Talks with experts at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have concluded and from Wednesday (April 10 ) procedures will begin in the Romanian Parliament to pass a restitution law for property confiscated by the Communist regime, according to PM Victor Ponta. The ECHR gave Romania a one month extension to put new legislation in place, which was scheduled for March this year originally.

The Prime Minister also said he hopes that Parliament will pass the new bill by April 12, and the ECHR will again be consulted by an executive team.

Under the bill prepared by the government, former owners of nationalized properties that cannot be compensated in kind will receive points with a nominal RON 1 value each. These points can then be used to buy property or exchanged for money. The total amount will be paid within seven years of 2017.

Former owners of nationalized property whose cases have already been resolved will receive cash compensation within five years, not three years as planned in an earlier draft. Payments will start in January 2014 and be paid in equal annual installments, with a RON 5,000 minimum annual sum (EUR 1,133 ).

The new restitution bill contains provisions for taxation. In effect, former owners or their relatives will not be taxed. However, third parties buying either the points or properties will pay a tax.

The European Court of Human Right (ECHR) recently granted the Romanian government’s request to extend the deadline to take measures capable of providing adequate redress for those whose assets or properties were confiscated by Communist regime pre-1989. The one month extension is the second the ECHR has given Romania, after a nine-month extension the Court requested in April last year and approved in June.

According to the ECHR, the original deadline and extension took into account the difficulties the Romanian authorities encountered when trying to implement restitution measures, but the new extension was none-the-less granted on the grounds that it is only a month extra and that the government has decided to consult the committee of ministers on the issue.

editor@romania-insider.com