donderdag 12 december 2013

Organic agriculture in Romania to benefit from over 200 million euros EU funds in next years

Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, November 4 -
10, 2013, No. 45
Organic agriculture in the next seven years will benefit by over 200 million euros from European funds and the Government considers adopting some fiscal measures meant to stimulate this sector, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Daniel Constantin told Agerpres on November 7. “Organic agriculture has developed very much and much produce of this sector was exported. I think we can create a country brand by promoting bio produce and we can also certify the quality of the other Romanian produce. The allocation for organic agriculture in the new PNDR [national programme for rural development] is 200 million euros, compared to the current programme where the sums of money were much lower. I am sure that in the time to come the support for organic agriculture will not stop here and the Government will also take fiscal measures meant to stimulate organic agriculture,” said Constantin. Premier Victor Ponta said on November 6, at the beginning of the Government meeting, that he considered cutting VAT in 2014 for other categories of products, such as the bio ones. The Bio-Romania Association has recently requested the Romanian authorities to remove VAT for basic foods which are bio certified, such as meat, milk, eggs, bread, vegetables and fruit. The State Budget would not be affected as no tax evasion is possible in the organic agriculture system and the produce can have prices almost similar to the ones coming from conventional agriculture by means of a correct processing and distribution in the shops of Romania.

Romania has a huge potential in organic agriculture, with an area of 450,000 hectares certified for production and another 250,000 hectares with meadows and a number of 26,000 registered operators at the end of 2012. Romania exports 80 percent of its production, especially raw materials and very little processed produce. 

Business centers and office in Romania

Business centers


We have several business centers at your disposal. We own, rent or do the exploitation of the business centers that we have in our portfolio. If needed we will look for a tailor made solution for your specific business. We offer all that you need in order to conduct your business in a modern, pleasant and  productive environment open offices or classical offices.
We combine the business centers with incubation services. Our business incubators serve as a launching platform for young and small businesses. Start-ups, which are dynamic entities need support and our incubators are providing this support. We build your business on a tailor made time frame with little or a lot of involvement from our expert teams. If required we will do the entire start-up phase for you and then teach you how to  run the business and keep supporting you in the next phases of your growth cycle.Our business incubation provide SMEs and start-ups with the “nurturing” environment needed to develop and grow their businesses. We offer everything from virtual support, rent-a-desk, secretary support through “plug & play” tailor build companies ( e.g. transport companies with trucks, drivers and a transport license) and everything in between for different sectors.
We offer hands on intensive business support, access to finance and experts and to other entrepreneurs and suppliers to really make your businesses and company grow.

Why should you have your office in our business and incubation centers ?

·         All offices are equipped with wifi  internet, central television and central fax .
·         The office spaces are fully equipped and ready to use.
·         You do no need any capital investments.
·         We offer competitive ‘rental' rates, which assist with minimizing costs so that you can focus more on developing your business rather than worrying about paying the next big bill.
·         Our business incubator center is uniquely positioned to offer a broad range of business assistance: on-site, business support, mentoring and training.
·         The executive director, program managers, support staff and other consultants provide ongoing assistance to incubator.
·         Secretary services with experience in start-ups and your sectorial business.
·         Instant peer support and networking opportunities with other small business owners and managers.
·         Shared administration facilities and meeting rooms & training rooms.
·         Start-up with well-defined deliverables in the time frame that we agree with our clients.
·         Facilitation for your recruitment: we recruit the personal and experts needed for a quick start
·         The experts in our business incubator handle the local government and license and permit issues. You can relax. We will accelerate and facilitate the time consuming files and we always get what you need.

·         And last but no least we provide with a secure environment in offices were the employees can enjoy the working day.

Investment in Romanian Agriculture - investeren in landbouw in Roemenie

Investment in Romanian agriculture
By ir. Freddy M.E. Jacobs, president  Belgian Romanian Real Estate Chamber, 19 November 2013, Belgium

