● MONDAY, July 14

VAT payers will have to sign new agreement on electronic statement 

The VAT payers from the municipalities of Chisinau, Balti and Comrat that submit reports in electronic format to the State Tax Service exclusively must sign a new agreement on connection to the Electronic Statement service, valid for three years. The agreement signed earlier expires this year. In September – December 2011, 15,000 tax payers connected themselves to the automated fiscal reporting service Electronic Statement. Given that the range of fiscal services provided through advanced technology has extended considerably (General Electronic Register of Fiscal Invoices, Online Command of Standard Forms, e-Invoice, Taxpayer’s Current Account, etc), the new agreement allows providing the recently launched services gratis as well.

Simplified customs procedures for trustworthy economic entities 

The Cabinet approved a document elaborating Customs Code procedures that describe the method of authorizing simplified customs procedures in the case of particular customs regimes and the method of granting the status of ‘authorized economic entity’. The companies authorized by the Customs Service can benefit from a lower number of customs controls and from faster crossings of the border. The customs formalities for imported/exported goods will be performed as a matter of urgency for these economic entities. Furthermore, the companies will be able to choose the place where the check will be carried out.

WB offers US$45m to Moldova to increase competitiveness of exports 

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$45 million financing to the Republic of Moldova for the Second Competitiveness Enhancement Project, which will contribute to increasing the export competitiveness of Moldovan enterprises and decreasing the regulatory burden they face. The new operation supports the Government of Moldova’s National Development Strategy “Moldova 2020” goals of improving the business enabling environment and promoting better access to finance for enterprises.

Nongovernmental group to examine problem of pollution in Balti 

An operative working group will be created to investigate the problem of pollution in Balti municipality. It will include representatives of a number of ministries, the State Ecological Inspectorate, foreign capital companies and of resident companies of the Free Economic Zone “Balti”. The working group will convene weekly, when necessary.

Seven filling stations in Floresti illegally made 1m lei in several days 

Seven filling stations in Floresti district, which worked without a license, illegally made 1 million lei in several days. The violations were identified by specialists of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) during inspections carried out in northern Moldova, in concert with the fiscal authorities. ANRE director Sergiu Ciobanu told a news conference that the Agency cannot guarantee the quality of the oil products sold illegally and that the economic entity obeyed the price formation principle. He referred to Agrocom-Oil, which holds a license for importing oil products into Moldova and a month ago asked for a license for selling oil products through the seven filling stations in Floresti district.

Internal navigation on Cahul – Cantemir sector reopened 

The bed of the Prut River has been cleaned up to Cantemir and internal navigation on the Cahul – Cantemir sector, on a distance of 70 km, was restored. The fluvial port Ungheni invested about 800,000 lei in the cleaning works on this segment. The first barge with 500 tonnes of gravel from Romania arrived in Cantermir on July 14. It takes 36 hours to ship goods from Braila to Cantemir and 16 hours from Giurgiulesti to Cantemir. Four barges with a capacity of 500 – 600 tonnes will be available to economic entities from April until October, when the fluvial navigation season on the Prut closes.

● TUESDAY, July 15

 Moldova will receive new funds through Neighborhood Investment Facility 

Dozens of infrastructure, social and environmental projects were implemented in Moldova through the Neighborhood Investment Facility (NIF). The fact that Moldova has this ambition to come closer to the EU is a good signal and an encouragement for offering new funds, EU Neighborhood Policy Director Michael Koehler said in a press club meeting. Two projects financed through the NIF were completed, while another 11 are under implementation. A sum of €100 million has been already spent on them. “We also have regional projects for the Eastern partners that include Moldova. Moldova can benefit from these projects. Currently, we have seven projects that can be implemented in Moldova as well. They concern the energy sector and the financing of small and medium-sized companies,” said the official.

Non-transparency at public tender contests leads to corruption 

The lack of transparency at public tender contests and auctions to privatize public property leads to promotion of corruption and double standards, said representatives of civil society who launched a campaign entitled “Countdown to fulfillment of the Government’s promises: 7 days – 7 priorities”. In a public debate  National Participation Council chairman Sergiu Ostaf said that heated discussions on the leasing out of the Chisinau International Airport and the transfer of the state-owned holding in Banca de Economii under private ownership have taken place lately.

● WEDNESDAY, July 16

First IT Excellence Center to be opened at Technical University 

The first IT Excellence Center will be set up at the Technical University of Moldova. A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the Interministerial Committee for Strategic Planning that is chaired by Prime Minister Iurie Leanca. The initiative was put forward in the Moldova-ICT Summit held on May 13-15, 2014. The IT Excellence Center is created with the aim of enhancing the competitiveness of the IT sector of Moldova by ensuring a sufficient number of highly qualified specialists, who would meet the expectations of potential investors, and of trebling the number of jobs in Moldova’s IT sector, from 7,000 to 20,000. The center will provide IT education at world standards and will have well equipped laboratories that will stimulate research and innovation activities.

Largest intersection with bridge in Moldova opened for traffic 

The intersection with bridge in Sarateni, Soroca, was inaugurated on July 16. It is the first construction of the kind erected in Moldova in the last 20 years. The intersection has a new bride that is about 60 meters long, 13.5 meters wide and 7 meters high. Almost US$2 million was allocated from the Compact funds for its construction. According to the Government’s press service, in the opening ceremony Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said the Compact is the largest technical assistance project. “We now see a road of European quality built with money of the American people. It is a very successful symbiosis. I’m sure that this is only a first project of the kind ad at least 20 more such intersections are needed. I hope we will have such projects in Chisinau as well as they will help ease traffic,” he stated.

