ECO-BUS WEEKLY DIGEST March 12-18 April. Most important Economy & Business news by IPN

● MONDAY, April 12

MP Slusari blocks access way to Micăuți Quarry

The deputy head of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform”, MP Alexandr Slusari said that despite all the approaches to “unveil the illegalities” committed at the Micăuți Quarry by the commission of inquiry, the extraction works there continue. The MP blocked the access way to the quarry after the works there were resumed after the representatives of the ecological inspectorate and MPs left. “Two individuals with criminal cases – MPs Nikiforchuk and Andronache – defy the law, aren’t afraid of anything as they are protected by Dodon’s circle and profit from this chaos in the country. We came to stop the anarchy, invited the responsible bodies. If these do not help stop the activity of the quality, we, the members of the commission, will have to block the works of the quarry,” stated Alexandru Slusari.
Alexandr Slusari noted that legal responsibility should be borne for the illegal activity of the quarry, while MPs Nikiforchuk and Andronache expose the quarry workers to the risk of being punished in accordance with the law.

Supreme Security Council to discuss situation at CFM

The Supreme Security Council comes together for a meeting on April 13. Among the main issues on its agenda are the situation on the nonbank financial market, including the insurance market, and the situation at the state-owned company Moldova’s Railways. The meeting will be held in the Presidential Palace starting at 1pm. Statements for the press haven’t been announced yet.

● TUESDAY, April  13

Commission of inquiry lobbies for group that wants to take over Micăuți Quarry, lawyer

The parliamentary commission of inquiry into the method exploiting useful mineral resources, instead of exercising its legal duties, lobbies for the financial interests of a group of persons who intend to take over the Micăuți Quarry and to deprive this company’s creditors of the right to satisfaction of debts, said lawyer Andrei Iosip, who noted that the goal pursued by members of the commission of inquiry is to stop at any cost the activity of the Micăuți Quarry and to sack its employees so as to finally make sure that the quarry is transferred to those who ordered and financed the offensive. In a news conference at IPN, the lawyer said that this results from the actions taken by some of the members of the commission of inquiry, manifested especially by statements for the media, pressure exerted in virtue of the held post on courts of law, the Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment by placing obstacles to the economic activity of the entity, distorting the presented information and others. Andrei Iosip said the commission of inquiry was constituted based on a Parliament decision of November 27, 2020. Under the decision, the commission will engage in its activity all the state authorities responsible for the area, will question the parties and the persons involved and will present a report to Parliament on the results and conclusions of the investigation within 90 days. “Respectively, the commission of inquiry’s duties are clear and are defined in the Parliament decision. We see that the commission hasn’t been empowered with special powers, such as stopping of the economic activity of SA Cariera Micăuți, obliging of state institutions to hamper the quarry’s activity and impose penalties, hindering of the activity by blocking access ways, etc.,” stated the lawyer.

Lawyer: Micăuți Quarry works legally

The Micăuți Quarry is subject to an unprecedented attack by politicians with obscure interests who mimic the investigation of the method of exploiting useful mineral resources when the pursued goals are different in fact, said lawyer Andrei Iosip, according to whom the quarry works legally and does not violate the limits imposed by the responsible bodies and by the law. In a news conference at IPN, Andrei Iosip said SA Cariera Micăuți, which is in the process of insolvency, extracts crude limestone for construction works called Micăuți in accordance with the contract for the use of subsoil sectors for extracting useful minerals dating from March 7, 2012. This contract is valid even if the members of the commission of inquiry insist that this contract should be terminated and they even warned decision makers of the Ministry of Agriculture about this. “The crude limestone for construction works and the clay for making bricks are extracted based on additional agreement No. 06 of March 12, 2020 to the contract for the use of subsoil sectors for extracting useful minerals No. 83 of March 7, 2012. Following the signing of the additional agreement, the necessity of reevaluating and reassessing the useful minerals appeared in the implementation of the execution project,” explained the lawyer, making reference to a number of documents.

He said that starting with 2021, particular extraction works haven’t been performed

Ministry of Finance intends to issue state bonds valid for seven years

The Ministry of Finance has plans to issue state bonds valid for seven years. The first auction was set for April 21 this year. According to the Ministry, the elements of the given issue of state bonds and the indicative volume of the issue, the annual interest rate, the interest payment period and the maturity date will be made public five days before the auction on the Ministry’s website in the section Official communiqués concerning placing of state securities. The issue of state bonds valid for seven years will be a major step towards complementing the yield curve, alongside the state bonds valid for two, three and five years that are issued now by the Ministry of Finance. They will also be a reference point for setting the price of long-term instruments (loans, municipal bonds) and for developing other new ones.
The resident and nonresident private individuals and legal entities can take part in auctions to buy state securities only through the agency of banks-primary dealers.

