Moldovan Parliament passed in the second reading amendments to the Law on Insolvency to prevent the prolongation of bankruptcy procedures
According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization, this law has a direct impact on the business environment, in particular on small and medium-sized enterprises, and the proposed amendments are aimed at solving a number of problems affecting the insolvency process. Thus, the draft law offers solutions to prevent prolongation of insolvency procedures, improve the process of collecting creditors' claims and ensure fair protection of the interests of all parties involved in the process. The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalization with the support of World Bank project experts. The document contains solutions to eliminate the legislative vacuum stated in the decisions of the Constitutional Court and recommendations of the Court of Accounts. In particular, the maximum term for a court decision to initiate insolvency proceedings will be reduced from 20 days to 5 working days. This will be possible if in the statement of claim the debtor declares that it is in a state of insolvency and expresses its intention to liquidate or restructure its activities. Other key amendments to the Insolvency Law include: holding the creditors' meeting online, which means more efficiency and less cost; simplifying the collection of claims for mandatory state social insurance contributions in order to ensure the right of employees to social benefits; more efficient management of insolvent state-owned companies, ensuring their notification and more active involvement of the debtor's representative in the bankruptcy procedure; adjusting the rules regarding property that cannot be subject to bankruptcy proceedings; and improving the rules on the treatment of insolvent state-owned companies. The bill also contains proposals concerning prior official notification of the debtor by the creditor, the administration of insolvency procedures for state or municipal enterprises and commercial companies with full or majority state capital, the establishment of a fixed fee for the authorized administrator, etc. “This initiative is part of our efforts to modernize the legislation and bring it in line with EU standards, which contributes to the creation of a competitive and stable economic structure in line with the requirements of the EU integration process,” Economic Development and Digitalization Minister Dumitru Alaiba said earlier. The chairman of the committee on economy, budget and finance, Radu Marian, said that by the second reading, the document had been supplemented with some provisions. For example, a ceiling of 10 average salaries in the economy was introduced, starting from which insolvency proceedings can be initiated. At the same time, the debtor will have the right to file a preliminary application regardless of the amount of claims. According to the data of the Public Property Agency, there are currently 49 state-owned enterprises/commercial companies in insolvency proceedings, and 14 in liquidation proceedings. //26.12.2024 - InfoMarket.
