ECO-BUS WEEKLY DIGEST January 18– 24. Most important Economy & Business news by IPN

MONDAY, January 18

Changes to personal exemptions provided to private individuals in 2021

The personal exemption and additional exemption for private individuals this year have been raised by 5% – from 24,000 lei to 25,200 lei and, respectively, from 18,000 lei to 18,900 lei. The exemption for maintained persons was raised by 50% – from 3,000 lei to 4,500 lei. At the same time, the personal exemption for spouses, in the amount of 11,280 lei, was annulled. Each taxpayer with an annual taxable income lower than 360,000 lei has the right to personal exemption in the amount of 25,200 lei. The exemptions to the taxpayer are provided at one job, either at the basic one or at the secondary one, the State Tax Service has said. The persons who, during the fiscal declaration period, used the personal exemption, but obtained an annual taxable income higher than 360,000 lei are obliged to present the private individual’s tax return.

“Central House” was caused damage of €2.5m, lawyer

The patrimonial interests of “Central House” and the company’s creditors have been seriously prejudiced by a contract to lease out a number of buildings situated on Mitropolitul Varlaam St in Chisinau, with a total area of 2,700 square meters, said lawyer Iosip Andrei, who represents “Central House”. According to him, it is a contract signed by the former administrator of “Central House” Vitalie Perciune with “Central Group”, which is an affiliate of this. More exactly, “Central House” monthly earns about €8,000 rental for these areas that is paid by “Central Group”, while the latter collects at least €100,000 a month from sub-lessees. In a news conference at IPN, the lawyer said that Vitalie Perciun, serving as the statutory administrator of “Central House”, filed an introductory application to institute insolvency proceedings against the company he managed, invoking its payment incapacity. In 2020, the court accepted the application and insolvency proceedings were brought against the debtor “Central House”, given its payment incapacity. The court empowered the insolvency administrator Veaceslav Timotin to take over the company and the debtor assets it owned when the insolvency proceedings were instituted. It was established that “Central House” owned a number of buildings located on Varlaam St, with an area of 2,700 square meters. It was also determined that on August 1, 2018, “Central House” managed by Vitalie Perciun signed a lease with “Central Group”, which was an affiliate company that he also managed. Under this contract, the real estate belonging to “Central House” was leased out to “Central Group” for a period of 29 years. The contract was signed on behalf of both of the sides by Vitalie Perciun, who was the administrator of both of the companies.

“Central Group” reacts to statements about commercial areas situated around Central Bus Terminal

Persons who until recently struggled against SRL “Central House” now say they are representatives of this company, while those who defended its interests were removed from the company’s administration, said Raisa Morozan, who is the lawyer for Vitalie Perciun, former administrator of “Central House” and current administrator of “Central Group”. The lawyer told a news conference that Vitalie Perciun, when he managed “Central House”, developed the territory around the Central Bus Terminal (Gara Auto Centru), including the pavements and platforms, and set up a lighting system. Commercial areas were built there. Problems appeared immediately after these investments were made. “The company “Gările și Stațiile Auto” was then managed by Veaceslav Zara, the current director of the Public Property Agency, while vice director was Iurie Moroz, the current director of “Gările Auto Moderne”, which took over all the bus stations in the country,” stated Raisa Morozan. According to the lawyer, the actions intensified in 2019 and included the disconnection from the water supply and sewerage system and placing of impediments to individual connection. Legal actions were taken with the aim of sequestrating the money from the company’s accounts so as to block its activity and create debts to the state.

● TUESDAY, January 19

Instrument for calculating payments for pollutant emissions and discharges

The Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment designed a semi-automated instrument for calculating payments for pollutant emissions and discharges. This was worked out taking into account the latest changes made to the legislation by which the payment rates were raised by 20%. This way, the reporting and declaring of pollution fees will be made in accordance with the increased rates. “This instrument was designed in a move to facilitate the process of calculating the given payments by the payers of environmental taxes,” said the head of the Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assessment Division Maria Nagornyi. Gabriela Capcelea, senior consultant at the Division, noted that this Excel instrument will help to easier calculate the payments for pollutant emissions and discharges. “We introduced the formulas from the instruction on the calculation of these payments and left a larger number of columns so that the business entities could include a maximum number of payments for all the types of pollutants,” she stated.

● WEDNESDAY, January 20

Position of founder and majority creditor of “Central House” SRL

“Central House” SRL was founded by Vitalie Perciun who is also the majority creditor of the company, said lawyer Raisa Morozan, who represents the interests of the latter. According to her, the insolvency administrator Veaceslav Timotin and the lawyers named by him pretend to be defenders of “Central House”, but they don’t mention the schemes by which they entered the company’s administration and the illegalities as a result of which they were appointed and the people who they actually represent. In a news conference at IPN, Raisa Morozan said they decided to react to the statements made on January 18 by the alleged defenders-lawyers of “Central House” SRL”, who present the circumstances fragmentarily and in a distorted way . ““Central House” SRL is represented by Vitalie Perciun and his associate from Azerbaijan who built and have managed the commercial areas of “Central House” SRL. We didn’t hire such persons as Iosip Andrei, Veaceslav Timotin, Alexandru Zmeu and Adriana Crețu to represent the interests of “Central House” SRL”,” stated the lawyer.

