Bowing to pressure from the European Commission and International Monetary Fund, the Government pledged last spring to remove obstacles against the opening of large stores, by eliminating the requirements for the approval of competing retail centers and an impact study from the investor seeking authorization. The Government failed to do so by the initial deadline of September 2011, so the IMF and EC gave Romania until the end of January 2012 to lift the restrictions.
In January, the Economy Ministry put forward a draft decision eliminating these requirements; the act would have entered force 30 days after being published in the Official Journal. Shortly after the act was put up for public debate, Emil Boc resigned as prime minister. His successor, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, ordered a major Cabinet reshuffle and the draft decision has still not been adopted by the Government.
Nevertheless, in the latest letter of intent sent to the IMF, dated April, the Government claims this obligation has been fulfilled and that the restrictions were lifted in early February. “We are determined to ease entry to the retail market, in order to maintain a competitive environment, encourage innovation and improve efficiency. To this end, in early February we eliminated unjustified barriers against the opening of large retail centers,” the letter said.
The letter was approved by the IMF board at the end of March and posted on the Fund’s website in April.
A MEDIAFAX inquiry to the Competition Council revealed the draft decision is still being discussed with the Ministry of Justice. “We would like to resolve the main issue through a Government decision, separating the other issues that involve adopting a law,” the competition watchdog replied, without further details on the contents of the letter to the IMF.
Government spokesman Dan Suciu told MEDIAFAX that the draft decision put forward by the Economy Ministry was accepted by the IMF, but that the Romanian authorities later decided that a law comprising several other regulations was in order. He added that the IMF is aware of this issue.
Representatives of retail association AMRCR, whose members include the likes of Cora, Carrefour and Kaufland, told MEDIAFAX they had learned from the Economy Ministry that the initial draft had been withdrawn and a new act would be put forward. “From our exchanges with the ministry, we know they have not begun the legislative procedures for a new bill. The last time we inquired about the bill was last week,” said Delia Nica, the association’s vice-president.