In Moldova, the time spent by companies dealing with regulatory authorities decreased in 2016, after a decade of no meaningful change, according to the Cost of Doing Business 2016 survey, released by the World Bank Group and the Government of Moldova. Business managers estimate that the total time spent dealing with authorities is now at 7.9%, the lowest level in the past decade, with the indicator usually tracking around 10-11%, and is comparable with the objective set in the Strategy “Moldova 2020”, IPN reports, quoting the a press release of the Ministry of Economy.

This improvement has been achieved thanks to trade authorizations reform, which replaced authorizations with a notification system. Other improvements include the introduction of electronic tax reporting and a moratorium on inspections imposed by the Government in 2016.

“Replacement of trade authorizations with a notification system is an excellent example of how regulatory delivery can be improved in a single year. Time spent to notify authorities about opening a business reduced from 13 days to 5.7 days. The Electronic tax filing system helped reduce time spent for such reporting by 30%, and the moratorium on inspections caused a reduction by half in inspections per company – to 2 per year,” said Alexander Kremer, World Bank Country Manager for Moldova.

Deputy Prime Minister Octavian Calmac, Minister of Economy, said the ensuring of optimal conditions for developing businesses and increasing the businesses’ confidence in state institutions is one of the priorities of the Government. Therefore, the reform of the entrepreneurial activity regulatory framework remains one of the main structural reforms that is to be continued until 2020.

In this connection, the minister noted that to achieve the set objectives, the Government will continue to take measures to optimize the procedures for starting, running and liquidating businesses by reducing the number of permissive documents and implementing the one-stop shop.

Octavian Calmac also said that 115 permissive documents of the used 400 were eliminated. At the second phase, there will be abrogated or eliminated another 150 permissive documents.

Since Moldova joined the World Bank Group in 1992, over US$ 1 billion has been allocated to approximately 60 projects in the country. Currently, the World Bank portfolio includes 9 active projects with a total commitment of US$ 356.15 million.