ECO-BUS WEEKLY DIGEST May 11-17. Most important Economy & Business news by IPN

● MONDAY, May 11

Project to modernize Central Market of Chisinau to be proposed for public debates

The project to modernize the Central Market of Chisinau will be placed for public debates, deputy mayor Inga Ionesii announced in the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services. “We also discussed with the municipal councilors who form part of the working group for revising the case of the Central Market. A Municipal Council decision was drafted for making changes to the previous decision and entrusting this working group with the task of finalizing the conception to modernize the Central Market,” stated Inga Ionesii.

Patent holders and some of categories of private individuals can collect unemployment benefit

The National House of Social Insurance (CNAS) on May 11 transferred 29.7 million lei for paying unemployment benefit as a lump sum to more than 10,600 holders of the entrepreneur’s patent and private individuals who carry out activities in accordance with chapters 102 and 103 of Title II of the Tax Code No. 1163/1997. In a press release, the CNAS says that under the ordinance made by the Commission for Exceptional Situations on May 5, 2020, the one-time unemployment benefit is paid by the National House of Social Insurance through the agency of payment service providers. If the recipient didn’t choose such a provider, the money is transferred to the post office.

● TUESDAY, May 12

NBM maintains base rate on main monetary policy operations

The base rate on the monetary policy operations remained unchanged. The Executive Board of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) decided to keep the value of the main monetary policy instruments. This way, the base rate on the main short-term monetary policy operations was kept at the level of 3.25%. The interest rates on overnight loans and deposits remained at the level of 6.25% and, respectively, 0.25% a year. The mandatory reserves attracted in Moldovan lei and in non-convertible currency were kept at 34% of the calculation basis, while the mandatory reserves attracted in freely convertible currency at 21% of the calculation basis.

Ambassadors of Italy and Austria: We want to make sure that Moldova is a safe country

The Member States of the European Union will support the Republic of Moldova on its path of European integration and in the fight against the COVDI-19 pandemic and its consequences, Italy’s Ambassador to Moldova Valeria Biagiotti and Austria’s Ambassador in Chisinau Christine Freilinger stated. “For us, the economic development and prosperity of the Republic of Moldova are of major importance. We encourage the reforms that help improve the business climate and contribute to the development of the business community, that enable to respond to the business community’s request concerning transparency and the preeminence of the law. Reforms really matter and therefore they should embrace the business community and should pursue the goal of improving the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises so that these efforts help to make a prosperous place of Moldova,” Christine Freilinger as saying.

Air Moldova extends flying restrictions until May 25

The airline Air Moldova decided to extend the flying restrictions until May 25. During May 15 and May 25, the flights will be suspended given the extension of the travel restrictions imposed by each country on destinations operated by Air Moldova. The resumption of flights for each destination apart will be possible together with the lifting of the restrictions by each state and their permission to operate flights to or from the planned destinations. For passengers who purchased tickets for this period, the airline proposes three options: free change of date for the same destination until March 28, 2021, voucher equal in value to the price of ticket or refunding according to the tariff rules.

Termoelectrica continues to invest in improvement of provided services

The heat supplier Termoelectrica in 2020 is to implement a number of strategic investment projects to improve the quality of the provided services and to optimize the company’s operational activity. Termoelectrica said the National Agency for Energy Regulation approved an investment plan with a budget of 353 million lei that includes a number of works designed to increase the consumers’ comfort and to optimize the processes and the electric power and heat production and heat distribution infrastructure.

60% of tourists ask to be immediately refunded money for failed vacation

Approximately 40% of the tourists who programmed vacations are ready to reschedule the vacation or to freeze the money in the account of the travel agency so as to use it later. 60% of the tourists ask to be immediately refunded the money, show data of the National Association of Tourism Legal Agents of Moldova, which said that the operators want to pay the money back to tourists, but need more time to do this. The Association calls on the tourists to be understanding so that they could find the best solution. Anna Colța, president of the National Association of Tourism Legal Agents, said that things didn’t move on much during about a month. Several discussions and meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the Premier and the Head of State were held and several more discussions will be yet held to identify a solution that could be implemented at legislative level. At the moment, the representatives of the tourism industry do not know a clear position of the authorities – what path they will follow and how the problems generated by the pandemic will be solved.

Conception for modernizing Central Market of Chisinau

The Central Market should be developed, equipped and freed from corruption. As a result of its modernization, the enterprise could obtain a significant rise in its turnover, said Mayor of Chisinau Ion Ceban, who presented the conception for modernizing the Central Market of Chisinau. Under the concept, public parking places will be set up on the streets Armenească and Tighina and a paid parking lot on Mitropolit Varlaam St, in the area between the streets Bulgară and Armenească, for 50-60 cars.

● WEDNESDAY, May 13

IDA to provide €52.9m for COVID-19 Emergency Response Project

The Republic of Moldova will get a €52.9 million loan provided by the International Development Association for implementing the COVID-19 Emergency Response Project. The bill to ratify the financing agreement was approved by the Cabinet on May 13. The money will go to purchase protective equipment, test kits for identifying the infection and ambulances, to train specialists, etc. The loan will start to be repaid on October 15, 2025 and is to be fully repaid by April 15, 2050. The Government also approved the 2020 national action plan for implementing the national employment strategy for 2017- 2021. The plan contains support measures for different categories of unemployed people and for companies affected by the pandemic.

