● MONDAY, April 11
Moldovan entrepreneurs informed about opportunities of DCFTA
Businessmen from Chisinau and from central Moldova will take part in a seminar centering on the opportunities provided by the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Moldova (DCFTA). The entrepreneurs will also learn about the methods of applying to the existing funds and of supporting businessmen in the context of the implementation of the DCFTA. According to the UK/Moldova Assistance for Reforms Program, the entrepreneurs will be informed about the current commercial regimes and measures and the quality infrastructure, including practical aspects related to the sanitary and phytosanitary standards. Similar seminars were earlier held in other regions of the country with the aim of informing the entrepreneurs about the benefits, challenges and impact of the DCFTA on their activity.
World Bank ready to support new projects in ICT sector
The World Bank is ready to support new projects in the area of information and communication technology of Moldova, with emphasis on projects with a social impact, so as to contribute to the development of sectors and regions that are disadvantaged from economic and technological viewpoints. The identification of ways by which Moldova could be helped to achieve the goals of the agenda “Digital Moldova 2020”, concerning the creation of infrastructure for broadband Internet in rural areas, was discussed in a meeting of ICT Minister Vasile Botnari and a WB team. “The goal assumed by the ICT Ministry by promoting the program to develop broadband networks for 2016-2020 is to reduce the discrepancy between the Internet connection speeds and disparities between the urban areas and rural ones, increasing thus the quality of life in the given settlements and offering the people more opportunities for developing at economic and cultural levels,” stated Vasile Botnari.
Dan Mitriuc named director of “Moldtelecom”
The national telecoms carrier SA “Moldtelecom” has a new director general. Dan Mitriuc took up his duties on April 11. According to press reports, this earlier worked at Victoriabank. The company’s press service said Dan Mitriuc was selected at a public contest that involved 11 contenders. He was confirmed to post by the Board of SA “Moldtelecom”.
Conditions for initiating state inspections during moratorium
The team of the Ministry of Economy worked out the regulations concerning the initiation of state inspections in the period of the moratorium. Following the coming into force of the law on the moratoriums on state inspections on April 1, inspections can be carried out in particular conditions only and the authorization for the purpose is issued by the Ministry of Economy. According to the Ministry’s press service, the regulations provide that the institutions empowered with inspections duties should submit an application to the Ministry and explain the necessity of the inspection. The Ministry will examine the application and will issue the inspection authorization. The regulations contain the standard form of the application and specify the information that needs to be presented by the inspection body that will ask the Ministry of Economy to be authorized to perform the state inspection at the scene.
● TUESDAY, April 12
Valeriu Giletski: Some of rises stipulated in budgetary-fiscal policy will not be passed
A number of rises proposed by the Cabinet in the budgetary-fiscal policy for 2016 will not be adopted by Parliament, Liberal-Democratic MP Valeriu Giletski said in the program “Place for dialogue” on Radio Moldova station. “I refer to the vignette, land taxes and taxes on other means of transport. These new taxes weren’t well thought out. I don’t think it is fair for these taxes to be paid by people who travel daily by car and equally by those who keep a defective car in their garage,” stated the MP. As to the vignette (road toll), Valeriu Giletski said the Cabinet should first reduce the taxes on the import of vehicles.
Tiraspol cuts import duties
The import duties on food and nonfood products brought into Transnistria will become lower this month. The decision to this effect taken by the so-called executive of the region will come into force when it is published officially. According to the Transnistrian press, the import duties on milk products, meat, fish and grains will be halved, while on particular meat and fish products will be reduced even five times.The decision to decrease the import taxes is aimed at improving the situation on the region’s currency market, which faces a serious shortage, at stimulating competition and at contributing to diminishing prices. The new taxes will be used until July 1, when their efficiency will be analyzed and a new decision will be taken.
