On Tuesday, November 14th, 2006, Muşat & Asociaţii, Attorneys-at-Law celebrated 15 years of activity as well as the launch of the legal guide “Doing Business in Romania 2006” in view of Romania joining the EU on January 1st, 2007.
For over 15 years Muşat & Asociaţii has been dedicated to a clientele impressive both in number and reputation: banks and financial institutions, investment funds, multinational companies, public and private local companies, government institutions, regulation agencies. The firm’s client portfolio includes well-known foreign companies such as AT&T, Lucent Technologies, General Motors, General Electric, G.E. Capital, Citigroup, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel Corporation, Harris Corporation, Thyssen Krupp, Alstom, Pfizer Inc., Electrolux, Unilever N.V., Unicredit, Enel, Generali, Raiffeisen Bank, ABN AMRO, as well as Romanian companies, such as Petrom, Posta Romana, Electrica, Romgaz, Atlas Telecom, Banca Comerciala Romana, Eximbank SA, Biroul de Credit, Automobile Dacia S.A. / Renault, SBS Broadcasting Corporation, Liebrecht and Wood, Caterpillar, Central Media Enerprises (CME), L’Oreal, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
With more than 70 attorneys with expertise in all areas of law, including arbitration and commercial litigation, Muşat & Asociaţii have assisted in many successful major transactions, being retained either by the Romanian state, or by various private clients, especially foreign investors. The transactions and projects in which Muşat & Asociaţii have assisted in the last year include Enel acquisition of the distribution companies Electrica Muntenia Sud, Electrica Banat and Dobrogea, CEC privatisation for OTP, various Romanian acquisitions made by Intel Corporation, Group Generali and other international companies, the rescheduling of S.C.Termoelectrica’s debts in the amount of EUR 1 billion, the restructuring of Petrotrans, Rosia Montana project, etc. The firm has also represented the interests of the Romanian state in litigation with Noble Ventures before the Arbitral Court (ICSID) in Washington, as well as in other international arbitration. Muşat & Asociaţii has recently been selected by the Romanian Government as leading legal advisor for the privatisation of Societatea Nationala de Telecomunicatii and for the restructuring of SN Posta Romana in view of privatisation.
At the reception organized on this occasion, Mr. Gheorghe Muşat, Managing Partner of the firm, addressed the firm’s guests: “ My fellow partners and I, together with over 100 young people that form our staff would like to thank you for accepting our invitation to share with us the joy of celebrating the 15 years of activity of Muşat & Asociaţii, Attorneys-at-Law. These 15 years have been wonderful for us, full of success but by no means without difficulty. They have been wonderful because in 1991 we started with a few law school graduates and a secretary and today Muşat & Asociaţii has over 70 lawyers and 40 assistants, all young, enthusiastic and devoted to the profession and most importantly formed here at “Muşat & Asociaţii School”. These years have been full of success because many of the significant projects and transactions in the past years were finalised with our lawyers’ assistance. We pride ourselves with the fact that such projects and transactions have been highly rated by specialist as reference examples of successes in the business environment in Romania.
All these successes have been possible firstly due to our clients, be they Romanian or foreign. Without clients’ trust, loyalty and support no law firm can thrive. We all from Muşat & Asociaţii are grateful to our clients for their trust and for the excellent collaboration we have had to date.
These years have not been without difficulty, however. Firstly because we have also encountered, as lawyers, the difficulties inherent to the transition period, be they as a result of legislative instability, governmental bureaucracy, corruption or judicial inconsistency. Then on a forming legal market in which over 20 foreign law firms operate as well as many prestigious Romanian law firms, nothing is static and successes do not last forever. It is necessary to continually meet the needs of our clients who require innovative services in tune with international standards and practice. Despite these difficulties and the increasing competition, Muşat & Asociaţii has succeeded in maintaining its leading position and remains one of the pillars of business law in Romania. We wish to consolidate this position and to represent a support for local clients, whether private or state-owned, for the Government, be it of left or right orientation, for state institutions and government agencies, for foreign investors.”
On the occasion of this anniversary the guide “Doing Business in Romania” was launched, in view of Romania joining the EU within 45 days. Creating the guide “Doing Business in Romania” is only one of the initiatives that sets Muşat & Asociaţii apart on the Romanian market. The comprehensive view it offers of the Romanian legal framework from the perspective of the business environment makes this guide a valuable and unique instrument in Romania.
Available in English, “Doing Business in Romania” includes an analysis of the Romanian legal framework on fields and areas of interest such as corporate law, energy and natural resources, banking law, competition law, bankruptcy procedure, privatisations, mergers and acquisitions, environment law, intellectual property, maritime law and insurances, fiscal law, capital markets, real estate law, labour law, telecommunications and IT, etc. A team of more than 20 attorneys within Muşat & Asociaţii contributed to the drafting of the new edition of “Doing Business in Romania”.
A great number of businessmen participated at the reception, as well as representatives of public and private companies, politicians, representatives of government institutions and agencies, journalists.