● MONDAY, January 16

Moody's includes Moldova in category of states with speculative investment grade

The credit rating agency Moody's changed the outlook for Moldova from B3 negative to B3 stable, which includes Moldova in the category of states with high credit risk and speculative investment grade. The decision was taken on January 13. On his Facebook webpage, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said on the issue that the economic specialists know how important and how good such a piece of news for Moldova is. “It is the direct result of the efforts that we, the Government, and our colleagues from Parliament, and all the citizens of Moldova made to overcome a difficult economic crises and a difficult political crisis. This is the result of the fulfillment, in 2016, of a roadmap agreed with the EU, of the initiation of important reforms and of the signing of agreements with the IMF and the World Bank,” wrote the Premier. In the same connection, he said he wants Moldova in the future to get a positive rating from each citizen who will feel that they live better in this country year after year.

Chisinau-Odessa train route to be restored

The Chisinau-Odessa train that earlier ran on Saturdays and Sundays will resume work and will run on Fridays as well. The administration of the state-run Moldova’s Railways said the first route will be operated this Friday, January 20. The schedule was set for a month. Under an agreement signed by Moldova’s Railways and representatives of the railways of Ukraine, the train will run three times a week on a temporary basis. The passengers of the given route are cheeked at the Chisinau Railway Terminal before they get on the train and the customs check is not repeated at the border. Thus, the traveling time was reduced by about 40 minutes to Odessa and by about 50 minutes when going back.

Infrastructure of electronic payment system in Moldova is insufficient, expert

The payments by bank card in Moldova are at an incipient stage in Moldova owing to the insufficient infrastructure of the electronic payment system, lack of confidence in the banking system and the habits of people, who adjust themselves with difficulty to the new technology, economist Dumitru Pantea stated. According to the National Bank of Moldova, at the end of September 2016, the banks reported 1.46 million valid bank cards. In 2015, the same source indicated 1.29 million cards. The figure increased, but the cardholders use the cards mainly to withdraw cash. In the third quarter of last year alone, the Moldovans withdrew over 9.3 billion lei through bank cards. In the period, the payments by card came to 796 million lei.

Fruit growers seek compensations for last spring’s frosts

Fruit growers requested the government to swiftly adopt the regulations by which to provide compensations for the losses they sustained as a result of last spring’s frosts. Acting chairman of UniAgroProtect Federation Alexandru Slusari told a news conference that if the regulations are not approved in the next meeting of the Cabinet, the fruit growers will have to come and seek this in front of the Government Building. According to Alexandru Slusari, about 6,500 hectares of orchards were affected by frost in northern Moldova on April 26-27, 2016. The harvest of many fruit growers in the districts of Briceni, Edinet, Ocnita, Donduseni and Rascani was 70% to 90% affected. Owing to the late adoption of the budget law and non-approval of the subsidization regulations, the farmers didn’t have legal possibilities of benefiting from the option of subsidized production risk insurance.

● TUESDAY, January 17

Public spending priorities in Bender town

The Bender Town Council agreed the expenditures for major needs this year. Most of the councilors voted for allocating 527,000 Transnistrian rubles (US$46,600) to the road fund. A sum of 73,000 Transnistrian rubles (about US$6,500) will go to organize additional elections to choose members of the Bender Town Council on April 2, 2017. It was also decided that preferential loans will be given this year to young families for purchasing or building homes. Last year, four families raised such loans at an interest rate lower than 1%, repayable in five years.

Group of experts challenge contest to fill vacancy of NAER director

A group of energy experts dispute the contest to fill the vacant post of director of the Administration Board of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER), announced by Parliament. In a petition, the experts demand that the candidates should be examined in open meetings, even if the regulations provide that this should be done behind closed doors. They also ask to exclude the eligibility criteria of minimum 10 years’ experience. The signatories of the petition request the Parliament’s economic commission to delegate the power to choose candidates to a special commission that would be set up by the model of the commission that selected the governor of the National Bank of Moldova. According to them, the given commission must include an EU High-Level Adviser, representatives of civil society and specialists of international institutions with expertise in the field.

● THURSDAY, January 19

EU helps companies on both sides of the Nistru with training in export

Producers with export possibilities from both sides of the Nistru River will be consulted by 20 specialists who will be trained and certified by the British Institute of Export within the Support to Confidence Measures Program that is implemented by UNDP Moldova and funded by the EU. Project manager Andrei Darie said that during five months, the trainees will be initiated ito international trade transactions, namely customs procedures, international trade regimes and trade facilitation instruments defined in the Association Agreement with the EU. After the training courses, the certified specialists will provide consultancy in the area of export to 15 companies from both sides of the Nistru. “The rise in exports ensures the development of the business climate, while the project tends to create an export consulting team for stimulating companies from both sides of the Nistru to export together so as to satisfy the demand,” stated Andrei Darie.

Moldova’s and Transnistria’s Railways to sign agreement

Moldova’s Railways and the similar organization of the Transnistrian region will soon sign an agreement of cooperation in railway communications. The company’s director Iurii Topala has told that the tariffs, conditions of transporting goods and method of cooperation between the two enterprises are yet to be agreed. Iurii Topala said the Moldovan side has to make concessions in order to reach an agreement and the negotiations are close to an end. The Moldovan side insists on the regulation of prices because until now the Transnistrian side levied taxes that were three-four times higher than those charged by the Moldovan side. According to the director of Moldova’s Railways, until now the goods coming from Ukraine entered the Transnistrian region without the Moldovan side knowing this. “I will insist that all the freight transported by train should go to destination through Moldovan customs posts,” stated Iurii Topala.

