The traders selling near the Central Market in Chisinau were taken by surprise by Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca, who Friday went to examine the situation on the spot. “The conclusion is said,” said the mayor after his visit to the market, Info-Prim Neo reports. The sellers complained to the mayor about the hard life, saying they have to trade on the street in order to earn money for bread. The mayor explained to them that they break the law as they sell goods without issuing receipts. Trading around the market was allowed only for the period of the agricultural fair that closed on November 30, and only in national products. “Many persons do not want to sell inside the market, invoking different reasons. There are about 700 free places in the market,” the mayor told the press. Dorin Chirtoaca admitted that the City Hall does not have instrument for penalizing the persons who flout the law and cannot impose fines as this is within the competence of the Tax Inspectorate and the police. For their part, the sellers complained that there are no free places in the market even if the market’s administration says there are. The places offered to them are in the back and nobody comes to buy from them. If they move to places in the front they are treated rudely by other sellers. The market should be divided so that the agricultural goods are sold separately from the industrial ones, said the traders. They also said that they will not go to other markets to sell as the Central Market is the most popular. The subject of unauthorized trading outside the markets was discussed in the December 5 meeting of City Hall officials. The mayor asked creating joint commissions consisting of police officers and officials of public health and trade divisions that will daily perform raids at markets, especially at the Central Market, to persuade the traders to go and sell inside the market.