Agriculture in Romania
The surface of 15 million hectares held by Romania is the largest useful agricultural surface in Europe.  Around  30% of¨the population works in agriculture - in Western countries the average is 3-5%. Productivity is poor: current earnings per hectare are the weakest in Eastern Europe. This is due to a bad surface distribution: some landowners have the largest surfaces; most farmers have only small surfaces.
Romania ranks 11th in the world among farmers and 6th among agricultural exporters. However, 75% of its exports are intended for other EU countries.
Romania is one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural products, particularly wheat and other cereals. Romania is a major exporter of agricultural products in the U.S., but also in Europe and East Asia. As happened with other people, the percentage of population and GDP employed in agriculture has been on the rise dramatically in the 20th century.
Almost half of Romania, around 20 million people live at the country, and one third of the manpower obtains earnings in agriculture. For comparison: in Germany the figure is 3%. According to official data, unemployment in Romania is situated at the figure of 6%. It is to be taken into account the fact that hidden unemployment is much higher, because many workers at the country are not registered and individual insurance is high.
Romania has 15 million hectares and only 30% are used at this moment. Romania is currently supporting the restructuring of its agricultural industry towards a market economy. Only small changes in land use are expected. Self-sufficiency in cereals is expected to increase, consolidating their net export position. In the livestock sector, poultry and pig numbers are expected to recover somewhat, production being boosted by an increasing domestic demand and the availability of cereals on the domestic market. Overall agricultural self-sufficiency will slightly increase and the agriculture and food trade balance will turn positive.
How To Acquire Large Surfaces Of Agricultural Land In Romania ?
1/ Through a process called "comas are (merging)" in Romanian. It signifies the re- groupement (or consolidation) of many small plots of land into one larger surfaces.
2/ By purchase of land already consolidated. Real offers are rare, and more expensive when they exist. On the other hand, these properties can be purchased within a very short time frame (if and when real offers exist).
Efforts to regroup the purchased plots into larger surfaces are carried out on a continual basis right from the beginning and we start with plots that are already bought to gain time and money (30% savings on operations !).  When the agricultural land in Romania is consolidated, the value of your farmland will have instantly increased by 50%.
3) “Arenda = renting “ farmland for 5-15 year period
4) Buying a “concession” for maximum 49 years – asset deal
How can we invest in agriculture in Romania and what will be our profit ?
The prices of wheat keeps growing on a global scale in a global market. The cost for operations keeps growing in agriculture in the Benelux and Germany. So if we can produce at a low cost by delocalization to Romania we will gain a lot of money and substantially increase our profit margin.
If we can combine the investment with an investment in agricultural land in Romania that will double or triple in price we have a good investment with a high yield.
In western Europe, acquiring any surface of farmland can be an administrative hassle (to say the least), more expensive, and large surfaces can be difficult to find.
Romanian agricultural legislation is more flexible. European subventions are another reason: 50%-70% of the investments made on equipment, buildings, or modernization of an agricultural operation is paid by European funds and a subvention of more then 130€ per hectare per year (for cereals, different amounts for different types of crops).
Over 60% of Romania’s agricultural land is operated by small, individual farmers with an average farm size of less than three hectares. This land is highly fragmented (consisting mainly of strip farms which have been ‘restituted’ to the original owners following the demise of the state farms) and it cannot be farmed efficiently. The consolidation of fragmented plots will allow increased returns due to economies of scale and use of modern agricultural techniques. This will increase land value and attract demand from large farmers, agricultural companies and investment funds.
In Romania, land prices differ strongly between regions. In the North-East and South-East regions the average agricultural land sale prices are of approximately Euro 1,500-1,600 per hectare while in other counties which are located near Bucharest, average land prices are of approximately Euro 2,200 – 2,700 per hectare.
Investment in agriculture is experiencing noted growth due to improved profitability projections, despite the prevailing view that agriculture is risky. Some investors are at the same time searching for alternative investment opportunities to diversify investments from traditional asset classes, which has led to an increased interest in the agricultural sector.  Investors are expecting to increasingly benefit from investments in the agricultural sector in the medium and long term since demand for food and other agricultural products is expected to continue to increase.
Particularly high population growth and longer life expectancies, as well as increases of the purchasing power of the population in some emerging economies and bio-energy consumption will contribute to this increasing demand.
According to the IMF, between March 2007 and March 2008, global food prices increased by an average of 43%. During this period the U.S. Department of Agriculture figures also show that the price of wheat, soybean, corn, and rice increased by 146%, 71%, 41%, and 29% respectively. National governments in countries with limited agricultural resources and investors seeking to expand in a rapidly growing asset catalysed into accelerating their investment plans. Since the 2008 global food crisis, Romanian agriculture has increasingly become a central stage for international investors, farmers and sovereign funds.
The agricultural sector has increasingly attracted the attention of international investors. A key factor behind this trend is the long-term upwards trend of food prices during the last decade, fuelling higher return expectations of investors.
Black-coloured soil also known as “chernozem” is very fertile and produces a high agricultural yield. It contains high concentrations of humus phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia. There is a high carbon content in the top 30cm of soil which provides better water retention, whilst generally a high water table, a significant cost advantage in farming.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the increase in demand for agricultural products and consequently an opportunity and incentive for investors to enter the sector:
  • The increasing demand for food commodities can partly be seen as a consequence of population growth and longer life expectancies. The global population is expected to increase from the current 6.8 billion to more than 9 billion by 2050, with much of the growth expected in developing countries.
  • In addition, increases of the purchasing power of the population in some emerging economies have led to further increases in food demand and changes in consumption patterns. The increasing demand for high protein food will furthermore increase the demand for animal feed.
  • A third factor that contributed to a 2008 food crisis and that will further affect demand for agricultural commodities is the increased global demand for renewable energy sources, including biofuels. Demand for new energy sources is expected to increase dramatically in the next years, requiring an increase in growing food crops for this purpose. In this respect, producers of biofuels and traditional agricultural products will compete for scarce arable land, which also impacts other sectors such as forestry.

