Professional notice
Romania
With a top-notch list of global clients and involvement in major cases, ŢUCA ZBÂRCEA & ASOCIAṬII’s competition practice sits squarely within the elite category. Raluca Vasilache heads the team, which also includes five associates, including a pair who joined in October 2019 and February 2020. The firm provided legal advice to Vodafone Romania on the competition aspects of its parent company’s €18 billion acquisition of Liberty Global’s operations in several European countries, including Romania. The deal closed in July 2019.
The team advised Liberty Galati – formerly ArcelorMittal Galati – in filing a complaint to the RCC on the alleged abuse of dominance of Deltanav, which the client accused of charging excessive prices as a harbour operator. Generali România tapped Vasilache and her team to defend it against an investigation by the RCC into the aviation insurance market, as well as challenging the resulting sanction. The firm acts for Novartis Pharma in relation to an investigation opened by the RCC into alleged abuse of dominance, following a complaint by distributors. The team is also advising IPSO SRL in an RCC investigation into a potential breach of Romanian and EU competition rules by members of the Romanian Association of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers and Importers regarding the sale of agricultural equipment.
The competition group advises Energy Financing Team before the Bucharest Court of Appeal in challenging an RCC decision sanctioning the largest energy producer in Romania – Hidroelectrica – and its suppliers for entering into long-term power supply agreements. The team also counsels BRD Sogelease in an RCC investigation into the financial leasing market. In addition to the long list of behavioural work, the firm also provides day-to-day competition advice to Carrefour Romania, Coca-Cola HBC Romania and Merck Romania.
Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații is a full-service independent law firm, being currently perceived as one of the largest and best-established in the Romanian legal market. To date, it employs more than 185 cross-disciplinary teams of lawyers, insolvency practitioners, tax consultants, IP counsellors, economists and staff members. It also operates a secondary law office in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and has a “best-friend” agreement with a leading law firm in the Republic of Moldova. In addition, thanks to the firm’s dedicated Foreign Desks, the team is able to provide the full range of services to Chinese investors seeking to gain a foothold or expand their existing operations in Romania. Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații advises local and international companies, prominent financial institutions, public authorities and governmental institutions on virtually all types of legal, tax and similar matters affecting their operations locally.
Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii offers legal advice on the application of full-scale competition law matters including antitrust, domestic and cross-border transactions (mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures etc.), as well as State aid. The firm’s lawyers have successfully advocated for clients’ rights before the national competition authorities. Another focus is on competition compliance, with the firm’s team providing competition audits and tailored competition compliance programs regarding direct and specific application of the competition regulations, as well as consumer protection, as well as risk management strategies to its clients, mainly clients in sectors such as telecommunication, technology, pharmaceutical products, dairy, motor oil distribution, FMCG, retail, electricity & gas.
Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații’s Competition practice group is cooperating closely with the firm’s Dispute Resolution department (comprising a total of 45 lawyers) in relation to litigation involving competition law aspects. The close interaction between the firm’s competition and litigation departments triggered sound successes for its clients in competition litigation cases (e.g. full removal or significant decrease of the amount of fine applied by the competition body, annulment of investigation order issued by the Romanian Competition Council).
The group is extremely active in representing clients on a wide range of competition related matters, especially with regard to a multitude of antitrust, merger control and state aid procedures in front of the Romanian Competition Council, as well as the European Commission. Moreover, the firm’s lawyers are also specialized in the field of competition economics, thus adding value to its clients. Similarly, by forging new business relationships with international law firms, the firm’s Competition team constantly shows it is a well-reputed and trustworthy partner for the international environment.
Contact details:
Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii
4-8 Nicolae Titulescu Ave., America House, West Wing, 8th Floor
Sector 1, 011141
Bucharest, Romania
Phone: +40 21 204 88 90
Fax: +40 21 204 88 99
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.tuca.ro