Romania's Chamber of Deputies has passed a law under which Romania's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) will receives the 46-hectare plot hosting the Romexpo exhibition complex for free. 

CCIR plans to develop a €2.9bn real estate project on the land in partnership with local developer Iulius, a company controlled by Romanian businessman Iulian Dascalu, who is best known for shopping malls developed in Iasi and Timisoara.

The bill provides for the land transfer from the state to Romexpo, which is 91% controlled by CCIR, G4Media reported. The land, currently leased to CCIR, is valued at nearly €500mn.

The law, drafted by the party of former president and Bucharest mayor Traian Basescu, the Popular Movement Party (PMP), was unexpectedly supported in parliament by both the opposition Social Democrats (PSD) and the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL). 

The MPs from Save Romania Union (USR) and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) voted against the bill.

Catalin Drula, the USR deputies’ leader, claimed it was "a cross-party real estate theft in the amount of hundreds of millions of euros." He said the USR is seeking support among lawmakers to refer the draft law to the Constitutional Court.

The vote also became another reason for the smaller parties to accuse the two major parties of collusion with the aim of preventing the development of a real political alternative.

Ambitious plans

The CCIR and Iulius Group are planning a gigantic complex that will include 14 new buildings with various purposes: offices, residential, hotels, commercial spaces and museums, plus 12,000 parking spaces.

In a press release outlining their plans issued in June, the CCIR talked of the project as a “financial catalyst that renders major benefits for the community” and an “anchor for the urban life of the capital”. 

“The proposed project represents the materialisation of a new development vision for the entire country, one that will represent us beyond borders, and bring us closer to Europe. It is an action that exceeds anything we have built so far in terms of urban revival, and we are certain that it will become an international landmark. This development is about community, Romanian symbols and local potential,” said Dascalu, as quoted in the press release. 

The CCIR, which is organised as an NGO, explained that it would derive income from the €2.9bn real estate project developed with Iulius and promised to use it for the benefit of all Romanian companies.

The real estate project was submitted to the Bucharest City Hall for the Zonal Urban Plan (PUZ). Mayor Gabriela Firea of the PSD objected to the land being transferred free of charge to CCIR. Meanwhile, Liberal MP Sorin Ion Bumb argued that the Chamber of Commerce needs the land to develop itself like its peers in any other country.