ECO-BUS WEEKLY DIGEST 8 March 14. Most important Economy & Business news by IPN

● TUESDAY, March 9

Over 20,000 tonnes of wheat from state reserves to be lent to business entities

More than 20,000 tonnes of wheat from the state reserves will be lent to business entities based on a contract, upon the presentation of a bank or financial guarantee whose size will ensure restocking. A draft Government decision that was published for public consultations authorizes the Material Reserves Agency of the Ministry of Home Affairs to release wheat. The draft says that 20,787 tonnes of food wheat of the 2017 harvest are to be replenished with wheat grown this year by October 1, 2021.

System for heating dwellings should be modernized so as not to pay uselessly, experts

The energy efficiency in the Republic of Moldova is lower than in other states. The key problem is that practically in all the basements of buildings in Chisinau, especially the old ones, the heat pipes are not insulated. So as not to waste money, the existing heating system needs to be modernized. In a news conference, energy and telemetry expert Mihail Braguța said the heating systems in most of the blocks are of vertical, mono-tube type. The heat changes its temperature when circulating through radiators from floor to floor. This way some of the rooms are overheated, while others are insufficiently heated. The dwellers of apartments cannot change this thing because the temperature is regulated for the whole block at the heating point. Owing to the lack of individual meters, the bills received by the consumers are not equitable.

● Wednesday, March 10

Vaccines could be bought with derogation from law on public procurement

The purchase of COVID-19 vaccines could take place with derogation from the law on public procurement. This possibility is being considered given the alarming rise in the number of new cases of COVID-19, particularly of death, Parliament Speaker Zinaida Grechanyi stated after a meeting that involved Cabinet members and acting Prime Minister Aureliu Ciocoi. According to Zinaida Grechanyi, the method of buying vaccines is to be discussed in the meeting of the Parliament’s Standing Bureau, together with the acting Prime Minister and secretaries of state of the responsible ministries.

Interest rates on loans are now the lowest ever, economic expert

The raising of a mortgage from the bank is often the only way for coming into possession of a home. There are two types of home loans in Moldova: “First House” and the classical mortgage. Economic experts say the program “First House” invigorated the lending market and also the building sector. Even so, the banks during the past year reduced the loan repayment period from 20-25 years to 7-10 years for “First House” and this diminished the attractiveness of these loans. The reason for such a move is the fact that the banks are running out of long-term funds. Dumitru Pîntea said that before 2016, which is before the bank fraud and the reforms done in the banking sector, the financial system wasn’t really accessible to private individuals as this was controlled by particular interest groups that financed primarily their activity or the activity of affiliated economic groups through the financial system. The given groups considered the financial system a mechanism by which disposable resources were collected from the population and firms, through deposits, and they later financed their activity, not being interested in releasing loans to private individuals or other companies.

Example of good practices from Termoelectrica: Maximum comfort and minimum energy consumption

Larger volumes of saved energy and better working conditions for the employees of Termoelectrica are the benefits obtained after the administrative building situated at 6 Tudor Vladimirescu St was turned energy efficient, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the company. “The first step to improve the energy efficiency was taken in 2005 and included the replacement of windows. In 2019, there was implemented a project to improve the energy efficiency by covering the building with a 50 mm layer of mineral wool. There was also implemented a project to install an Individual Heating Point that allows to fully turn off the heat when the air temperature is higher than 14 degrees Celsius and to turn on the heat when the temperature falls under 12 degrees,” said the deputy technical distribution director Andrei Vîrlan, who manages the General Dispatcher’s Office. Also, the Individual Heating Point ensures the high-quality supply of hot water, increasing the comfort of employees.

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on labor market in fourth quarter of 2020 were less intense

Compared with the previous quarters, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market in the fourth quarter of 2020 were felt weaker. Over 17,000 persons age 15 and over said the epidemiological situation in the country had a direct impact on their relationship with the labor market. Of the total, the absolute majority of people were active persons, about 4% were unemployed and 6% were persons who became inactive on the labor market due to the pandemic. The economically active persons who said that the situation at the workplace was affected by COVID-19 represented about 2% of the working population. COVID-19 affected the female population to a great extent than the male population and the urban population to a greater extent than the rural population, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics. In the fourth quarter of 2020, each second affected person worked fewer hours during the week. Two persons of five worked remotely or from home, three in ten persons worked part-time, while one in ten affected persons didn’t work at all or was absent from the workplace.

