● MONDAY, August 21
About 20 Moldovan nursery stock exporters allowed to Russian market
About 20 Moldovan companies specializing in nursery and plant products received permission to export to the Russian market. This was announced by President Igor Dodon on his Facebook account, where he also posted a document from the Russian agricultural inspection agency Rosselhoznadzor listing the accepted companies. “The efforts made by the President of Moldova to strengthen commercial ties with Russia bear fruit in spite of the unfriendly actions taken by the Moldovan government towards Russia. Our Russian partners continue to offer new opportunities of business development and export to the Russian market”, wrote Igor Dodon. According to him, the Moldovan nurseries will deliver over the course of this year four million young apple, pear, cherry, sour cherry, peach, apricot and plum trees to Russia.
● TUESDAY, August 22
Total comeback to Russian market is impossible, IDIS expert
After the numerous restrictions introduced by Russia since 2005, the Moldovan companies reoriented towards the EU, which accounts today for 63% of our exports. Meanwhile, there is a slow change in the CIS. Moldovan exporters cannot regain their position on the Russian markets, as other countries with more competitive products have taken their place. The opinion was voiced by Viorel Chivriga, program director at IDIS Viitorul, during the “15 minutes of economic realism” broadcast. The data regarding exports and imports in the first semester of 2017 shows that Moldova is returning to the position it held in 2012 and 2013. According to Chivriga, the EU Association Agreement had a positive impact on Moldova’s external trade. The application of the Association Agreement’s provisions is also causing other changes. The national legislation is being harmonized with the community acquis, modern technical regulations are applied, over 14,400 European and international standards have been implemented, while 11,600 obsolete Moldovan ones have been annulled. In addition to this, there are opportunities to influence exports by improving the real sector of economy, which has stabilized a little, says the expert.
Gas, diesel fuel price caps reduced
The National Energy Regulatory Agency has reduced price ceilings for gasoline and diesel fuel effective for the following fortnight. In particular, 95-octane gasoline shall sell at the pump for no more than 16.95 lei a liter, a 0.11 drop from the previous two weeks. Diesel fuel has its price capped at 14.55 lei, compared to the previous 14.77 lei. The current price ceilings will remain in place until September 5. The regulator is asking the public to report offending gas stations by calling the green line +373 800 10 800 or by email at anre@anre.md.
● WEDNESDAY, August 23
Taxpayers with overdue property tax face forced collection proceedings
Over 53,000 taxpayers in Chisinau have failed to pay on time their real estate taxes amounting to a total 28.5 million lei. While the number of debtors dropped from last year, the number of those owing 1,000 lei or more rose. Now they face forced collection proceedings, the Chisinau Local Tax Division warns. The Division’s head Gheorghe Gasnaş said that the first deadline for paying the property tax expired on August 15. About 72% of the due amount was voluntarily paid, which is, however, by two percentage point more than last year. Also, due to the fact that the tax rate rose for non-residential property, the total amount paid also increased. While the number of debtors reduced by about four thousand from last year, the number of those owing amounts of 1,000 lei or grater increased. According Gheorghe Gasnaș, in their case the Division will resort to forced collection.
One year after adoption of law, no IT parks created
A year has passed since the Law on Information Technology Parks was adopted, but no such establishments appeared in Moldova so far. Authorities say the delay is due to the need to modify related legislation and create relevant secondary legislation. Responding to an inquiry from IPN, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure said this process will be launched very soon in a dedicated public event, whose date and place is yet to be decided. Under the procedure, IT parks are created by Government decision after applications are processed by the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure. The registration procedure for IT park residents is yet to be approved by the Government. The main advantage of being a resident of an IT park is the 7 percent flat tax. Activities include software development, computer game and other software editing, computer management, and others.
