Draft GD: The beaches will be leased for 10 years

The rental of beach areas on the Romanian coast could be done for a period of 10 years from the current 2 years, according to a draft government decision under public consultation, from Friday, on the website of the Ministry of the Environment, Waters and Forests. Regarding the legislative act initiative, Mircea Fechet, the Minister of the Environment claims that, through this amendment, he hopes that the beach operators will offer better quality services at more affordable prices.

Minister Fechet stated: "Following the meeting last month that we had with the representatives of the tourism operators, here we are keeping our promise and we have identified the legal solutions to increase the rental period of the beaches. Thus, we initiated this normative act which regulates, among other aspects, the extension of the rental period of the beach sectors to 10 years, which will lead to stability and predictability in the development of tourist activities. At the same time, I hope that the beach operators keep their promise, in turn, and offer better quality services on the Romanian coast, at more affordable prices".

The Minister of the Environment, Waters and Forests explained that the need for this change "is due to the national social interest generated by ensuring optimal conditions in the summer season, as well as the situation of costs related to beach facilities from the responsibility of economic operators, so as to allow a good performance of activities specific to the summer tourist season".

The Ministry of the Environment, through the "Romanian Waters" National Administration, ensures the administration and exploitation of the tourist beach areas on the Black Sea. Until now, the rental period of the beaches was two years.

In the substantiation note of the draft government decision, it is specified that the minimum rental price is established following the methodologies approved by the National Administration "Romanian Waters" and that the initiator of the project cannot establish the economic activities that are expected to be provided by the economic operators on real estate leased from "Apele Române".

The respective economic activities will be regulated from the point of view of water management and will be those activities that can be carried out without special authorizations, only on the basis of the simple authorization of the object of activity, according to the classification of economic activities in Romania (CAEN), the note also states of substantiation.