● THURSDAY, May 14

Disposable money should be kept in safety or should be invested, guidebook

The money kept in cash can be lost or stolen and can lose its purchasing power. The keeping of money in a bank account offers increased safety and can generate gains in the form of interest. Investments can yield higher profit, but the involved risks are also bigger. Information about the financial-banking system is available in the guidebook on the consumer’s protection on the financial-banking market of Moldova that was compiled within the financial education project “Learn. Give Sense to Money” that was launched by the National Bank of Moldova and the National Commission for Financial Markets. Saving money in bank accounts is safer than saving money in cash as the cash can be stolen or lost in an accident, such as a fire. Moreover, the money kept in cash can decline in value because of inflation, while the interest paid on money kept in the bank diminishes or compensates for the effect of inflation or represents a gain for the client. The money can be also kept in the checking account, but its saving in a special account with a higher interest rate implies also a psychological effect as it is more tempting to spend money to which one has easy access.

Igor Dodon says in what conditions airport concession agreement can be terminated

Avia Invest, which manages the Chisinau International Airport, has debts totaling 50-60 million lei to the state and the company’s accounts were blocked. “A clause of the concession contract says that in case of the investor’s insolvency, the contract is considered automatically annulled,” President Igor Dodon stated after the May 14 meeting of the Supreme Security Council. The official noted that effort has been made at a number of levels for the airport to be transferred back under state management. Avia Invest is obliged to pay the aeronautical surveillance tax. Last year, the debt to the state was of 118 million lei, for May 2017 – June 2019. But the functionaries signed a rescheduling agreement at the time of the Sandu Government so that those millions were to be paid until May 2020. If they had insisted on the repaying of the debts immediately, not in parts, the concession agreement would have been annulled already.

Chisinau needs 250 new buses, 100 of which this year

Chisinau needs at least 250 new buses that should be purchased during the next four years, said the local administration’s working group that presented technical solutions for developing the municipal public transport system. The choice was made in favor of buses with the capacity of 107 places and diesel engine Euro 5. The price of such a bus is €135,000. To buy the buses, the municipality will take out a loan and the first 100 vehicles could be delivered to Chisinau by the end of this year. Deputy head of the Action and Solidarity Party’;s group on the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) Alexandr Trubca told a news conference that the estimates of the working group show that 150-155 buses are needed to satisfy the needs of suburban settlements alone. Also, the working group recommends the Chisinau Electric Transport Company to take part in the tender contest staged by the Riga City Hall for purchasing 18 articulated trolleybuses that had been used, but are in a very good state.

EU is largest donor of assistance as such and in response to COVID-19, debate

The European Union is the largest supporter of the Republic of Moldova in terms of the provision of assistance as such and as regards the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Republic of Moldova benefits from assistance from the EU and from the Member States of the EU. The total value of the European assistance provided until now to Moldova exceeds €1 billion, said participants in a debate mounted by the Institute for European Policies and Reforms. Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Peter Michalko stated that the financial institutions, the member states combined forces to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It was consolidation inside the EU, at the level of the member states, and also between the foreign partners. The EU offers Moldova support in the form of programs that were already planned, regional programs. A part of the assistances comes in the form of budget support. Another part is offered in macro-financial assistance, while the rest in the form of projects. Batches of aid are also provided.

● FRIDAY, May 15

Daniel Ioniță: Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline is 99% ready

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of emergency in Moldova and in Romania, work on the Ungheni-Chisinau gas pipeline went on. This way, the gas pipeline is 99% ready and could become fully functional towards the end of this year, Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau Daniel Ioniță stated. “Things follow a normal path and I would like to thank the authorities in Chisinau for allowing Romanian citizens and also foreigners who worked on the pipeline, having essential technical skills for completing the construction on time, to enter the Republic of Moldova during the pandemic. We here fully benefited from the support of the authorities in Chisinau and works advanced significantly due to this despite the pandemic,” said the diplomat.

● SATURDAY, May 16

Maia Sandu about NGO law: There are many people in Parliament and not only Ion Chicu decides

The law on NGOs whose current variant is rejected by Prime Minister Ion Chicu does not pose a threat to Moldova. According to the president of the Action and Solidarity Party Maia Sandu, the given law does not contain formulations that go against the national interests. “It is not clear why the Prime Minister now formulates such questions in relation to a law that is necessary in a democratic country. Evidently, the European Union would never insist on formulations or a law that run counter to the national interests or the democratic processes,” Maia Sandu stated.

Public sector employees to work on 12 Saturdays during next six months

The public sector employees during the next six months will work on 12 Saturdays for the 12 days that were declared nonworking by the Commission for Exceptional Situations during the state of emergency. A decision to this effect was drafted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Special Protection and is to be approved by the Government. Under the draft decision, the working Saturdays will be: May 23, June 13, June 20, July 4, July 18, August 1, August 22, September 5, September 19, October 3, October 17 and October 31 this year. It is proposed that the salary earners should work from 8am until 4:30 pm, with a lunch break between 12 noon and 12:30pm.

Special working program for institutions managed by Government

As of next week, the employees of the central public administration, such as those of ministries and institutions managed by the Government, will work according to a special program. They will work between 7:30am and 4pm, with a lunch break between 12 noon and 12:30pm. This was decided by the National Extraordinary Commission for Public Health on May 15. Under the ordinance, the managers of public entities are recommended to organize the activity depending of the specific features and needs and to allow the employees to work further from home if their presence in the office is not necessary for ensuring the functionality of the entity.