Romania: Draft law on a loan moratorium

A draft law ordering a moratorium on loans was initiated by members of the Romanian Parliament yesterday. It is very likely that the Government will pass an emergency ordinance on this topic today.

Beneficiaries of the moratorium will be borrowers - natural persons, individual companies, professionals, family businesses, individual enterprises and family and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The obligation to pay instalments, interest and commissions related to loans granted up to the date of entry into force of this law will be subject to the moratorium and will be suspended until 30 September 2020, after which the repayment period will be extended.

Only debtors who are not more than 90 days late in making payments, i.e. principal and/or interest, are eligible.

The extension of the repayment period will start on the date on which the borrower sends an extension request to the creditor.

An SME must cumulatively fulfil the following conditions to qualify for the moratorium:

(a) It is an employer within the provisions of art. XI of Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020 for amending and completing some normative acts, as well as for establishing measures in the field of social protection in the context of the epidemiological situation determined by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

(b) It is not insolvent on the date it requests the extension of the loan repayment period, according to the information available on the website of the National Office of the Trade Register.