lichidare

Lichidare is a term used in Romanian law to describe the process of winding up a legal entity or disposing of its assets to settle debts and terminate the entity’s existence. It commonly occurs in two forms: voluntary liquidation (lichidare voluntară) initiated by shareholders when the business ceases operations, and judicial liquidation (lichidare judiciară) ordered by a court in cases such as insolvency or other grounds provided by law. In both forms, a liquidator is appointed to manage the process, prepare an inventory, value and realize assets, notify creditors, and distribute proceeds in accordance with statutory priorities. The process typically includes filing final accounts and deregistering the entity from the company registry.

Typical steps involve appointing a liquidator, compiling an inventory and asset valuation, notifying creditors, realizing assets, paying valid claims in priority order, and concluding with final accounts and deregistration. Employees may be laid off, and tax authorities and other creditors have claims to the proceeds in priority order. Lichidare is distinguished from simple dissolution in some contexts; dissolution ends operations but may not involve asset realization, whereas liquidation focuses on realizing assets and satisfying liabilities before final deregistration.

In practice, Romanian insolvency and company law outline the procedural steps, creditor protections, and potential consequences for shareholders and managers during lichidare. The term is closely linked to concepts of dissolution and bankruptcy, with variations in procedure and priority rules across jurisdictions, but broadly it denotes the orderly closing of a business by realizing assets to settle obligations.