● THURSDAY, July 17

Cabinet approved bill on day workers 

The relations between day workers and beneficiaries will be established without signing an individual work contact, based on registration in the Accounting Register. The length of the occasional work done based on the provisions of the current law is minimum a day, equal to 8 working hours, while the salary is set by direct negotiations between the sides, but cannot be lower than the minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector per hour, and a month cannot exceed 150% of the projected average monthly official salary that is approved annually by the Government. The bill on day workers was endorsed by the Cabinet.

Sugar producers warn about opening of Moldovan market for cane sugar 

A group of businessmen are lobbying in favor of opening the Moldovan sugar market for cane sugar. Such an accusation was made by the Union of Sugar Producers of Moldova, the Association of Sugar Beet Producers and the National Union of Associations of Agricultural Producers “Uniagroprotect”. Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov has told that he was always against the bringing of cane sugar into Moldova as this will lead to the destruction of the sugar industry. “It’s impossible to produce beet sugar on a market that is open for cane sugar,” reads a statement issued by sugar producers. They remind that in 2002 the lobbying in favor of cane sugar brought the sector on the verge of bankruptcy.

Government endorses simplification of business registration procedure 

The Cabinet approved a bill to simplify the procedure for registering businesses by legal entities and private entrepreneurs. The bill also reduces the period of time needed for registering a business from five to three workdays. Minister of Justice Oleg Efrim said the bill is aimed at optimizing the work of the one-stop shop when registering businesses, setting a single registration charge and improving the legislation concerning the regulation of entrepreneurial activity by authorization. 

New fruit processing and packing line to be opened in Olanesti 

A new fruit processing and packing line will be put into operation this autumn on the territory of a super-intensive orchard that belongs to a company from Olanesti village of Stefan Voda district. Prime Minister Iurie Leanca visited Stefan Voda district and saw how the cold-storage facility that started to be used in 2013, as a result of investments of 15-18 million lei, works. Owing to this fridge, the cherries can be kept for a month after they are harvested.  According to the Government’s press service, the company’s director Iurie Tulei said he has apple, peach, plum and cherry orchards that are 90 hectares in area. They have a good harvest because they use European technology.

Wheat harvest larger than last year 

The wheat harvest this year is bigger than last year. The chairman of the Association of Grain Producers Nicanor Buzovoi has told that the harvest is greater and the quality of wheat is better. According to representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, about 3.3 tonnes of wheat will be collected from one hectare. Nicanor Buzovoi said the rain prevents the reaping of wheat and the producers hope it will stop soon. In some areas, the high level of mousier already affects the grain.

● FRIDAY, July 18

Russia bans import of Moldovan fruit 

Russia halted temporarily the import of fruit from Moldova, director general of the National Food Safety Agency Ion Sula has told. The official had a telephone conversation with the administration of Russia’s phytosanitary service Rosselhoznadzor. The service’s deputy head Aleksei Saurin told him that Russia suspended the imports because the conditions of supplying products to the Russian market are not respected. “They invoked that the Oriental moth has been found in four consignments of fruit since the start of the season,” stated Ion Sula. According to him, the restrictions will greatly affect the fruit producers as 90% of the apples from Moldova are exported to Russia.

Cheaper and more environmentally-friendly renewable energy 

The business of making solid fuel from biomass is profitable for the producers that do not purchase raw material from which the briquettes are made, specialists said in the National Bioenergy Forum held in Chisinau on July 18. The officials attending the event said the conception of sustainable energy is not yet implanted in Moldova. By the end of this year, the Government will propose an initiative by which the state will offer support to the producers of solid fuel. Deputy Minister of Economy Tudor Copaci said that compared with 2010, the number of solid fuel producers rose from several dozen to over 100. Moldova just starts to use renewable energy and this segment needs to be promoted more so as to attract more consumers. A number of 120 national companies producing biofuel supply over 170 institutions that use biomass-based heating systems and the number of such companies is on the rise,” he stated.

● SATURDAY,  July 19

Parliament adopts US$45m financing agreement 

Parliament passed in the first reading a bill providing for the ratification of the financing agreement between Moldova and the International Development Association (IDA) for implementing the Competitiveness Enhancement Project II. The total cost of the project is US$45 million – a US$30 million loan provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and a IDA loan of US$15 million. Deputy Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac said a part of the financing will be provided based on the results so as to support the reforms and objectives set for the project’s Regulatory Reform and Business Development components.

Experts and producers about Russia’s ban on import of Moldovan fruit 

The ban on the import of Moldovan fruit into Russia is a political decision and the Moldovan producers should better find new export markets. The issue was discussed in the program “Fabrica” on Publika TV channel. Russia’s phytosanitary service Rosselhoznadzor argued that the Oriental moth was detected in the Moldovan apricots. The director of the National Food Safety Agency Ion Sula said the Oriental fruit moth is not a quarantine object in Moldova and the labs in Chisinau didn’t confirm the existence of the moth in the consignment of apricots. However, in order to avoid such situations in the future, the producers must make sure that the fruit is of a high quality, while the National Food Safety Agency must intensify inspections in this respect.