Our expertise - Artenie, Secrieru & Partners | Arterie, Secrieru, Doros Tax

CORE BUSINESS

A. Tax and administrative matters

In the context of diversification and further interaction with public authorities, with complex implication in private entities’ life, within the last decades there have been significant efforts to develop a comprehensive and diversified administrative and jurisdictional system aimed at better connecting the private entities with the administration, increasing the efficiency of the administrative bodies and providing protection against possible abuses of the administration.

The need for professional advice in navigating the more and more complex administrative procedures involving the regulated entities and businesses became prominent on every company’s agenda. Tools that may be deployed in a timely manner in view of securing a systematical and fair application and enforcement of the regulations by the rule-makers need to be carefully observed along with the proper administrative and judicial review procedures.

Under these circumstances, we are constantly leveraging our deep subject matter expertise to create customized solutions for clients and to adopt the most effective approach for engaging with the public authorities in order to protect and defend our clients.

As such, we provide:

integrated tax & legal assistance and representation services during all types of audits including general, unannounced, antifraud audits initiated by the Tax Authorities. We also assist and represent clients in audits performed by Environment and Customs Authorities, the Directorate General for Audits within the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Authority for Consumer Protection, the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, European Funds.

legal assistance and representation services in appealing any type of administrative decisions (whether individual or regulatory in nature) seeking a reconsideration of the administration’s position or the annulment of such decisions and the compensations for any prejudice suffered.

legal assistance in day – to – day matters such as tax and legal compliance, mandatory reporting and operational audits and restructuring as well as defend their interests in broad – spectrum litigations for the annulment of administrative or fiscal deeds. We also have a strong focus on public procurement.

B. Corporate and commercial matters

providing day-to-day assistance on business matters, corporate and commercial issues, such as: advising on all legal issues concerning the functioning of a company and carrying on its commercial activity, assisting on specific commercial operations and contracts and corporate matters, as well as coordinating complex transactions involving assets / shares acquisitions, due diligence, financing.

providing tax and legal assistance in complex corporate processes, such as SOP strategy and implementation and business restructuring.

providing dispute resolution services covering complex corporate and commercial matters, including representation in front of the domestic courts and arbitral bodies.

C. Regulatory and environmental matters

providing day-to-day assistance on all issues concerning permits, authorization and any other assistance related to regulatory and environmental matters.

providing integrated tax and legal assistance and representation services during all types of inspection/audits performed by Environment Authorities, the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, Health Authority (Rom. Directia de Sanatate Publica), Fire Safety Authority.

providing legal assistance and representation services during disputes initiated against administrative deeds concluded by the above-mentioned public authorities.

D. State aid and subventions

providing day-to-day assistance on all issues concerning state aids, subventions and other benefits provided by the domestic and EU legislation.

providing assistance and representation services during the contracting and monitoring phase, as well in any audits performed by the relevant authorities in respect of the implementation process.

providing legal assistance and representation services during disputes initiated against administrative deeds concluded by the relevant authorities.

E. Day-to-day matters

All our clients are important. Therefore, we allocate a dedicated team, including allocated Partner to each of our clients. We make sure that our clients are nurtured by professionals with sheer depth and wealth of knowledge regarding their business model and industry specifics – seeking to provide solutions rather than services as to become Trusted Business Advisors.

In this regard, our Partners are acting as members of the board for companies, where designated, for coordinating long term projects. Given the level of seniority of our professionals, we are usually serving our clients in complex teams which allows us to leverage the right resources assigned for the projects. Upon specific needs, we are synergistically combining our capabilities with the most prominent specialists in their areas of interest – such as tax consultants, environmental consultants, business consultants, accountants, EU funds experts, in order to provide the best integrated services. We also team up with experts elaborating complex expertise reports or opinions needed in sustaining our clients’ position in court or during negotiations with their business partners.

We assist our clients both in day – to – day matters such as tax and legal compliance, mandatory reporting and operational audits and restructuring as well as defend their interests in broad – spectrum litigations. We also have a strong focus on public procurement.

PREDOMINANT SECTORS & INDUSTRIES

IN OUR PORTFOLIO

ENERGY AND OIL & GAS

We advise and represent companies in domestic and international disputes occurring within the energy sector.

We represent clients in proceedings concerning almost all forms of energy: oil and gas, wind or solar energy. A substantial portion of our cases relates, on one hand, to taxation matters and, on the other, to price and other contractual adjustments; in this regard, we have experience with diverse energy specific topics and how they are shaped over time by regulatory and other changes. The cause of these commercial disputes often stems from the market liberalization.

