Ioana Criste is a Senior Associate in the Bucharest office specializing in energy, oil & gas, mineral resources and regulatory law.

Ioana is engaged in a wide range of mandates that include complex projects and commercial transactions across the energy industry, including oil & gas, electricity, renewables, and project and infrastructure development and construction. She regularly advises at all stages of energy projects, from development until commissioning and operation, including energy permitting, grid connection, EPC and O&M agreements, and long- and short-term power purchase agreements, with a particular focus on renewables projects.

Ioana’s expertise in energy-related matters includes electricity generation (conventional as well as renewable), distribution and supply, natural gas trading and supply, and oil & gas upstream aspects.  

She also has experience advising domestic and international clients on a variety of energy-related matters, including regulatory for nuclear and oil & gas projects; day-to-day advice, including licensing regimes and requirements; and managing relationships with the National Agency for Mineral Resources and the National Energy Regulatory Authority. 

RECENT ENGAGEMENTS INCLUDE ADVISING

Energy & Natural Resources

• JANTZEN RENEWABLES APS (Danish developer) on its transaction with OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy company in Southeast Europe, for the purchase of the Helios 1 photovoltaic cluster in Romania (the installed power of the cluster was estimated to be approximately 710 MW - one of Southeast Europe's most significant photovoltaic projects)
• EUROPEAN ENERGY, a leading Danish multinational company focusing on green energy projects, on the development and acquisition of multiple solar and wind projects in Romania, with a total planned capacity of more than 1,500 MW
• ENERY ELEMENT, a leading Austrian company active in the development, structuring, construction and operation of renewable energy projects in CEE, on vendor due diligence, permitting structuring and land securitization for 5 solar projects under development in Romania
• A CANADIAN CONGLOMERATE on the involvement regarding the refurbishment of reactor 1 of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (a project worth estimated more than EUR 1.5 billion)
• AN OIL AND GAS COMPANY AND ITS CO-VENTURE PARTNERS on the first new offshore infrastructure and gas production project in the Black Sea, with advice covering project development, financing, regulatory, construction, and all other general legal aspects*

*Experience prior to joining Kinstellar.

EDUCATION

• 2017: Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, Faculty of Law, M.A. in European and National Business Law
• 2015: Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, Faculty of Law, Bachelor of Law

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION

• Romanian Union of Lawyers
• Bucharest Bar Association

LANGUAGES

Romanian, English