    In addition, the following factors are expected to contribute to a disruption on the supply side:
    • Resources required for agricultural production such as land and water are scarce and cannot be substituted. With rising demand for agricultural products, resource scarcity will impact price levels and the supply side.
    • A major factor that is expected to contribute to a decline of arable land is the growing urbanization in developing countries, which has led to rural-urban migration, and hence, a shift of employment to the non-farm sector.
    • Factors such as global warming are expected to contribute to environmental degradation (e.g. through droughts and floods), which will have an impact on the availability and quality of arable land, thereby increasing relative demand as supply decreases.

      Another reason for the gap between supply and demand is that investments in the agricultural sector have been insufficient in the last years. This is especially the case for long-term investments for infrastructure such as roads, irrigation, storage centers, packing and shipping facilities, which are pressing needs.
      Against the background of increasing food demand and the scarcity of farmland, land values are expected to rise, which is giving way to speculation. During the period 2000-2008, for example, the prices for farmland in Romania increased by approximately 300%. Farmland is emerging as an asset class, and recently, investments in land have particularly attracted the interest of investors. The consolidation of small plots into larger ones with the aim of increased productivity and efficiency has become an investment opportunity for agribusiness investors. Recent trends also include an increased participation of investors in agricultural schemes, including investments in input, equipment and storage facilities, investing horizontally along the value chain.
      Another motivation for investors, especially governmental investors, is the fact that the increases in global food demand and price increases have endangered food security. These factors have, for example, attracted the attention of wealthy countries dependent on food imports due a lack of arable land and water, such as the Gulf Arab States, which have started to invest in agriculture abroad to ensure food security for their countries in the future. In addition, countries that have a growing population concerned with longer-term food security, such as India, China and Republic of Korea, have started to tap opportunities to produce food abroad.
      Overall, the impact of the recent food crisis and the international global financial crisis has changed the perspective of investors regarding investments in the agricultural sector. On the one hand, food prices peaked in 2007 and 2008, attracting the attention of a growing number of private investors. On the other hand, private investors in particular became increasingly conservative in their investment strategy and more hesitant to invest in high-risk assets, given the latest volatility in emerging markets caused by recent turmoil that has hit financial markets on a global scale.
      Geographically, Romania is well situation with export routes via the Black Sea and has major trade links with Europe and Asia. Romania holds approximately 8% of the utilized agriculture area in the EU between Member States. Romania’s diverse farming climatic zones means there is incredible potential in the area for increasing yields and production. Yields are currently lower than in many other countries in Europe and fertilizer use is also lower. Also local agricultural companies are still poorly equipped so advances are likely to have an impact on production.
      The Romania’s climate is characterized by a long summer and fewer frosts in springtime, making is suitable for a wide range of feed and energy crops.
      The cost of investment in Romania’s farmlands is amongst the lowest in Europe while it provides a high return potential given the high soil fertility and unrealized agri-ecological potential of Romania’s soils.
      Land in Romania is substantially undervalued when compared to the other countries that recently joined the EU and even more so when compared with the older members. Price convergence towards parity with regional EU member states is expected as the agriculture sector develops.
      With an ageing and diminishing farming community living at subsistence levels on small farms, the potential for yield increase through capital investment, modern farming technologies and economies of scale is significant. The 2010 wheat crop in Romania yielded 2.8 tonnes per hectare, whilst the Belgians yielded 7.7 tonnes per hectare, a significant gap. Foreign investment, new technology and modern management practice, are the key to this potential. With modern farming techniques and irrigation the yield can be double.
      As an EU member state, Romania started receiving subsidies for agriculture in 2007. The amounts received have gradually increased, with the  level for 2012 at €130 per hectare. This compares with approximately €219 as the EU average and it is expected to increase towards parity with regional EU members by 2014.
      Romania is well positioned geographically to provide good waterways transportation, via the Danube, to its most important trading partner, the European Union. Access to agricultural importers in the Middle East via the Black Sea is also a significant advantage. Proximity to the former Soviet bloc is another advantage for agribusinesses and investment funds seeking to expand operations in this Black Earth, area of fertile soil.
      As an EU member Romania offers investors the stability, security and predictability of a common legal and administrative framework. Increasingly the opportunities and responsibilities conferred by the Common Agricultural Policy are laying the foundations for a thriving agriculture in Romania, which, if fully and efficiently developed, could provide food for eighty million people.
      The year 2007, when Romania joined the European Union, marked the beginning of a new era in the agricultural and rural development economics of the country. Romania had to adjust rapidly to the  agricultural economics in order to join the European Union internal market and to adopt entirely the Common Agricultural Policy.
      The European model of agriculture is based on a competitive, market-oriented sector, which at the same time meets the requirements of other public functions, such as protecting the environment, providing more convenient residential estates to the people from the rural areas as well as the agriculture integration in the environment and forestry.
      The Common Agricultural Policy moves its focus from the direct subsidies in agriculture to the integrated development of rural economy and to the environment protection. Romanian rural economy mainly dominated by agriculture, is still insufficient integrated into the market economy. The Romanian manufacturer should act in accordance with the existing economic reality on the world and national level, to apply the technical and economic methods which should provide stability and economic efficiency. The manufacturer has to produce in accordance with what is required on the domestic and international market and to respond promptly to the consumer needs.
      Due to its favorable geographical conditions, climate, fertile soils, besides the qualified work force, the rural population’s dedication to land and animals, an appropriate institutional administrative  system, can turn Romania’s agriculture into an attractive and profitable domain.
      Romania is currently one of the most dynamic markets in Europe for the development of green energy, primarily wind farms and bio mass, with CEZ, EON, GE amongst the companies developing wind farms. There are opportunities to increase the returns and diversify the risks by creating synergies between agricultural and green energy projects
      More info: frjacobs@telenet.be