HORECA

During Covid-19 crisis, in a climate of huge turmoil for the HoReCa industry at large, generated by the restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the virus, hospitality business sought, more than ever, a refurbishment aimed at satisfying new market demands.

Within a rapidly changing context, we are currently advising our clients in taking the appropriate legal measures to help them weather the storm: accessing and implementing the tax reliefs and state aids made available by the Romanian authorities, managing their working fleet and revamping their operational processes along with their commercial services and products.

CONSTRUCTION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND REAL ESTATE

We provide legal services for some of the leading players in Romania’s key economic sectors with fully – fledged dispute resolution services covering real estate (i.e. actions for recovery of possession, actions over land boundaries, annulment claim of the title of ownership, claims related to the land register procedures), construction and engineering (FIDIC related claims, public procurement disputes, permitting related matters and disputes).

We also represent our clients in arbitral proceedings before national courts. We also assist clients in independent evidentiary proceedings, dispute adjudication board (“DAB”) proceedings, expert determination proceedings and other comparable methods of alternative dispute resolution.

We usually team up with experts when coordinating construction or infrastructure disputes. We understand facts better than anyone, we navigate between multiple areas of expertise and we combine highly technical information until it is easily understandable for courts.

AUTOMOTIVE

Despite automotive industry being a very progressive sector, this is under constant pressure. Businesses in this sector need to respond flexibly to turbulent environment and rapid global changes. Automotive suppliers are currently facing a turning point as the industry is gradually transitioning from mechanical to software-based industry, or better said, from a transportation to a technological focus.

This sector as a whole has some specifics. It includes not only producers, but also suppliers and partially resellers. Production of the final product (automobile) is a complex process, a wide range of components is necessary and thus the automotive industry is closely connected with the other sectors of the economy. Businesses operating in this sector are cooperating and create complex supply chains, which foster the importance of automotive even more.

The ecosystem of automotive industry significantly supports employment, as it provides a huge number of working places and helps to create new jobs. We are currently assisting a significant number of players – ranging from small and medium-sized companies to large corporations – in dealing with their labor and employment related matters.

LOGISTICS AND MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT

With transport contributing around 5% to EU GDP and employing more than 10 million people in Europe, the transport system is critical to European businesses and global supply chains.

Transport has been one of the most affected sector by the COVID-19 pandemic, and many businesses in the sector are currently seeing immense operational and financial difficulties. Lockdowns, travel restrictions, and slowdown in customs clearance caused a significant slowdown during the last period, generating underutilization, lost revenue, or lost market share.

Still, the logistics industry looks set for a promising future where the professionals in this field are currently seeking to implement relatively sophisticated processes and models aimed at enhancing the efficiency of transporting, storing and delivering goods through either B2B, B2C or C2C supply chain networks.

At the same time, the relevant European and domestic authorities are laying down new pieces of legislation aimed at fundamentally transforming this industry and making it more efficient and resilient to any future crises. The EU European Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy set forth an ambitious plan for a 90% cut in emissions (by 2050) delivered by a smart, competitive, safe, accessible and affordable transport system. As such, all transport modes need to become more sustainable, with green alternatives widely available and the right incentives put in place to drive the transition.

For the international transport, specifically, the Mobility Package adopted by the European Comission represents a significant milestone on this track, introducing special posting rules for drivers, amending the provisions on access to the haulage market, and enlarging the specific problematics (i.e. fiscal, labor, regulatory) faced by the professionals. We are currently advising some of the largest national and international players in the railroad, shipping and trucking sectors in dealing with complex administrative, fiscal and commercial matters.

AGRICULTURE & FMCG

Agriculture has traditionally been the backbone of the Romanian economy; more than one-third of the land is devoted to cultivation (including vineyards, orchards, and vegetable gardens). Although, Romania is a top 5 EU agricultural producer, the endemic lack of capital investment, the limited technologies and the property-related lawsuits continue to hinder the agricultural sector.

At the same time, the agriculture industry is under pressure from the increasing global trade in food products and trade liberalization. Developments on global markets increase competition. Additionally, globalization and fluctuations in supply and demand have made agricultural market prices more volatile in recent years, adding to professionals’ concerns.

Under one of the most dynamic legal frame, we provide extensive legal advise to some of the largest domestic and multinational entities active in this field by assisting and representing them during their interactions both with the authorities (e.g. assistance and representation in accessing and defending the income support scheme for farmers) and their contractors (e.g. assistance and representation in connection with their specific commercial disputes).

We are actively participating as legal specialists during the legislative processes in the agriculture field. Our involvement included expert assistance to the Romanian business community through its leading associations, on various legislative initiatives and amendments regarding the public policies for decontamination and the compensation schemes for the livestock producers affected by different animal diseases.

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