“Expert-Grup” recommends to more rigorously plan projects financed with foreign funds
Experts of the independent think tank “Expert -Grup”, who examined a number of audit reports of the Audit Office, recommend to more rigorously plan the projects financed with foreign funds. In a news conference, the experts said the performance of many of the projects funded from foreign sources is doubted. The think tank’s economist Tatiana Savva said that this time there were selected the Audit Office’s reports on the results achieved in implementing projects financed with foreign funds, which were presented in the second half of last year. These include the project to reform the state border security that was implemented by the Ministry of the Interior and was financed by the EU and projects in the areas of education and social assistance to the value of about 1 billion lei, which were supported by the EU, the World Bank and other foreign donors.
Premier’s Economic Council has new composition
The Economic Council of the Prime Minister has a new membership. Premier Pavel Filip signed a decree to this effect. Thus, 59 members – ministers, entrepreneurs, representatives of the public authorities and the community of donors - formed thematic working groups. The Council will act to support the entrepreneurial activity and will remove the main constraints hindering the development of the private sector. According to the Government’s press service, the new composition of the Council includes the secretary general of the State Chancellor’s Office, eight ministers, representatives of international organizations and institutions and of the central public authorities. To more efficiently carry out the Council’s activities, there were created three thematic working groups that will signal and address the obstacles faced by the business community.
● WEDNESDAY, April 13
$80M for Moldova's local roads
The World Bank will offer 80 million dollars to rehabilitate local roads in Moldova. This was announced by a Government's press release following a meeting between Prime Minister Pavel Filip and Alex Kremer, World Bank Country Manager for Moldova. “The two officials noted the dynamic nature of the bilateral relationship and the opportunities to consolidate cooperation between the Government and the World Bank”, says the press release. Pavel Filip said that it was “extremely important” for the government to gain back the trust of Moldova's development partners, and that the unblocking of external assistance would spur the reform agenda.
Paris court rules in Moldova's favor in Komstroy case
The Paris Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of Moldova following a review action brought against Komstroy, successor to the Ukrainian company Energoalians. This overturns a 2013 “illegal” arbitration decision and unfreezes the accounts of the state enterprise MoldATSA. An earlier journalistic investigation by RISE Moldova revealed that MoldATSA's accounts were blocked in Brussels after an arbitration court in Paris had ordered Moldova to pay Energoalians's successor a debt of 47 million dollars, including penalties, allegedly owed by another state company, Moldtranselectro, for 15 years' worth of electricity supply. Earlier, Ukrainian and Moldovan courts rejected Energoalians's claims, and the authorities in both Chisinau and Kiev confirmed that Moldtranselectro owed nothing to Energoalians.
Authorization of medicines with proven quality has been simplified
A greater number of medicines with proven quality will become more available in Moldova, as the Ministry of Health has simplified the procedure of authorizing them. The simplified rules will apply to the drugs registered by the EU's European Medicines Agency, or at least in any European Economic Area country, or in Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. Manufacturers from these countries will no longer be required to provide samples to get authorized in Moldova. The applicants however will have to submit a statement certifying that the application submitted in Moldova is identical to the one sumbitted to EMA or to the relevant authorities of the named countries.
CEP II grants to help Moldovan companies enter new markets
The Implementation Unit of the Competitiveness Enhancement Project II (CEP II) approved another seven applications for financing the development of export-oriented businesses. The companies will benefit from grants for enhancing their competitiveness on foreign markets. Among the beneficiaries of the project are producers of textile, vegetable oils, teas, electronic and mechanic appliances and information technology and services. According to a press release of the project’s team, one of these is the oil producer “Azamet Grup”, which intends to export a series of new products such as bread, including without gluten, with flour made from grape seeds or hemp seeds, pasta from the same ingredients and hemp milk without lactose. The company applied for financing for the services to draw up the technological record card for the new products, to work out a marketing strategy and to develop instruments for marketing these such as trademarks, brochures, catalogues and websites.
Winemaking and Winegrowing Register launched on a trial basis
The preliminary version of the software Winemaking and Winegrowing Register was approved and launched on a trial basis. The data from all the applications for registering vineyards will be added to the software by the end of this summer. During the second quarter of this year, the software designer plans to interconnect it with the State Population Register and the State Register of Lawful Units, which will contribute to increasing transparency in Moldova’s wine industry. According to the National Office of Vine and Wine, the decision to launch and test the software was taken in a joint meeting of the Office, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the National Rural Development Agency ACSA and the Agricultural Information Center.