Economy minister: Exports were reoriented to European market during last few years

Since the Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement were signed with the EU, the exports have been diversified and massively reoriented to the European market, Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac stated in an interview for Radio Free Europe. The official said that Moldova’s exported to the EU in 2016 represented 65% of all exports, as opposed to up to 50% several years ago. Octavian Calmac noted that Moldova’s relations with the traditional CIS market have been in decline since 2006, when the Russian Federation for the first time started to apply tariff and non-tariff measures to Moldovan products. This decline became more evident in 2014, when tariff measures were applied to most of the products exported from Moldova.

First honey processing center in northern Moldova to be opened in Cupcini

The works to repair and equip the first center for purchasing, processing and packing honey products in northern Moldova have been completed in Cupcini town of Edinet district. The repair works and works to lay out the premises were carried out within a pilot regional development project implemented by the North Regional Development Agency and amounted to about 1.2 million lei. According to a press release of the Agency, the center consists of two departments where at least nine jobs will be created – the information and marketing department and the acquisition, processing and packing department. The latter is to be outfitted with special equipment in the immediate future.

● FRIDAY, January 20

Economic Council to work under President’s auspices
 

The presidential administration of Moldova has announced the launch of the initiative to constitute the Economic Council that will work under the President’s auspices. According to the President’s spokesman Ion Ceban, the Council will be responsible for identifying the risks threatening the development of the national economy and its sectors and for assessing programs and results achieved in the implementation of economic reforms. In a message on Facebook, Ion Ceban says the Council will also formulate proposals for solving economic problems and will improve the economic policy and the instruments for implementing it so as to ensure the sustainable development and modernization of Moldovan economy.

Moldova plays for Russia a rather symbolic role, Russian expert 

Russian expert Andrei Deviatkov, of the Economics Institute of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, considers from commercial and economic viewpoints, Moldova plays for Russia a rather symbolic role. The opinion was stated in an interview for Radio Free Europe. According to the expert, trade between the two countries represents only 0.1% of Russia’s whole trade. That’s why it is rather about particular political moments and toughening up of the customs control on the part of Russia in the context of the constitution of the Eurasian Customs Union. As regards Moldova, the expert said the restoration of access to the Russian market is a direction of the future. “But we should not underestimate the importance of this direction. In fact, today Moldova exports a large quantity of agricultural products to foreign markets. It is about walnuts, grapes, fruit and other products. For the Moldovan wines, for example, the Russian market remains traditionally a key one,” he stated.

Central bank extends mandates of temporary administrators of Moldindconbank 

The National Bank of Moldova prolonged for three months the mandates of the temporary administrators of BC Moldindconbank, except for the mandate of Nicolae Dorin, president of the Banks Association of Moldova, because the period given to him by this organization for simultaneously holding the post of temporary administrator and that of member of the bank’s Board expired and cannot be extended. A new person will be named instead of this in the near future. The temporary administrators were appointed within the early intervention regime applied at Moldindconbank after the National Bank, on October 20 last year, established that a group of persons who owned a substantial part of the bank’s share capital, in the amount of 63.89%, acted concertedly without the central bank’s permission.

● SATURDAY, January 21

Clarification about taxing of gaming activities 

The earnings made in promotional campaigns, lotteries and sports betting will be considered sources of untaxed income if they do not exceed the personal exemption for this year (10,600 lei). This is provided in the law to amend and supplement legal acts (Tax Code) that was adopted on December 15, 2016 and published in the Official Gazette on January 6, 2017. Given that the date when the law will take effect is not specified, the Ministry of Finance warns that the amendments and supplements to the Tax Code and its articles come into force 180 calendar days of the day they are published in the Official Gazette. Thus, the given amendments will take effect on July 5, 2017. Dorel Noroc, head of the Ministry’s General Fiscal and Customs Policy Division, said the money earned in promotional campaigns, lotteries and sports betting by July 4, 2017 will be taxed in accordance with the current Customs Code provisions.

Gross nominal salary up almost 13% 

The gross nominal salary last November rose by almost 13% to over 5,200 lei. In real terms, which is compared with the consumer price index, the average salary increased by nearly 10% on November 2015. The National Bureau of Statistics said the average salary in the budgetary sphere was 4,439 lei, while in the real sector 5,528 lei. The salaries in such sectors as healthcare, social assistance administrative and support services and insurance and financial activities grew the most, by over 20%. The average salary in administrative services sector rose to 4,380 lei, in healthcare to 5,353 lei, while in financial sector to 10,336 lei.

Moldovan woman develops gluten-free products business 

Even if they are in demand on the world market, the gluten-free products are not very popular with Moldovans. The lack of information about their benefits is one of the reasons for such a situation. Irina Balica, who developed a gluten-free products business, has told that she chose sorghum as the primary product. The plant was obtained by crossing two crops by academician Gheorghe Moraru 50 years ago. This plant is resistant to drought and is not sensitive and yields 5 tonnes per hectare. It is a plant of the future. Irina Balica said she started the business five years ago with the assistance of the Moldova Business People Association and managed to develop a line for processing and packing products from sorghum, which are sold through a Chisinau supermarket chain. The Moldovan gluten-free products cost much less than the similar imported products. The yield is used to make four derivatives: grain grits, fine grits, semolina and flour. All the products were accredited and are sold under the brand BioEm. The products are recommended to children under five and women older than 50, who are gluten intolerant.

Over 120m lei earmarked for local economic development 

More than 120 million lei was budgeted for local economic development in the National Regional Development Fund for the next four years, Minister of Regional Development and Construction Vasile Batca said in an workshop staged by the European Commission in partnership with the Organization for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. The minister stated that innovation projects will be implemented for developing regions and enhancing their competitiveness. There will be set up an innovation and technology transfer center in Balti municipality, a wholesale regional market and premises intended for nonagricultural activities in Ruscani district.