The amendment to the legislation on direct investment is expected to be finalized within a few weeks, whether it takes the form of an emergency ordinance or is included in the Government’s third responsibility-assumption package. The objective is to simplify procedures related to the screening of foreign investments, said on Monday the President of the Competition Council, Bogdan Chirițoiu.

“We have launched amendments to the legislation on direct investments. We have been discussing them for several months. I hope we will have them ready soon — whether through an ordinance or through the responsibility-assumption package, I don’t know — but I hope that within a few weeks they will be finalized and will simplify the process. The goal is to simplify procedures related to the control of direct investments. Our main issue comes especially from new investments, not from company takeovers, which are fewer and where people are used to waiting one or two months,” Chirițoiu said at a press conference.

According to him, while it is expected that approvals may take time when acquiring a company, a minimum two-month waiting period to obtain approval when purchasing an asset is too long.

“The problem comes from new investments — when you buy an asset. Company takeovers are clear: one company buys another company, and this is an area where people know they have to wait a bit. We usually grant approval in one to two months, and the foreign investment screening process takes around two and a half months, so the timelines are similar. But companies are not used to waiting two months when they want to buy land, carry out an internal reorganization, or make a specific investment, such as purchasing equipment. So, we need to find a solution here, since these situations are much more frequent. Buying a company happens less often. I don’t have the statistics for 2025, but in 2024 there were 600 operations, of which 100 were company acquisitions and the rest were these new investments. These are far more numerous, and companies are understandably annoyed that they have to wait two months just to get approval to buy land or equipment. We need to find a solution to check these more quickly, if possible, although there is a limit to how much we can shorten the timelines (…), and I think it is more important not to analyze them so extensively,” the head of the competition authority explained.

Source: Agerpres