● THURSDAY, April 14
Regulatory framework in customs to be optimized
The Government approved a decision to review the orders and normative documents regulating the entrepreneurial activity that were issued by the Customs Service in 2000-2016. This provides for the abrogation of 169 orders and other regulations issued by the Customs Service, which expired or became null and void following the updating of provisions of current laws. Initially, this figure was lower compared with the number of the examined orders and normative documents (439), but the Customs Service extended the list by adding 100 orders and departmental documents.
National Employers Confederation celebrates two decades of work
The two decades of the foundation of the National Employers Confederation were marked by the idea of promoting the creation of a favorable environment for entrepreneurial activity, the Confederation’s chairman Leonid Cerescu has told. “We aimed to support the creation in Moldova of favorable conditions for developing entrepreneurial activity and to lay down clear and transparent rules of the game and equitable treatment towards all the economic entities, regardless of the size of business,” said the Confederation’s chairman. According to him, these two preconditions can ensure the sustainable development of the business sector, creation of attractive work conditions and high salaries, including for the young people, and, consequently, sustainable economic growth in Moldova. Dozens of steps were taken in this respect during 20 years. Many of them were successful, said Vladislav Caminschi, head of the Confederation’s Internal and External Relations Division. These refer first of all to the quality of social partner of the employers in the dialogue with the Government.
Sales of electronic communications services in 2015 up 1.8%
The sales on the public electronic communications services market in 2015 increased by 120.5 million lei (1.8%) on 2014, exceeding 6.9 billion lei. The rise was mainly due to the rapid development of the mobile and fixed Internet access services market, officials of the national ICT regulator (ANRCETI) said in a news conference on April 14. According to these, the number of users of mobile and fixed Internet access services during a year rose by 4.4% to 2.2 million. The mobile Internet penetration rate per 100 people grew to 49.4%, while the fixed Internet penetration rate – to 15%. Sales of mobile Internet access services increased by 20.1% to 579 million lei, while of fixed Internet access services – by 11.8% to 1.50 million lei, exceeding for the first time the sales of fixed phone services.
“Moldovagaz” reports losses of over 3bn lei for 2015
The public utility SA “Moldovagaz” last year sustained losses of 3.1 billion lei in its economic-financial activity owing to the depreciation of the national currency. Among other causes for the losses is the unprofitable tariff policy pursued by the National Agency for Energy Regulation and the debts of the thermoelectric enterprises to “Moldovagaz”. The company said the difference in the exchange rate was set based on the recalculation in lei when “Moldovagaz” reported the debts to “Gazprom” and SRL “Factoring-Finans”. For comparison, on December 31, 2014, the official exchange rate of the Moldovan leu against the dollar was 15.6152 lei, while in 2015 this rose by 25.9% and was 19.6585 lei on December 31, 2015. Consequently, the depreciation of the national currency negatively influenced the conditions of converting the currency for making payments to “Gazprom”.
● FRIDAY, April 15
Removal of barriers hampering businesses remains major preoccupation of Employers
The National Employers Confederation of Moldova was and remains actively engaged in promoting and implementing the reform of the framework regulating entrepreneurial activity (regulatory reform) that was initiated by the Government in 2004. The goals of this reform are to create a favorable environment for business development and to remove the barriers hindering the starting and development of businesses and these goals fully correspond with the objectives of the Confederation, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of its foundation these days. “At the first stage, called “Guillotine 1”, both the administration and the members of the Confederation became fully involved in the review of regulations worked out by the central public authorities. Consequently, there were reviewed 818 regulations thought up by different authorities. It was decided to essentially review 184 of them, while others were ‘guillotined’ (proposed for abrogation). The Confederation also formulated proposals within the second stage of the regulatory reform “Guillotine 2”, when the laws on entrepreneurial activity were examined. The provisions of these laws were updated in accordance with the economic changes,” stated Leonid Cerescu.
