At the current rate, the number of bankruptcies could grow to 25,000 in 2010

• Bankrupt companies owed over 2.5 billion Euros in 2009

Almost 4,200 insolvency cases were opened in the first two months of 2009, up from 2,800 in the similar period of 2009, said Arin Stănescu, the chairman of the National Union of Insolvency Practitioners (UNPIR), at the international conference dedicated to CFOs, organized by de Forum Invest.

"At the current rate, we are going to have over 25,000 bankruptcies this year", says lawyer Gheorghe Piperea.

Almost 32,000 bankruptcy cases were opened last year, a number similar to that of Germany and France, Arin Stănescu said.

"Last year"s liabilities of the various insolvent companies amounted to 2.5 billion Euros, of which EUR 150 million in claims were recovered in H1 2009, and another 50 million Euros were recovered in H2 2009 ", he explained.

25% of the total number of bankruptcy proceedings were opened at the request of debtors, Mr. Stănescu said, and added that he expects most of these insolvency proceedings to result in reorganization.

Gheorghe Piperea says that in most cases, debtors have requested insolvency to relieve creditor pressure, including banks, and said that most insolvency cases end up with a bankruptcy. For each 100 insolvent companies, 98% go bankrupt, and only 2% enter reorganization. Out of the 98%, some of them are dummy companies, Mr. Piperea said.

The recovery rate for receivables was less than 12% in Romania, whereas the average receivable recovery rate for the EU was 20%, in 2009.

Creditors can suffer great losses when trying to sell off goods acquired from debtors in these times of crisis, Piperea said.

An alternative to insolvency is the voluntary agreement, by which creditors and debtors enter an agreement concerning the paying off of debt, which can only be done if the company has not outstanding debts to the state budget, according to experts.