Industrial Parks in Romania

Industrial parks represent a special category of large-scale investments in Romania and their relatively recent emergence on the Romanian industrial field imposed a series of completely new policies which had to be absorbed by a roughly functional market economy. Probably the most attractive aspects related to this topic refer to consistent incentives portfolios which were gradually introduced on either national level or on European one. It became clearly beneficial for investors to financially target this field as it opened a number of highly lucrative opportunities. In the same time, a ubiquitous condition which plays an important part in balancing gains for both sides regards the guarantee which is to be offered by each project initiator to increase the number of jobs. Law progressively identified key issues in establishing an optimal system frequently changing and perfecting various details. Following this pattern, authorities recently added new regulations related to precise requirements imposed for establishing industrial parks, the authorization process for granting the title of industrial park, personal liability of administrators and a list of legal incentives that both administrators and residents of the park will benefit from.

Industrial parks incentives in Romania

According to Law No. 186/2013 regarding the establishment and operation of industrial parks, the latest changes introduced a number of features indicating a series of facilities provided for both administrators and residents of industrial parks. These incentives may be granted by local authorities as well but they are generally delivered as tax exemptions allowed by the state. In this particular case we are talking about exemptions for property tax on buildings, on land and suspension of financial duties occurring when changing land use or when having to convert the land out of agricultural use.

Functioning of industrial parks in Romania

Administrators of these parks are supported in terms of maintaining a set of balanced management policies clearly mentioning the importance of following regulations established by them. Residents of these parks are bound to take into account details concerning organizational strategies and also the selection of residents’ process. The administrator is the one who will receive the title defining the industrial park as issued by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration. For old industrial platforms which went through the process of privatization a different system will apply based on a government decision or specific legislative measures. The order issued by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration clearly establishes the validity of the title for the park.

Through these last changes, the authorities evidently emphasized the principles which are fundamental when establishing industrial parks in Romania. The importance of introducing new job opportunities is crucial. The administrator does not have permission to encourage or initiate any activity that fails to comply with rights and liberties of residents. Park residents should be treated equally and using the same principles-based standards. The founders of the project must file the application in order to be granted the park title. References concerning the nature of the land on which the park will be built impose a number of limitations. Thus the minimum land area must be of at least five hectares and it is also important to have a unitary character (except for those which are crossed by access roads). There must be a solid guarantee concerning the access to European routes, national primary roads or ring roads. The land in question can be administrated by residents, the founders or the administrator himself. As we mentioned before, this field is constantly developing requiring various interventions at legal level. Our law office provides legal advice in order to identify best strategies to be followed in establishing an industrial park. Our lawyers are committed to propose a number of approaches that exercise effective legal regulations constantly offering, to all clients, details concerning the evolution of the project and possible alternatives that might improve perspectives.