By virtue of issue 21st of the State Gazette dated 12.03.2021, a new Law on industrial parks (“the Law") was promulgated. The Law governs the status of industrial parks, the terms and conditions for their establishment, construction, operation and development.
Colliers Legal team provides a summary of the main provisions of the Law below.
Definitions of basic terms
The Law offers a definition of the term 'industrial park', as well as specifies the different types of industrial parks according to the production activities performed therein and the ownership of the park.
According to the Law, an industrial park is a separate territory located in one or more municipalities, which structural, technical and organizational conditions for production activities are provided for. The territory of an industrial park should be not less than 300 decares, except in the cases explicitly provided by the Law.
The industrial park consists of regulated land plots intended for production activities, as regulated land plots with other purpose are also allowed – for supplementary and service activities related to the operation of the park, including traffic and transport and other technical infrastructure, for public activities, for green areas and for special sites, as their total area may not be equal to or greater than half of the area of the park. When registering an industrial park, it is not allowed to include in its territory land plots, which are subject to litigation for real rights.
According to the production activities performed therein, industrial parks are of the following types: (i.) Type A – general, in which there is no specialization of production activities; (ii.) type B – specialized, in which one type of production and related activities or similar production activities are performed; (iii.) type C – specialized, in which high-tech and related activities are performed.
According to ownership, industrial parks are: ( i. ) State-owned – when the state is the owner; (ii.) municipal – when the owner is a municipality; (iii.) joint – when the owner is the state and one or more municipalities, as well as when the owner is two or more municipalities; (iv.) private – when the owner is a legal entity registered as a trader or an association, including legal entities or their associations with a blocking quota of the state or municipality.
The Law also provides definitions for the main subjects related to industrial parks, such as owner, operator, investor, user, etc., as well as regulates the main relations between them.
The Law also provides rules for transactions of sale, rent and establishment of limited real rights for property in industrial parks.
Measures to stimulate industrial parks
The law stipulates that the state policy regarding industrial parks is conducted by the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Economy and the municipal councils. After entering an industrial park in the Electronic Register of Industrial Parks and until its deletion from the register, a simplified regime of administrative services is applied during the construction and development of the park.
An owner of an industrial park and an investor may receive support under the terms and conditions of the Investment Promotion Act, as well as through national programs and through the European Structural and Investment Funds.
As a measure to stimulate industrial parks, the municipal council may set preferential amounts of local fees for technical and administrative services related to the activities carried out on the territory of the industrial park , as well as exempt owners and investors from local fees when the fees are related to the sites of the internal technical infrastructure and to the public service sites on the territory of the industrial parks.
Procedures for establishment, construction, operation and development of industrial parks
The Law regulates the procedures for establishment, construction, operation and development of industrial parks. The establishment of the parks is done by virtue of a decision of the Council of Ministers, the municipal council or the respective legal entity, depending on the ownership of the park. The decision for establishing the industrial park is a condition for entry in the Electronic Register of Industrial Parks, which should be created within 6 months as from the entry into force of the Law and maintained by the Minister of Economy.
The Law regulates the documents and contracts related to the establishment, construction and operation of industrial parks – concept, business plan of the operator, detailed development plan of the park, operation contract, etc.
The Law provides for facilitation of the proceedings for issuance of certain administrative acts by implementing ex officio collection of documents by the administrative bodies, provision of services electronically and by electronic means and application of half shorter terms than those under the Spatial Planning Act.
