Our professionals analyze pieces of information and events foreseeing the changes and impact they will have in the com-munity you live in. every week people that have the power to decide are brought in front of the audience to have an open dialog and identify solutions.

From the economic to the social field, from politics to public administration, from culture to health, we cover them all, our programs cover them all.

Our viewer is our primary concern ! We are responsible towards our audience, we are responsible towards our community. We know that television has the power both to identify and legitimize value and truth, and to destroy them. Therefore we choose and verify with outmost responsibility the events that become news and the news that become events.

This is another reason why Tirgu Mures Television has become the most credible media source in Mures county.

When we talk about being informed, Tirgu Mures Television is the best choice one can make, either as a viewer or as a publicity client. Departments like marketing, PR , online and production give our customers targeted services that have proven their efficiency.

Through our social and humanitarian campaigns we try to fulfill our duty as an important player in our local community.

None the less Tirgu Mures Television is recognized as being a journalism school. Many of today’s

professional reporters and TV specialists have started their careers here and this makes us proud.

Today our team is made up of media people recognized for their professionalism and training, many of them earning their title as trendsetters.

Our mission is to satisfy our viewer’s need of just information and to permanently keep him in touch with the community.

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Tirgu Mures Radio Station

Radio Tîrgu-Mureş is a part of the National Broadcasting Company named Radio Romania, with an estimated audience of one million listeners in the whole Transylvania area. It first started to broadcast on the 2nd of March 1958 on 1323 kHz AM (on medium frequency) and since then we have improved our quality of radio programs and sound receiver with other five antenna, two on AM (1197 kHz and 1593 kHz) and three on FM (102.9 FM; 98.4 and 98.9 MHz frequency), the last one being the powerful antenna. We are a regional Romanian broadcasting station located in the center of country and we broadcast shows and events in 3 main languages: Romanian (which is the official language), Hungarian (due to the large Hungarian community that lives here) and German language. At this moment, the RTM programs are well received in 36 cities and 1100 villages in the Transylvanian districts of Mureş, Harghita, Covasna and Braşov. We also have signals of receiving our programs from listeners located in other areas of the country, such as the districts of Bistriţa, Cluj, Alba, Sibiu, Baia Mare, Vâcea and Galaţi and even abroad, from radio amateurs – as you are - coming from Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, Israel, Ukraine and Greece.

Radio Tîrgu-Mureş mainly offers the following services:

• Producing of radio programs

• Broadcasting

• Musical recordings

• Advertising

If you would like to find more information about our radio station

please visit our web page at www.radiomures.ro.

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Nova Vita Medical CenterLiviu Rebreanu str. 29/A, Tîrgu-Mureș, RomâniaTel.: +40 (0) 0265-260.460, +40 (0) [email protected]

www.nova-vita.ro

Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior medical services in a multitude of specialties.

Located in the heart of Tîrgu Mureș, Nova Vita Medical Center welcomes you with a team of experienced specialists, whose skill and dedication, combined with the use of the latest advancements in medical technology, assure the highest quality medical services.

Plastic SurgeryNova Vita Medical Center offers the services of specialist cosmetic surgeons with extensive experience in the fields of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, providing outstanding results at affordable prices.

Medical and Sports RehabilitationThe Medical and Sports Rehabilitation Center at Nova Vita is one of the most well equipped rehabilitation centers in the country, providing a complete range of rehabilitation services to patients and athletes.

Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior Nova Vita Medical Center is one of the largest private hospitals in Romania, offering superior

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Date post:	08-May-2015
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