Romanian-Chinese Trade will increase with over 5 billion

The Romanian Law Firm Enescu & Cuc is oriented towards foreign investors in the Romania therefore have to mention one of the most important international events in Bucharest in the last year: the Eastern-European - Chinese Summit. During this event  the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said that the amount of investment contracts that Chinese companies will sign with Romania, during his visit to Bucharest, is "huge" and will exceed the initial value estimated by the two parties.

The Chinese Prime Minister said: "Regarding the amount, I want to assure you that is huge. Tonight, the Work Group will discuss the projects and these will exceed the amount that is initially set contracts. I don't want to mention the amount, because I want to be a surprise, "he further added.

The amounts unofficially representing the value of contracts signed during the visit of Chinese Premier in Bucharest is between 5 and 8 billion.

Romania and China on Monday signed cooperation agreements for the establishment of a joint technology park and resumption of cattle breeding and pork to China, and several cooperation documents on energy, including nuclear and thermoelectric.

Romania: Strongest Economical Growth in the EU for 2013

Romania has very attractive macro-economical results for 2013 when compared with other EU States. Romania recorded in the third quarter the strong growth in the EU, at 1.6% , followed by Latvia , 1.2 % , while the euro zone economy slowed to a rate of expansion of only 0.1 % , after it came out in the second quarter from a prolonged recession.The Eurozone economy grew by 0.1% in the third quarter from April to June , but fell by 0.4 % on the corresponding period last year, according to data presented Thursday by Eurostat.EU GDP rose by 0.2 % from the previous quarter , while the annualized growth rate was 0.1 % .In the second quarter , growth was 0.3 % in the EU and the euro area , which came as a prolonged period of recession a year and a half.In addition 1.6% from the second quarter and an expansion rate of 4.1 % on the quarter treiela 2012 , Romania recorded for the third quarter of the strongest growth rates in the EU.

No Restrictions for Foreigners Purchasing Romanian Farmland

Since Enescu & Cuc is a law firm specialized in Real Estate transactions we keep a close watch on the latest developments related to the limitations for foreigners intending to purchase Romanian farmland. The latest news in Romania shows that the state will remove restrictions currently imposed foreigners who want to buy agricultural land after January 1, including the requirement to have experience in agriculture, but keep the provision for pre-emptive right of Romanian citizens, according to a legislative bill .

The government had recently showed its intention to limit to 100 hectares agricultural land that a person can hold, Romanian or from another EU country but maintained the purchase conditions on agricultural knowledge and minimum of five years activity in this sector." And these restrictions have been removed , but maintaining the right of first refusal to purchase the land of individuals co-owners , tenants , neighbors, individuals and young people aged up to 40 who were farming in the locality in which the respective agricultural land ,"said sources in the Ministry of Agriculture agency AFP .The measures are contained in a draft law regulating the sale and purchase of agricultural land by individuals. According to sources quoted , the project will be discussed in the Government meeting on Wednesday.
When you receive an offer from a foreign national , the seller is obliged to go to town hall with a petition seeking notification and display preemptorilor offer for sale of agricultural land. The application shall be accompanied by the offer of sale of agricultural land , which will include , in addition to the asking price for the land , the name seller, address of the place of residence , location of land area , land use category and document.

If you intend to purchase Romanian farmland please contact our law firm for the latest information on this matter.

Opening of Publishing House in Romania

Publishing is a special type of economic activity an in order to start up a company that specializes in these field special regulations established by the law need to be met. 

The first step in order to register a company specialized in publishing activities is registering the company at the Trade Registry. In order to develop this type of economic activity the Articles of Incorporation need to include when defining the object of activity the following NACE CODES depending on the type of publishing activity that the company will have 5811 publishing activities of books, 5812 publishing activities of guides, lists and similar ASRE, 5813 Publishing activities of newspapers, 5814 Publishing activities of journals and periodicals, 5819 Other publishing activities.

One of the most important things that you need to take into consideration when it comes to publishing activities is the fact that books and articles of any kind are the subject of copyright.

According to the Romanian legislation regulating copyright literary and journalistic writings, lectures, sermons, pleadings, addresses and any other written or oral works, scientific works, written or oral, such as communications, education, university courses, textbooks, scientific projects and documentation are subject of copyright. This means that these types of original works can be made public only if the author decides to do so. Also the author is the one to decide the name under which the creation will be made public, or whether the original creation can be altered. The author of the original creation is the one who will be compensated in case his rights are violated.Copyright gives the author financial rights that arise from his/hers original work. So the reproduction, distribution, renting, elaboration of derivative works give financial rights to the author of the original work.

If you’re planning on opening a publishing company in Romania you need to obtain ISBN Codes from the National Library of Romania.ISBN is international code identification for books.

So after registering the company at the Trade Registry you need to register your publishing company at the National Center of ISBN. This National center is organized in the Romanian National Library. The necessary documents for the registration at the National Center of ISBN are the following:

a)      The articles of incorporation of the company;

b)      The certificate from the Trade Registry;

c)       The standardized form that the Romanian Library provides;

d)      The company’s stamp;

e)      The editorial plan.

At registration the new publishing company will receive a total of 10 ISBN codes. The registration of the Publishing Company will take place only in the presence of the director or of the person designated to handle the editorial activity.

Obtaining the ISBN for a book title confers no right of exclusivity for the name and / or title of the book and the publishing company’s name.