      New subisdies for 2014-2020 for romanian agriculture

      Agerpres - ROMANIAN ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS, November 4 -
      10, 2013, No. 45
      The fruit-tree growing sector will benefit of more than 200 million euros via the National Programme for Rural Development (PNDR) 2012-2020, the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Daniel Constantin, said at the recently held INDAGRA fair. ‘The fruit-growing sector, which is very important to us, will receive important funds to be worth more than 200 million euros over 2014-2020. We are discussing right now about the measures that we need to implement and I can tell you with certainty that there won’t be 24 measures anymore, but only 13 measures that we want to apply under the PNDR, with emphasis on young farmers, organic agriculture, modernization of the Romanian villages and also on what will be the new element related to risk management in agriculture’, Daniel Constantin said. While participating at the INDAGRA fair together with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Agriculture specified that Romania is in the process of drafting the new PNDR, hoping that it will be able to submit it to the authorities in Brussels as soon as possible. ’We will try to give smaller amounts to the 860,000 farmers who have between 1 and 5 hectares, to stimulate them to associate and produce not just for subsistence, but for the market too. Those who have more than 5 hectares will receive larger amounts’, Daniel Constantin also said. The National Programme for Rural Development is the document based on which Romania has access to the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, while observing the European Union's strategy on rural development.

      Solar projects for sale romania

        

            20131002 Covasna county: 2.9 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Covasna County
      Land: superficies agreement
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 7.6 ha
      Installed power: 2.9 Mw
      Output power: 2900 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      2    20131007 Arges county: 2.2 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Arges County
      Land: sales agreement
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 39.3 ha
      Installed power: 2.2 Mw
      Output power: 2000 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

            20131008 Arges county: 0.99 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Arges County
      Land: superficies agreement
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 5.26 ha
      Installed power: 0.99 Mw
      Output power: 990 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

            20131009 Arges county: 2.2 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Arges County
      Land: sales agreement
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 5.7 ha
      Installed power: 2.2 Mw
      Output power: 1980 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      5    20131010 Arges county: 2.5 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Arges County
      Land: sales agreement
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 4.0 ha
      Installed power: 2.5 Mw
      Output power: 2300 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

            20131125 Arges county: 2.75 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Arges County
      Land: sales agreement
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 5.5 ha
      Installed power: 2.75 Mw
      Output power: 2470 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      More info frjacobs@telenet.be

      vrijdag 8 november 2013

      Solar And Renewable Energy Projects

      We have the belief that energy will be a considerable cost factor in the near future. Companies should start to work on an energy plan as the cost of energy will rise in the coming years. 
      Investors in re-energy on the other hand should act now and prepare for the shift to green energy and autonomous energy production.
      We offer a variety of services in the re-energy domain:
      Sales of ready to build and turn key projects
      We perform quick scans and offer a wide range of ready to build and turn key projects to potential investors. We work directly with the owners of the project. The data can be accessed after that we have made an “nda” and “commission contract”  with the potential investor. We offer access to data rooms for each specific project.
      Audit of projects and due diligence
      With our experienced project managers and lawyers we will do an audit after discussion of the framework of  the audit on ready to build or turn key projects (asset deals).The technical due diligence for renewable energy projects will help you to understand the technical feasibility of your project. You will understand a variety of technical, legal and socio-environmental risks before you commit your valuable time and resources to the project. We will identify technical risks that could compromise your project’s profitability. We will check if all factors have been accounted for in the development process.
      Project management
      ·  Coordinate the process of land acquisition, grid connection, licenses, green certificates and
         permitting (specialized consultancy companies).
      ·  Produce detailed project schedule and identify critical milestones in conjunction with the project.
      ·  Coordinate with the appropriate resources to meet project budget and schedule.
      ·  Contract and manage outside vendor relationships.
      ·  Responsible for completing the project on time, on budget, and to a high level of quality.
      ·  Administer the terms of the contract, approve terms of purchase orders placed and prepare
         applications for payment.
      ·  Serve as principle interface with the customer and on-site vendors/sub-contractors.
      ·  Execute essential paperwork and on-line documentation as needed to ensure accounting has what is
          required for payroll, accounts payable and billing.
      ·  Review construction and commissioning plans with customer to ensure alignment of expectations and
          identify points at which contractual obligations will have been met.
      ·   Deliver as-built documentation and ensure that final customer payment is received.
      ·   Supervise the technical control, grid connection and Start-up of the installation

