CEE Legal Matters
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In contrast to the previous financial crisis, when many construction companies in Slovenia declared bankruptcy, the current pandemic crisis has not affected the infrastructure sector to the same extent as other sectors. In fact, public infrastructure projects in Slovenia are currently on the rise. The focus of the current investment cycle is on the rail and road infrastructure for international and domestic use.
Although Romania’s history with public-private partnerships (PPPs) spans over two decades, the legal framework in force until 2018 did not attract sufficient private partner interest for the development of such projects. As a result, to date, the number of successful PPPs remains rather low.
A key institution enshrined by the Romanian legal provisions governing public procurement, the ascertaining document is issued by contracting authorities upon the finalization of a public contract and indicates whether contractors failed to fulfill their contractual obligations or have fulfilled them in a defective manner.
In Romania, the first legal enactment specifically addressing PPP projects was adopted in early 2002. In the 20 years that followed, four primary pieces of legislation on this topic have been passed, with the declared objective to provide a sound legal basis for the implementation of PPP projects. Nevertheless, each of these successive enactments was adopted not to keep pace with the practical developments in PPP matters, but rather to respond to criticism of the absence of a proper legal basis to structure and implement PPP projects.
A quick look at the CEE Legal Matters Index 2021 reveals a considerable number of public procurement (PP) disputes in the Romanian healthcare sector. We spoke with Popovici Nitu Stoica & Asociatii Partner Ramona Pentilescu, who was involved in challenging several such projects, to learn more about the trend.
Bank guarantees are one of the forms in which economic operators tendering for a public contract may provide, the so-called tender bonds. The new Public Procurement Law, in force since 1 January 2021, has not significantly changed the rules concerning the provision of tender bonds (including bank guarantees) compared to those based on former legislation.
Pohla & Hallmagi has successfully represented Estonian official distributor of Electrolux professional industrial kitchen appliances Farwell Kaubandus before the Estonian Public Procurement Dispute Board.
