Order no. 791/2020 regarding the issuance of the state of emergency certificates for economic operators with activities that have been affected in the context of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

The rapid and large-scale spread of the COVID-19 virus economically affects all types of companies. The restrictive measures undertaken recently by the public authorities have a major impact on the economy, therefore protective instruments for the business environment should also be considered in such context. As a consequence, the Ministry of Economy, Energy and the Business Environment issues, on demand, to the economic operators affected by the COVID – 19 context, emergency state certificates.

Order no. 791/2020 provides the legal framework procedure for the issuance of the state of emergency certificates. The order addresses to the SMEs which intend to benefit from the facilities provided under GEO no. 29/2020 (e.g. the postponement of payments for utilities and rent, the possibility to invoke the force majeure in current commercial contracts), but also to other economic operators which intend to benefit from the facilities granted within the provisions of GEO no. 30/2020 (i.e. the indemnity for technical unemployment, possible evidence of force majeure or hardship).

Beneficiaries of the emergency certificates:

Pursuant to Order no. 791/2020, the applicant must be an economic operator as defined by the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 29/2020 and the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 30/2020, namely:
  • The economic operators which have totally or partially ceased their commercial activity considering the decisions issued by the competent public authorities according to the legislation in force;
  • The economic operators which have reduced their commercial activity as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and which have registered lower income, with at least 25% less as compared to the average income registered in January-February 2020;
  • Other entities, for example: professionals who undertake a public service, medical practices, sport unions etc.

Types of emergency certificates:

The Order provides two different types of certificates (described in the Annexes to the Order):
  • Certificate Type 1 (Blue): issued based on a statement of the legal representative that the commercial activity has totally/partially ceased;
  • Certificate Type 2 (Yellow): issued based on a statement of the legal representative considering that the registered income is lower, with at least 25% than average income registered in January-February 2020;
  • The applicant can submit a request for only one type of certificate.

Procedure regarding the issuance of the certificates:

Considering the manner in which all the procedures in front of the state authorities unfold given the context:
  • The applicant may submit a request for the state of emergency certificate only during the state of emergency;
  • The request can be submitted by the legal representative of the company only electronically, on http://prevenire.gov.ro/;
  • The legal representative shall have an electronic signature; alternatively, the request may be submitted by an authorised person empowered by the company, who has an electronic signature; however, the statement of the legal representative will be signed by hand, and further on, the authorised person will submit the request bearing an electronic signature;
  • The issuance of the certificates will take place automatically, after the validation of the request in the system.

Relevant Documents:

Please see below the required documents necessary for the issuance of the emergency certificates:
  • Identification details of the applicant;
  • Statement of the legal representative (i) attesting that all the information and documentation on which the request is grounded are true and observe the legal provisions applicable to each type of certificate which is requested and (ii) including reference to the total/partial cessation of commercial activity or to the lower income than the one registered in the previous two months.

The verification proceedings:

For the issuance of the certificate, the submission of the identification details and of the statement of the legal representative on http://prevenire.gov.ro/ are sufficient. However, the authorities are entitled to:
  • Undertake further inspections, including the justifying documents based on which the statement of the legal representative was issued;
  • Inform the competent authorities about possible breaches of the relevant legal provisions.