      Business incubator and office in Romania

      Business Incubators: We Build Your Business

      Our business incubators serve as a launching pad for young and small businesses. Start-ups, which are dynamic entities need support and our incubators are providing this support. We build your business on a tailor made time frame with little or a lot of involvement from our expert teams. If required we will do the entire start-up phase for you and then teach you how to  run the business and keep supporting you in the next phases of your growth cycle.
      Our business incubation provide SMEs and start-ups with the “nurturing” environment needed to develop and grow their businesses. We offer everything from virtual support, rent-a-desk, secretary support through “plug & play” tailor build companies ( e.g. transport companies with trucks, drivers and a transport license) and everything in between for different sectors.
      We offer hands on intensive business support, access to finance and experts and to other entrepreneurs and suppliers to really make your businesses and company grow.
      We provides a nurturing, instructive and supportive environment for entrepreneurs during the critical stages of starting up a new business. The goal of our business incubators is to increase the chance that a start-up will succeed, and shorten the time and reduce the cost of establishing and growing its business.
      What are the benefits of being part of a our business incubator?
      • Minimal start-up costs – we offer competitive ‘rental' rates, which assist with minimising costs so that you can focus more on developing your business rather than worrying about paying the next big bill.
      • Our business incubator center is uniquely poised to offer a broad range of business assistance: on-site, business support, mentoring and training.
      • The executive director, program managers, support staff and other consultants provide ongoing assistance to incubator.
      • Secretary services with experience in start-ups and your sectorial business.
      • Instant peer support and networking opportunities created with other small business owners and managers.
      • Shared administration facilities and meeting rooms & training rooms.
      • Start-up with well-defined deliverables in the time frame that we agree.
      • Shared-use spaces: reception and product display area, conference rooms in each building; training rooms…
      • Central office services : up to 2 or 4 hours per day.
      • Facilitation for your recruitment: we recruit the personal and experts needed for a quick start
      • The experts in our business incubator handle the local government and license and permit issues. You can relax we will accelerate and facilitate the time consuming files and we always get what you need.
      • And last but no least we provide with a secure environment in offices were the employees can enjoy the working day

      more info : frjacobs@telenet.befrjacobs@telenet.be

      Renewable Energy Report Romania Edition October 2013

      Nr. 02/2013 October



      1.      Opportunities and projects renewable energy Romania
      2.      Market intelligence: news on wind energy solar energy in Romania and other renewable energy projects in Romania
      3.      Incubation activities of the chamber for your energy projects
      4.      Projects management activities for your energy projects

      The full report is in anexa 25 pages of market news.

      1.    Opportunities and projects renewable energy Romania
      1.1 Turn key projects:
      We have 3 turn key solar plants for sale in Romania in Constanta county.
      1 PV plant of 4.5 MW*
      1 PV plant of 3.0 MW*
      1 PV plant of 4.8 MW*
      *installed DC
      We are looking for funds or other investors to buy them ( Alt - Energy funds, Energy Funds, Pension Funds, etc...private investors with own equity). They are compliant with the EU and Romanian regulations in place. The solar plants are delivered by an asset deal (sharedeal) in Q4 of 2013 depending on the project execution (ongoing). The are located beside the Romanian Caost line at  he Black Sea. We ask that only serious investors react. We only deal directly with the investors.
      1.2  Ready to build projects:
      Arges County: 2.7 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Arges County
      Land: easement contract
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 5.2 ha
      Installed power: 2.7 Mw
      Output power: 2500 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      Arges county: 0.89 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Arges County
      Land: easement contract
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 14 ha
      Installed power: 0.89 Mw
      Output power: 800 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      Dolj county: 3MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Dolj County
      Land: superficie contract
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 6.5 ha
      Installed power: 3 Mw
      Output power: 2900 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      Gorj county: 2.7 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Gorj County
      Land: superficies contract
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 47.8 ha
      Installed power: 2.7 Mw
      Output power: 2500 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      Covasna county: 2.9 MW
      The project is made for building a photovoltaic park, producing energy and connecting with the National Energy System.
      Location: Covasna County
      Land: superficies agreement
      Type: ground base
      Surface: 7.6 ha
      Installed power: 2.9 Mw
      Output power: 3200 kW
      Stage: fully permitted, ready to construct

      full report at

      http://www.investromania.be/re-energy/renewable-energy-report-romania-edition-october-2013

      zondag 15 september 2013

      Industrial Building Arad For Sale Or Rent

      20130909 Industrial building Arad for sale or rent

      Dimensions:
      Building: 1.228m ² built
      Developed area: 9.380m ²
      TOTAL: 10.680m ²