Contract between “Central House” and “Central Group” is legal and valid, lawyer

The tenancy contract between “Central House” SRL and “Central Group” SRL is perfectly valid and produces legal effects. The agreement was concluded with the consent of all the associates, based on minutes of the General Assembly of the Associates of “Central House”, said lawyer Raisa Morozan, who represents the interests of Vitalie Perciun, founder of “Central House” and founder and administrator of “Central Group”. In a news conference at IPN, the lawyer said the contract to lease out commercial areas does not affect anyone, while the relevant taxes are paid to the state. This contract is a legal method of protecting the business of Vitalie Perciun if the activity of “Central House” is blocked and the company is taken under control by third parties. “The insolvency administrator of “Central House” Veaceslav Timotin cannot annul this contract because “Central Group” fulfilled its duties and paid the rental in full amount and even made a payment in advance. Veaceslav Timotin’s notification of the termination of the contract is contrary to the general law principles concerning the safety of contractual legal relations and to the characteristics of ownership and use guaranteed by Article 1, Protocol 1 of the ECHR,” stated Raisa Morozan.

“We demand to end actions to appropriate buildings of “Central House”, lawyer

Raisa Morozan, the lawyer for Vitalie Perciun, who is the founder of “Central House”, said her client does not cause damage to the company as its so-called defenders assets. She noted that the business was built by Vitalie Perciun and he cannot cause damage to himself. “We respectfully ask the responsible authorities to end the actions to appropriate the buildings of “Central House” by the alleged defenders and representatives of “Central House”,” Raisa Morozan stated in a news conference at IPN. Raisa Morozan said “Central House” SRL was founded by Vitalie Perciun who is also the majority creditor of the company. According to her, the insolvency administrator Veaceslav Timotin and the lawyers named by him pretend to be defenders of “Central House”, but they don’t mention the schemes by which they entered the company’s administration and the illegalities as a result of which they were appointed and the people who they actually represent. The so-called representatives were named as a result of the illegal actions of “Ubicuit Grup”, which was an associate of “Central House”, but this was excluded as an associate and was obliged to restore the holding to Vitalie Perciun, by the decision of the Centru branch of the Chisinau City Court of July 3, 2020.

Surprise inspections at a number of oil companies

Surprise inspections are carried out at a number of oil companies in the context of the ongoing investigations initiated by the Competition Council to identify violations of the competition legislation that bans anti-competition agreements and the abuse of a dominant position. As to the price control mechanism, the Competition Council said it does not have legal powers to set mechanisms for controlling prices, the oil products market being regulated and supervised by the responsible institutions. One month after the last rise in oil prices, several days ago, a number of filling stations posted again higher prices – by about one leu per liter of gasoline and diesel fuel and by about 0.80 lei per liter of liquefied petroleum gas.

● THURSDAY, January 21

Moldovans prefer loans in lei repayable in two to five years

The new loans released last December came to 3.325,5 billion lei, up 1.7% on December 2019. The applicants preferred loans in national currency, these representing almost 71% of the total loans. The foreign currency loans constituted slightly over 26%, while the loans attached to the exchange rate of the currency – almost 3%. The loans repayable in two to five years made up 53.4% of the total loans. According to the National Bank of Moldova, the loans released in national currency came to 2.357,9 billion lei, the foreign currency loans recalculated in Moldova lei to 872.7 million lei, while the loans attached to the exchange rate of the currency to 94.9 million lei. Over 60% of the loans in national currency were released to private individuals, with 54.6% of these being provided to nonfinancial commercial organizations. Also, 95.6% of the foreign currency loans were provided to nonfinancial commercial organization, 68.6% of which were trading companies. The consumer loans represented 63%.

Business entities urged to develop architectural monuments

The Agency for Monument Inspection and Restoration and the National Council of Historical Monuments of the Republic of Moldova, in cooperation with the Production House “Symbol Media”, made three films to raise awareness and urge business entities to develop the architectural monuments. The videos announced in a news conference at IPN present the complex of buildings of the Stolniceni Hospital in Edineţ district, Stroiescu Mansion in Brânzeni, Edineţ, Rosetti-Roznovanu Mansion in Lipcani, Briceni. “While making these films, we pursued the goal of informing businesspeople, the people who care about the land that the current legislation permits to put the cultural heritage to good use. You will see two mansions and a hospital complex that are waiting for businessmen. We can use them today, but this is not done regrettably,” said Leonid Smolnitski, senior specialist at the Agency for Monument Inspection and Restoration.

● FRIDAY, January 22

€10m grant for extending water supply services in villages

The Republic of Moldova will get €10 million in grant funding for extending the water supply services in rural areas. The Ministry of Finance and the German Development Bank signed an additional financing agreement and the grant agreement for financing the project “Drinking Water Supply and Sewerage System, Moldova Center, Phase 2”. According to the Ministry of Finance, investments will be made to connect five villages to the Chisinau-Strășeni-Călărași water pipeline. Under the agreement, consultancy services will be provided to the Center Regional Development Agency and expertise services will be offered for helping water operators in the districts of Strășeni and Călărași to extend the area supplied with water and in the restructuring process. With this additional financing, the total budget of the project comes to €25 million in non-repayable funds.

● SATURDAY, January 23

Over US$147m transferred by Moldovans from abroad last December

In December 2020, the total amount of net money transfers from abroad made in favor of individuals via licensed banks of the Republic of Moldova amounted to US$ 147.84 million, an increase of 36.9% on December 2019. Transfers from the EU came to almost 46.8%, from the CIS to 13.6%, while those from the rest of the world to 39.6%, IPN reports, with reference to the National Bank of Moldova. Transfers from the EU to individuals amounted to US$ 69.23 million in December 2020, increasing by 38.5% compared with December 2019. As a result of the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, the volume of EU transfers was by USD 14.17 million lower. As regards the distribution by countries of money transfers from abroad in favor of individuals, transfers from Israel represented 17.4% of total transfers, from Italy - 13.9%, from the Russian Federation - 12.5%, from the UK - 9.6%, from Germany – 9%.