Mobile services sales dropping
In the first half of 2017 the number of mobile services users rose slightly, but overall sales continued the downward trend seen previously, the regulator agency ANRCETI reported. In particular, the number of users rose, from the end of 2016, by 47,600, or 1.08 percent, to over 4.4 million. Voice traffic also increased, from the similar period last year, by 20,300 million minutes, or 0.7 percent, to over 3.8 billion minutes. However, sales dropped by 55.6 million lei, or 3.3 percent, to 1.6 billion lei. The increase in the overall number of users was due to a 1.88 percent rise in Orange Moldova’s client base, which now totals roughly 2.6 million; and a 1.37 percent increase in Moldtelecom/Unite’s client base, now amounting to 355,500. Moldcell reported a 0.37 percent drop in its client base of 1.5 million. Following these developments, the penetration rate of mobile services per 100 population rose by 1.42 percent to 126.1 percent. Voice traffic inside networks and between networks constituted 2.3 billion and 500 millions, respectively. ANRCETI says the downward trend in sales is due to the fact that users are increasingly seeking cheaper or free Internet-based solutions, such as Skype or Viber.
● THURSDAY, August 24
Ministry of Finance: No new taxes for IT companies will be introduced for now
The Ministry of Finance said the reports about the introduction of a tax of 1.5% on electronic communications services are not true. In a press release, quoted by IPN, the Ministry says the draft fiscal policy for 2018 and the proposals formulated as a result of public debates on the fiscal policy do not envision the introduction of such a tax. According to the Ministry of Finance, the possibility of replacing the current tax of 2.5% on mobile telephone services with a tax of 1.5% on electronic communications services has been considered during the last few years. The money collected from the tax of 2.5% is allocated in the form of financial support to socially deprived persons, such as pensioners, persons unable to work, families with children and persons in emergencies. A sum of 80 million lei was accumulated in the 2016 state budget in this tax.
Fiscal inspectors identify major irregularities at catering company
Inspectors of the State Tax Service found serious violations at a business entity specialized in public catering during 21 inspections carried out at the company’s 21 subdivisions. Among the identified irregularities were the absence of cash registers or use of a defective register and illegal payment of salaries. The inspectors requested the personnel to provide explanations about the working regime, the salary payment method and the receive salary. It was thus established that about 40 of the 62 employees of the company received salaries “in envelope”. The inspections continue. The company will be fined for the identified irregularities and will have to pay the fiscal obligations related to salaries.
● FRIDAY, August 25
More new apartments are made available
The number of new apartments and private homes that were made available in the first half of this year increased by 34.3% compared with the corresponding period last year. According to statistics, as many as 4,102 newly-built apartments and homes were provided in January-June 2017. The total area of these was of 327,500 m². By the residence area, the largest number of dwellings was made available in urban areas – 3,923 apartments and private homes with the total area of 303,300 m². This is by 44% more compared with January-June 2016. In rural areas, there were provided 179 dwellings with a total area of 24,200 m2. Most of the dwellings were made available in Chisinau municipality – 3,602 – an increase of 43.4% on last year. Their total area was of 281,500 m2.
Users of mobile Internet through 4G networks exceeds 500,000
The number of users of mobile Internet through the 4G technology in the first half of this year rose by 33.7% to 503,900 compared with the end of 2016. The largest part of these – 442,900 – used smartphones for the purpose, while 61,000 used dedicated access such as modems/ cards/ USBs. In the period, the number of mobile broadband Internet users, based on 3G and 4G technology and dedicated access, increased by 12.3% to over 2.1 million. The data collected by the national ICT regulator ANRCETI from the three providers of mobile communications networks and services - Orange Moldova, Moldcell and Moldtelecom – Unite – show the number of persons who used broadband Internet based on the 3G technology, through telephone or dedicated access, grew by 7% to 1.6 million. The number of users of mobile Internet through dedicated access rose by 2% to over 309,900. Consequently, the mobile broadband Internet access penetration rate per 100 people increased by 6.6% to about 60%.
Grant for taking part in Horizon 2020 research and innovation program
The European Union will offer Moldova a grant for taking part in the EU framework program for research and innovation Horizon 2020. The Government approved the opening of talks and the signing of the grant contract. The grant in financial support for 2016 - 2017 is of €985 193. Moldova’s participation in Horizon 2020 will contribute to strengthening the research and innovation sectors in the country and to integrating the national scientific community into the European one. Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU research and innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. Seen as a means to drive economic growth and create jobs, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth and jobs with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges.