IPRE: Sales of vignettes increased, but amounts collected as excises into budget decreased
The current mechanism applied by the Ministry of Finance to collect taxes on the import of motor vehicles is outdated and inequitable towards vehicle owners. Since 2013, the sales of long-term vignettes (road toll certificates) rose 6.5 times, while the amounts collected as excises fell by 30%. The conclusions were formulated by experts of the Institute of European Politics and Reforms (IRPE), who analyzed the draft budgetary-fiscal policy for 2016. In a press release, the Institute says specialists’ estimates show that 55.7 million lei was collected from the sale of vignettes valid for 180 days into the state budget during three years. Currently, about 17 300 vehicles registered abroad travel on the local roads without any restriction. If the owners of these vehicles had paid import duties, up to 470 million lei would have been collected into the budget.
Tiraspol cuts gas and electricity tariffs for villagers
The Transnistrian administration decided to reduce the gas and electric power tariffs for the residents of Transnistria’s villages. From May 1, the tariffs will be by 20% lower. According to the Transnistrian press, the decision was taken in a move to support the people living in rural areas, who are mainly pensioners and budget-funded employees. The period of validity of the decision expires at this yearend. Thus, for 1 kw/h of electricity the residents of the Transnistrian villages will pay 46 kopeks (about 80 banutsi or 0.8 lei). The tariff for natural gas will be 65 kopeks per cubic meter (about 1.15 lei.).
Moldova, Romania to launch joint tourism products
Moldova and Romania are considering possibilities of launching joint tourism products that will be popular both with the national and foreign tourists. The issue was discussed in an event organized by the Tourism Journalists and Writers Association of Romania, the Union of Professional Newspapermen of Romania and the Ecologist Movement of Moldova. The participants underlined the necessity of improving the legislation on tourism and of adjusting it to the European standards, including as regards the protection of consumers of tourism products. Deputy director general of the Tourism Agency of Moldova Stanislav Rusu said Moldova has potential in this regard and has interesting places that are worth being visited. Some of the transfrontier tourist circuits could be extended so as to attract a higher number of tourists. Though the number of visits to Moldova has increased during the last few years, Moldova remains one of the least visited countries in Europe. Mihai Ogrinji, chairman of the Tourism Journalists and Writers Association of Romania, said that Moldova is not very well known by the Romanian public. The beautiful and interesting places in Moldova that can be visited should be promoted among the population.
Two major problems need to be solved for making business environment attractive, PM
The state must create an attractive business environment, said Prime Minister Pavel Filip. During a working visit to Straseni town, the official said that two big problems need to be solved for the purpose – corruption and bureaucracy – and this can be done by ensuring stability so that the started reforms are completed. According to the Government’s press service, the Premier visited SA CAAN, which is the administrator of the Industrial Park with the same name, and where there is the subzone No. 4 of the Balti Free Economic Zone nearby. Pavel Filip saw the renovated areas, the building site where the Engineering College is being reconstructed and familiarized himself with the project to extend the Industrial Park CAAN. The Prime Minister said that a series of measures were already taken to improve the business environment. A moratorium was instituted on state inspections. There were eliminated 169 customs orders that allowed for interpretation and leaved room for corruption and the access to the preferential Polish loan was unblocked.
● SATURDAY, April 16
National Confederation of Employers promotes possibilities of improving performance at work
The application of the non-tariff salary system in Moldova proved its efficiency as an alternative for the national companies to pay differentiated remuneration, depending on individual performance. This alternative system was introduced with the direct contribution of the National Employers Confederation of Moldova, which celebrates 20 years of its foundation these days. “Currently, the non-tariff salary system is used by Moldovan companies alongside the tariff system, which represents the minimum salary guaranteed by the state for the work done by salary earners in the real economy. The figure is well-known – 1,900 lei, which was set in May 2015. It is applied in accordance with the salary grades. But a higher salary grade does not necessarily mean a greater success achieved by employees at work. The non-tariff salary system offers the company managers bigger possibilities of stimulating the creative and initiative spirit of employees,” said Radion Drumea, head of the Confederation’s law division.