      Building description: Industrial hall built in the typical Romanian concrete frame and panel construction. Against the right wall of the production hall a "social / sanitary pad" is built, including toilets, showers, changing rooms, canteen and a separate building for the central heating system to gas. This washroom is from the production hall accessed via two doors. The building's interior is a the rear divided by a stone wall in two parts. The front part is a production = 2 / 3 and a rear space (1 / 3). Behind this separation, the new offices (duplex)are built. These offices are built as built in metal construction. Theses built offices are both on the ground and first floor air conditioned. The building was completely renovated inside, ie electricity channels with "buss-able" - this is a quick and easy connection of equipment allows, complete new industrial lighting, new central heating system on gas, new roll crane bridge (2,900 tons capacity).

      Electricity power of 1000 KvA available. The new floor is a polished concrete floor and is very flat and stable. All the walls were painted entirely in white with a band (1.5 m) in the red. The building has an alarm system with video recording. On a part of the undeveloped land (9.380m ²), the LPG installation for central heating system is located. This land can be used as parking, storage space our for construction of a new building.

      Also the new offices were "built in": The ground floor left two large rooms, including a useful as a measuring chamber with air conditioning and the other as a closed warehouse. The right part is used for the maintenance crew and assembly activities.

      The first floor: central entrance hall with reception desk, room useful for printer, copier, storage and separate kitchenette.

      Left of the entrance hall with a very large office with direct view on the production hall. Right of the entrance hall a large room which is now being used as a meeting room. Both large rooms are connect through the kitchenette.

      Dimensions of the building:
      Net width: 17.34 m Highest point: 8.16 m
      Biggest full length: 54.36 m
       Lowest span: 6.63 m
      Get length production: 42m Bottom rail crane: 5.00 m

      The rear room has a depth of 11.50 meters and a width of 6.30 left and right of 18.10 = 24.40 m.

      For a complete file , prices and location mail frjacobs@telenet.befrjacobs@telenet.be

      20130909

      Turn Key Solar Projects In Romania For Sale - Solar Projects Romania

      We have 3 turn key solar plants for sale in Romania. 1 PV plant of 4.5 MW* 1 PV plant of 3.0 MW* 1 PV plant of 4.8 MW* *installed DC We are looking for funds or other investors to buy them ( Alt - Energy funds, Energy Funds, Pension Funds, etc...private investors with own equity). They are compliant with the EU and Romanian regulations in place. The solar plants are delivered by an asset deal (sharedeal) in Q4 of 2013 depending on the project execution (ongoing). The are located beside the Romanian Caost line at he Black Sea. We ask that only serious investors react. We only deal directly with the investors. For more details: frjacobs@telenet.be

      dinsdag 10 september 2013

      Industrial Building Arad For Sale Or Rent

      20130909 Industrial building Arad for sale or rent Dimensions: Building: 1.228m ² built Developed area: 9.380m ² TOTAL: 10.680m ² Building description: Industrial hall built in the typical Romanian concrete frame and panel construction. Against the right wall of the production hall a "social / sanitary pad" is built, including toilets, showers, changing rooms, canteen and a separate building for the central heating system to gas. This washroom is from the production hall accessed via two doors. The building's interior is a the rear divided by a stone wall in two parts. The front part is a production = 2 / 3 and a rear space (1 / 3). Behind this separation, the new offices (duplex)are built. These offices are built as built in metal construction. Theses built offices are both on the ground and first floor air conditioned. The building was completely renovated inside, ie electricity channels with "buss-able" - this is a quick and easy connection of equipment allows, complete new industrial lighting, new central heating system on gas, new roll crane bridge (2,900 tons capacity). Electricity power of 1000 KvA available. The new floor is a polished concrete floor and is very flat and stable. All the walls were painted entirely in white with a band (1.5 m) in the red. The building has an alarm system with video recording. On a part of the undeveloped land (9.380m ²), the LPG installation for central heating system is located. This land can be used as parking, storage space our for construction of a new building. Also the new offices were "built in": The ground floor left two large rooms, including a useful as a measuring chamber with air conditioning and the other as a closed warehouse. The right part is used for the maintenance crew and assembly activities. The first floor: central entrance hall with reception desk, room useful for printer, copier, storage and separate kitchenette. Left of the entrance hall with a very large office with direct view on the production hall. Right of the entrance hall a large room which is now being used as a meeting room. Both large rooms are connect through the kitchenette. Dimensions of the building: Net width: 17.34 m Highest point:8.16 m Biggest full length:54.36 m Lowest span: 6.63 m Get length production: 42 Bottom rail crane: 5.00 m The rear room has a depth of 11.50 meters and a width of 6.30 left and right of 18.10 = 24.40 m. For a complete file , prices and location mail frjacobs@telenet.be