To protect the publisher's company name / title of the book is necessary to register them with OSIM (State Office for Inventions and Trademarks).

Another formality that needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that publishing companies need to print the CIP Description provided by the National Library of Romania on every book they publish. In order to obtain the CIP description from the Romanian National Library the Publishing Company needs to submit a standardized application.

The purpose of the CIP Program is to promote Romanian editorial production and provide the necessary information for the selection, acquisition and processing of new editorial to the beneficiaries.

The CIP Program beneficiaries are publishers, bookstores, libraries, book broadcasters, so by doing so all the interested parties have the all the necessary information regarding editorial appearances on the Romanian book market. The CIP standardized application is filled by the publisher for each book title that is on the prepublication faze.

                The main source for obtaining the necessaryinformation in order to fill the standardized CIP application is the title page of the book. The bibliographic data necessary to identify publications are: the author, title, publisher, and place of publication, year of publication, ISBN, genre or topic briefly summarized.

Another imperative obligation for the publishing company is the procurement of literary stamps. The literary stamp is worth 2% of the selling price of a book and is added to that price. The Literary stamp is applied to each copy of books sold by units of any kind, regardless if the book is edited or not in Romania.

The national authority that issues the literary stamps is the Romanian Office for Copyright. In order to obtain literary stamps for different books the publishing company needs to place an order at the Romanian Office for Copyright for the necessary number of literary stamps.

The sums paid by the publishing companies for the literary stamps are used for certain activities established by the law such as: supporting cultural projects of national interest, participation in contests of interpretation and creation in the country and abroad, promoting actions involving Romanians abroad, support and protection of film, theater and music, adding funds to support the work of young creators, performers etc.

Setup of Production, Media, Film, Video/Audio Recording Company in Romania

Setting up a Romanian company specialized in the distribution of recorded media needs to follow a couple of different steps.

The first step is registering your company at the Trade Registry. In order to develop this type of activity the company’s object of activity needs to incorporate the following NACE Codes: 591 Production activities regarding Motion pictures, video and television programs, 5911 Post-production activities regarding Motion Pictures, video and television programs, 5912 Activities of distribution of cinematographic films, video and television programs, 5913 Motion pictures projection, 5914Audio recording and music publishing activities.

One of the most important things that need to be taken into consideration when starting a company in this domain is that these types of productions are protected by the law regulating copyright. According to Romanian legislation original cinematographic productions and musical creations of any kind are subject of copyright. This means that the author of these creations is the one to decide whether the creation can be made public, if the creation can be altered, the name under which the original creation will be made public, and also the author of the original creation is the one who will be compensated in case his rights are violated.

Copyright gives the author financial rights that arise from his/hers original work. So the reproduction, distribution, renting, elaboration of derivative works give financial rights to the author of the original work.

When it comes to the production and distribution of motion pictures there are special regulations to be taken into account.  Any person or legal entity that operates in the industry needs to be registered in a special Register held by the National Centre for Cinematography. Here are some of the documents needed for the registration – for private persons that operate in this industry:

a) Permit of residence issued by the mayor in accordance with the law regulating organization of economic activities by individuals, coded according to NACE codes;

b) Certificate of registration at the Trade Register;

c) Proof of payment of legal fee for registration in the Register of cinema and for the release the certificate of registration;

- For Companies operating in this industry;

a)           Articles of incorporation incorporating the correspondent NACE Codes and any legal documents showing that cinema activities are to be undertaken by the legal entity ;

b)            certificate of registration at the Trade Register and certificates of references;

c)            Proof of  payment of legal fee for registration in the Register of cinema and for the release the certificate of registration;

The legal entities and persons operating in the motion picture industry need to follow the following rule: each film projection which is operated for public sale or rental in Romania is to be classified according to the law prior to its first communication to the public.This is necessary in order to protect the viewing public, especially minors.

 Movies of any kind, recorded on any medium which will be communicated to the public by sale or public projection, rentalin Romania will be classified into the following categories:

a) General audience films, indicated by the marking AG;

b) Films can be viewed by children under 12 years, only with the parents’consent, indicated by the marking AP -12;

c) Moviesthat are not recommended for young people under 15, indicated by the marking N -15;

d)banned  films for minors , indicated by the marking IM-18;

e) Banned movies for minors and public screenings, indicated by the marking IM -18-XXX;

f) Banned films for communication, indicated by the marking IC

The category in which the film is placed by the Motion Picture Classification Commission will be brought to the attention of the general public by a distinctive inscription indicating the category in the appropriate size and format provided by the law, as follows:

a)In the credits the movie for at least 4 seconds, in static form;

b) On the movie poster and theater programs;

c), applying on the cover of thetape, DVD, CD, labels issued by Service of Classification of the Registry of Cinema if they are to commercialized or rented.

d) On the ticket of entrance into the cinema.

When it comes to the distribution of movies and music the provision of the law regulating copyright need to be followed. In order to do so the company that wants to distribute movies and musical products needs to obtain approval from the Romanian Office of Copyright. This governmental organization has the role of regulating, keeping a correct evidence of the persons that are protected by copyright by elaborating  national registries, surveillance, licensing, arbitration in the technical-scientific field of copyright and related rights in Romania.

The Romanian Office of Copyright authorizes different associations ofcollective management of copyright among which the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania, an organization specialized in the protection of the rights of composers and musicologists in Romania.  The Romanian Office of Copyright is the one to establish the fees that need to be paid for the use and distribution of musical products.