Online platform for investors in financial instruments to be set up

The Moldovans will be able to buy and sell directly state securities and other financial instruments. The Central Securities Depository (SCD) will create an online platform that will facilitate this process. The platform will enable to perform operations with securities and other financial instruments online. According to the National Bank of Moldova, the SDC initiated public consultations on the creation of the electronic platform. This will facilitate the direct sale of state securities to a broad circle of real individual investors who will be able to purchase instruments and to sell financial instruments at a low cost and in conditions of safety.

● THURSDAY, March 11

Insuring of crops could diminish impact of future frosts, Agriculture Ministry

The spring frosts, of the second half of April and the first half of May, could affect a large part of the crops as the plants started to grow. These frosts, even if they are not so severe, could yet significantly affect the crops compared with the impact of the frosts of down to -20 degrees Celsius of the end of this February, Vasile Șarban, division head at the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment. Therefore, the functionary recommends the agricultural producers to consider the possibility of insuring the crops and fruit trees against late spring frosts, given the serious damage caused by such frosts the last few years. Moreover, the amendments made to the legislation in 2020 enable the agricultural producers to benefit from subsidies of 70% of the insurance paid to the insurance company.

MPs: Some aim to take over services provided by CFM, including freight transport

MPs warn that attempts are being made to bring the state-run enterprise “Moldova’s Railways” (CFM) close to bankruptcy so that the freight transport service is later conceded. Deputy Parliament Speaker Alexandru Slusari said that to solve the crisis experienced by the CFM, the enterprise should be transferred from the Public Property Agency under the management of the Government. According to Alexandru Slusari, MP of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform”, the CFM’s debts during the last two months rose by 268 million lei owing to the salary arrears and overdue loan payments.

“Moldagrotech” exhibition cancelled due to COVID-19

The spring edition of the international exhibition “Moldagrotech”, which was set for March 17 – 20, was cancelled because of the worsening of the epidemiological situation in the country, quoting the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment. “It’s a pity to take such a decision, but the health and life of people is much more important than any public event,” stated Minister Ion Perju. Another date for the event hasn’t been set.

Government decides procedure for receiving diesel fuel donated by Romania

The Ministry of Finance will allocate 3 million lei from the Government’s reserve fund to the Material Reserves Agency for logistic costs associated with the receipt and distribution of 6,000 tonnes of diesel fuel donated by Romania. The Material Reserves Agency of the Ministry of Home Affairs is empowered to receive, store, monitor and distribute the diesel fuel, Minister of Home Affairs Pavel Voicu stated in the March 11 meeting of the outgoing Cabinet.

Number of MAIB customers enrolled digitally in 2020 doubled, while of operations trebled

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the processes of digitizing Moldova Agroindbank (MAIB) and, owing to the provided modern services, an increasing number of customers gave up going to the bank for a simple operation to pay for public utilities. They decide to use the time in a different way, opting for online banking services. MAIB aims to move all the services that are now available at the counter to digital channels during the next one-two years, Aliona Stratan, first vice president of Moldova Agroindbank, stated in an interview for Business Class. In 2020, the number of MAIB customers who were enrolled digitally doubled, while of operations trebled. Aliona Stratan believes the payments during the next two-three years will become ordinary operations and will migrate to the built-in banking zone, which means the people will not need to make big efforts to pay each bill as most of the payments will be made automatically.

● SATURDAY, March 13

MPs give vote of no confidence to NAER administration

The MPs gave a vote of no confidence to the managers of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) and asked for the resignation of the Agency’s Administration Board. The decision was adopted by a majority of votes of MPs on March 12 folloiwnhg hearings centering on the rises in fuel prices. The MPs described the NAER admiration’s activity as inefficient. The Parliament’s decision says that in times of a pandemic and economic crisis, the national regulator didn’t take any measure to prevent the increase in fuel prices and didn’t play a proactive role in preventing the sudden rise in these prices. Furthermore, there are suspicions that cartel agreements on the market are being encouraged and supported.