Romania's Chamber of Deputies, or the lower house of the parliament, on Tuesday passed an insolvency bill to ensure honest business environment.

The bill proposes "an insolvency code that puts together all the regulations governing the pre-insolvency and insolvency mechanisms targeting the economic operators and it does so in a correlated and adjusted manner," explained Justice Minister Robert Cazanciuc.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta welcomed the adoption of the bill, pointing out that it is a "highly important step."

"Parliament passed a law that is truly important for the entire honest and correct business environment," the prime minister told the media, adding that the law must support in difficult times small or large companies that need a period to restructure, pay off their debts, and be able to start afresh.

Romania recorded the second highest rate of insolvencies related to the number of firms active during 2013 in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, namely 6.44 percent, according to the Insolvency Report 2013, conducted recently by Coface, a trade risk expert and a worldwide leader in credit insurance.

Moreover, Romania has recorded a number of 27.145 new open insolvencies during 2013, which is two times more than the level in Hungary, although the number of active firms is 30 percent lower in Romania.

The phenomenon of insolvency grew in intensity in this country, especially in the past five years, given that Romania generates about 40 percent of all insolvencies opened during 2013 in Central and Eastern Europe, registering at the same time only six percent of the total assets of firms in the region, according to analysts.

"This phenomenon is amplified in Romania due to very permissive legislative framework that encourages party debtor to use the insolvency procedure as an effective measure of protection against creditors," Constantin Coman, country manager of Coface Romania, was quoted as saying by local media.