      H.Essers Builds Romanian Distribution Center

      Belgian logistics services provider H.Essers started construction of a distribution center on a 50,000 sq. m land plot near Bucharest on January 14, the company announced. Total investment in construction of the facility is estimated at about EUR 12.5 mln. The project, due to be completed in October, will have an area of 33,000 sq. m, with an option to be extended to 100,000 sq. m. "H. Essers last year bought land in the Bucharest Industrial Park project, initiated by the Ratiu family through Universal Property. At first, H. Essers wants to build a 30,000 sq. m warehouse on 5.0 ha of land. The company has an option to take over another 20 ha. After the first phase, the company will continue with the second phase," Alexandru Hagea, sales manager at the Universal Property, told Mediafax. Universal Property owns approximately 100 ha of land near A1 Bucharest-Pitesti Highway, in the Bolintin Deal area. The company has sold 73 ha of land to several logistics companies since the beginning of 2005.

      New provisions on industrial parks

      Law no. 186/2013 on establishing and functioning of industrial parks (“Law 186”) has been published. Law 186 repeals the previous legislation (i.e. Government Ordinance no. 65/2001) and introduces new provisions, such as: Industrial parks are classified based on the activity performed (greenfield industrial park, agropark, technological, innovative, etc.) and the authorisation method (industrial platform and existing industrial platform). Romanian or foreign private legal entities can be park operators. The previous legislation stipulated that only companies incorporated under Romanian law were qualified to manage industrial parks. Prior to Law 186 entering into force, industrial parks had to have a minimum of 10 hectares of land to be used by or in the property of the association which require the title of industrial park for at least 30 years. Under Law 186, the minimum land area is 5 hectares. The new procedure for granting the title of industrial park and the documents required for the authorisation procedure developed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration are regulated in a detailed and exhaustive manner. Industrial park residents have the capacity of (i) counter-party of the industrial park management for administration and related services agreements, (ii) landlord or tenant of one or more of the buildings within the industrial park, as constituted in accordance with the simplified procedure. Benefits derived from the title of industrial park consist of: a) exemption from fees charged for destination change or for removal from farm-use classification of the industrial park land, b) exemption from land fees related to the industrial park land, c) exemption from building tax on industrial park buildings, d) exemption, only with local public authority approval, from local taxes, e) any other benefits that may be granted by local public authorities in accordance with the law. Unresolved applications for the title of industrial park as at the date of Law 186’s entry into force will be assessed under the old legislation. See: Romanian Official Gazette, Part I, no. 421/11.07.2013

      Over 5.15 billion euros enter national economy from European funds for rural development

      Romania has attracted almost 59 percent from the assigned European funds for rural development, the money actually paid to Romanian beneficiaries until early August exceeding 5.15 billion euros, general manager of the Agency for Payments for Rural Development and Fisheries (APDRP) George Turtoi told Agerpres in an interview. "I can say that, for rural development, we have reached an effective absorption rate of nearly 59 percent, money reimbursed to Romania by the European Commission (EC). In terms of the amount actually paid and entered in the national economy we speak of 5.15 billion euros in early August. However, the system is somewhat hindered because of the recent norms of the Ministry of Finance, by which we can not make two payments per month, but one only, following the introduction of legal deadlines for the account opening, and then we cannot fit in with two applications per month", stressed the APDRP head. Turtoi is optimistic in respects of the target of 1.4 billion euros attracted in 2013, even though the main problems do not come from the structure or the system, but from the financial crisis. "The biggest problem is that there is no differentiation between loans for agriculture and loans for other fields, such as those in real estate. The guarantees are often the same. In all other EU countries there are specialized banks for agriculture, because there are other risks, other prognosis. It is something different from an investment in real estate. I saw a couple of banks here, which came up with some special packages on agriculture, but when talking with the beneficiaries I found out that the collateral required for obtaining a loan is about the same", Turtoi added. As concerns the adjustments applied to Romania for the 5 billion euros attracted from European funds, the APDRP head said that Romania is among the countries with the smallest corrections, the amount going to be deducted from the subsequent amounts to be paid. "The Commission focuses on high values, where there are also the biggest financial risks. (...) I might say that we are among those in the lead, by comparison to other countries in the EU, meaning that we do not have large sums under corrections, as a ratio of the amounts paid, and this was surprising for the Commission, as well", added the general manager of APDRP. Since the start of the National Program for Rural Development - PNDR, in 2008, APDRP managed 142,008 funding applications, worth more than 17.97 billion euros. By early August a number of 88,420 projects were selected to receive non-reimbursable funding, in value of over 6.19 billion euros.

