Legal Framework

The Romanian Commodities Exchange (RCE) is a private company, established in 1992 in Romania, in order to provide to the business environment an instrument specific to modern market economies. In time, RCE was involved in both processes of privatization, reorganization and winding-up, and in the business activities of procurement or sale of products, services and works. In fact, such involvement consisted in the natural persons or legal entities’ possibility to buy or sell by means of procedures organized on RCE’s floor. To an equal extent, such procedures may be organized for both private business entities and companies in which the State or a public authority is a shareholder, as well as for institutions, ministries and other public authorities. Since its establishment, RCE became a national exchange leader both in respect of specific exchange activities as well as with regard to the activities concerning the organization of procedures for awarding public procurement and sale contracts for products, services and works. During this period, RCE gathered a rich experience in the organization of public procurements, which is reflected in the constant increase of the trading value. Thus, the trading value increased from USD 534 million in 2004 to USD 587 million in 2005. The legal framework regulating the activity successfully carried out by RCE consists of a set of enactments, as follows:

1. Law no. 357/2005 regarding commodities exchanges, which regulates the modality in which commodities exchanges may be established, organized and operate. Art. 21, para. (5) of the abovementioned enactment stipulates as follows: “If the contracting authorities purchase products, services or works by means of commodities exchanges, the latter shall observe the provisions of current laws regarding public procurements when applying the procedures for awarding public procurement contracts on behalf of such contracting authorities.”
2. Government Resolution no. 925/2006 approving the Norms for the application of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006 on awarding public procurement contracts, works concession contracts and service concession contracts, provides at art. 3, para. (3), the following: “The contracting authority is also entitled to purchase consultancy services according to the provisions of the emergency ordinance, in order to draft the awarding documentation and/or apply the awarding procedure.”;
3. Government Ordinance no. 128/1998, as republished, regulating the modality and conditions to turn to account the goods which were legally confiscated or became, according to law, the private property of the State, provides as follows “art. 9 (1) Turning to account the goods which became the private property of the State shall be carried out by the competent bodies, by means of commodities exchanges [...] by [...] public auction...".

Also, as standard market, RCE makes available for its clients and members, the cash market. The regulation framework thereof consists of: Law no. 357/2005 regarding commodities exchanges, which provides in art. 1 para. (4) letter a) that: “the commodities exchanges established based on this law shall manage the markets of public interest and provide its members and clients with centralized negotiation conditions for operations of: -sales and procurements at sight or on term on the cash market, having as their object fungible and mobile goods, by nature, or fungible and mobile goods, by anticipation, as well as any other goods classified by the commodities exchange as tradable.” Such provision is supplemented by the provisions of GEO no. 34/2006, as approved by Law no. 337/2006, respectively article 122, letter f) and article 252 letter f), as follows: “The contracting authority is entitled to apply the negotiation provision without previously publishing a contract notice, only in the following cases: f) when the products are listed at the commodities exchange, and their procurement is performed by means of operations on the cash market." In addition to the foregoing, there is also: Government Resolution no. 54/1993, Government Emergency Ordinance no. 88/1997 as subsequently amended and supplemented, Law no. 99/1999 as subsequently amended and supplemented, Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34/2006, as amended and supplemented by Law no. 337/2006. The organization and performance of procedures on RCE’s floor is carried out, to the same extent, in compliance with its own specific regulations such as the one regarding the awarding of supply, service or works contracts, regulations regarding the sale of movable and immovable assets by auction, as well as regulations regarding the sale by auction of the State assets, the sale of the assets which were legally confiscated or became, according to law, the private property of the State.