      Wind energy production doubles in first half of 2013

      Energy production in the wind power plants stood at 2.413 billion kWh in the first six months of this year, increasing 1.226 billion kWh from the similar period last year, according to the data released by the National Institute for Statistics (INS) on Aug. 8. The production in thermal power plants accounted for 12.140 billion KWh, declining 26.4 percent. The hydro-power plants generated 15.9 percent more energy, reaching a production of 8.494 billion kWh. At the same time, the nuclear power plant of Cernavoda produced 5.663 billion kWh, by 3.8 percent more. The final electricity consumption in the first quarter of 2013 stood at 24.881 billion kWh, by 7.5 percent lower compared with the first half of last year. In the assessed period, the public lighting registered a 9.1 percent decline and the household consumption was 0.9 percent lower. The primary energy resources dropped 15.2 percent in the first six months of this year and the electricity resources decreased 6.9 percent, the INS data also show.

      Solar park to open on 65-million-euro investment

      A Spanish company is building a solar park covering 135 hectares in the Romanian town of Livada, Satu Mare County, on an investment of 65 million euros. Construction site manager Filip Popescu told Agerpres that the park, to be ready this November, has a capacity of 56 MW, generating electricity for nearly 60,000 households. After the park is commissioned, nearly 145 people will work there full time in panel and land maintenance. "We are interesting in recruiting electricians and engineers, but there will also be people to mow the lawn and keep up the road. We are looking for people everywhere, but we prefer people as close to Livada as possible," said Popescu. He said such and investment is paid off in 12-15 years, depending a lot on sun and legislation. The construction company is part of the Bester Generacion group of companies that is the majority shareholder in the park. Among the shareholders are also Italian and South Korean entities.

      woensdag 1 mei 2013

      The Romanian microenterprise turnover tax: the new rules 3% taxes

      March 2013 was a very busy month for Romanian microenterprises. “Regular” companies switching to “microenterprises” under the new tax rules in force as of 1 February 2013 had to notify the change in their applicable tax regime by the 25th of March and also to submit a corporate income tax return for their profit obtained during the year 2012.
      The microenterprise turnover tax 
      Brought back to life into the Romanian tax legislation in 2011, the microenterprise turnover tax regime was subject to numerous changes over the years, becoming compulsory as of 1 February 2013 for companies meeting the relevant conditions.
      In a nutshell, the regime consisted in the option to pay a 3% tax on (adjusted) turnover, instead of 16% on taxable profits (as a regular company). When however any of the conditions for qualifying as a microenterprise was no longer met, the company became subject to the normal corporate income tax regime, without the possibility of going back to being a microenterprise.
      In order for a company to qualify as a micro-enterprise, the conditions, up to January 2013, were as follows:

      • up to 9 employees;
      • turnover of up to EUR 100,000 at the end of the previous year;
      • share capital held by entities other than the state or the local authorities;
      • activities other than: banking, insurance and re-insurance, activities related to capital markets, gambling, consulting and management (with respect to consulting and management, under the legislation up to 2009, if such activities represented less than 50% of the turnover, the entity could still qualify as a microenterprise, however this was changed in 2011).


      Starting 1 February 2013, new changes are introduced to the microenterprise turnover tax regime summarized above. The most important one is that the regime becomes compulsory for companies which meet the relevant conditions. As regards such conditions, two significant changes are introduced as follows:

      • the turnover threshold is reduced from EUR 100,000 to EUR 65,000;
      • the requirement to have up to 9 employees is eliminated.


      The new rules
      If, during the year, the EUR 65,000 threshold is exceeded, the company will become subject to corporate income tax on its profits from the beginning of the year (but taking into account the microenterprise tax paid), starting with the quarter in which the threshold is exceeded.
      The microenterprise tax remains due quarterly, by the 25th of the month following the quarter for which the tax is calculated.
      Newly set-up companies in Romania are required to apply the microenterprise turnover tax regime starting with their first year of operation, if the share capital condition mentioned above (i.e. private ownership), as declared at the Trade Registry, is fulfilled.
      Aimed at fighting tax evasion, at a practical level, the measure will mean that not only newly-set up companies, but also companies on a tax loss position in previous periods may have to pay microenterprise tax.


      Contact:
      Claudia Firulescu

      KPMG Tax & Legal Advisers
      Bourgetlaan - Avenue du Bourget 40
      1130 Brussel - Bruxelles
      Belgium

      Tel     +32 2 708 36 03
      Fax    +32 2 708 44 44

      efirulescu@kpmg.com
      www.kpmg.be