Settlement of debts for gas should be decided with involvement of Tiraspol, hearings

The debts for natural gas on the right bank of the Nistru, together with penalties, come to US$715 million. The debt of the left bank of the Nistru totals US$6.8 billion, president of the Administration Board of SA “Moldovagaz” Vadim Ceban stated in hearings staged by the parliamentary commission on public finance control. According to him, without the participation of the Russian company “Gazprom”, without the participation of the administration of Tiraspol, a method for clearing the debt of the left bank cannot be identified, IPN reports.
Vadim Ceban said the method of clearing the debts of the two banks will be discussed in the negotiations between the shareholders – the Government of Moldova, “Gazprom” and the Transnistrian side. There is now no possibility of avoiding the Transnistrian region. The country’s energy security is at stake.
According to him, the audit of the Financial Inspectorate of the Ministry of Finance recommended that the debt of “Tiraspoltransgaz” and the method of settling this should be stipulated in the accounting records of “Moldovagaz”. These debts are now outside these records and they consider this is not right as these debts are not generated by “Moldovagaz”. Moreover, there is a contract with “Tiraspoltransgaz” and they are obliged to pay for the consumed gas.

● WEDNESDAY, April 14

SSC makes approaches to Prosecutor General’s Office

The Supreme Security Council (SSC) addressed a number of requests to the Prosecutor General’s Office, asking this to investigate the cases of use of insurance companies and their bank accounts in lending activities and in the privatization of state assets connected to interest groups and involved in other investigated frauds, and to also examine the National Commission for Financial Market’s decisions that led to the inefficient management of the assets of some of the insurance companies and the suspect transactions of Moldasig throughout its activity, including in 2008-2014, President Maia Sandu informed after the meeting of the SSC. “During several hours, we had discussed the problems encountered in the insurance sector. The schemes planned by particular interest groups controlled by Plahotniuc, Shor and Platon, which have been applied for years, endanger the citizens’ money, generate major risks to the insurance companies and the state budget. Some of the schemes were possible owing to the bad decisions taken by regulatory institutions, while others owing to the dubious decisions of judges. In the absence of prompt actions on the part of the law enforcement bodies in the case of acts of corruption and due to the Parliament’s inaction in relation to the members of the NCFM Board, the raider attacks continue,” President Sandu posted on Facebook. Maia Sandu noted that they also discussed the export of wheat and she asked to extend the restriction on the export of wheat from the state reserve so as not to allow the prices of bakery products for the categories of citizens with low incomes to rise.

Termoelectrica implemented Integrated Management System

Termoelectrica at the end of March obtained four certificates for implementing and maintaining the Integrated Management System according to the conditions of four international standards. These are: Quality Management Systems, Environmental Management Systems, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems and Energy Management Systems. According to Termoelectrica, these standards incorporated into an Integrated Management System ensure the continuous improvement of the company’s performance, enable to verify the impact of activities, products and services on the environment, to systemically manage the identified processes and to set the respective tasks and objectives for achieving them. Termoelectrica director general Veaceslav Eni said the implementation of the Integrated Management System confirms Termoelectrica’s commitment to its consumers and its readiness to continuously improve the company’s performance, to identify and control the impact of the activity of Termoelectrica, showing that the procedures and processes of the company are in accordance with the highest international standards. The compliance certificates were obtained in March 2021 and are valid for a three-year period on condition they are approved annually.

Loans for transiting to green economy through GEFF

Individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises and corporates that are ready to invest in renewable energy and efficiency of energy resources will have access to a €20 million lending program through the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF). Experts will provide know-how and raise awareness about climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies among clients and will offer project appraisal support and guide sub-borrowers to optimal technology choices. Activities that aim to enhance women’s and men’s equal opportunities to access finance for green technologies will also be supported. The program is developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Ministry of Treasury of Turkey. In the program launch, economic expert Andrei Crigan said that Moldova during the past few years suffered because of the elements, including drought and hail. The economic losses are estimated at US$120 million a year. The effects of the weather conditions can be counteracted by adjustment to them or by their mitigation. Investments for reducing emissions related to human activities are needed for both of them. Estimates show Moldova needs approximately US$ 5 billion during the next ten years to reduce the greenhouse effect. Knowledge is also needed to choose the best and most efficient technologies when the investment decision is taken.

● THURSDAY, April 15

Over 20,000 tonnes of wheat to be released from state reserve

The Government authorized the Material Reserves Agency to release 20,787.062 tonnes of food wheat from the state reserve for landing to business entities. The wheat will be released on a contract basis on the presentation of a bank or financial guarantee whose value will secure the quantity withdrawn from the state reserve and based on preliminary payment for the borrowed quantity on condition that the business entities do not have debts to the state reserve. According to Minister of Home Affairs Pavel Voicu, the wheat reserve should be renewed as the storage period of the mentioned quantity of wheat expires this year and damage to the state budget can be caused if the quality of this wheat worsens. Until May 10, 2021, wheat from the state reserve will be released to bakery, milling and animal-breeding companies. After May 10, wheat could be also provided to companies from other categories. The food wheat released from the state reserve will be replaced with wheat of this year’s crop in the same quantity until October 1, 2021.

Legislative proposals to support hospitality industry in times of pandemic

PAS MPs Dan Perciun and Radu Marian registered a legislative proposal that stipulates measures of support for the hospitality industry. The proposal provides that the state will offer 500 lei bonus to the weekly wage of employees of companies those work program was shortened to 8pm and also 1,000 lei a week to salary earners of companies that seized operations fully, like banquet halls and clubs. The VAT rate for the hospitality industry will be reduced from 12% to 5% and delay penalties on the payment of taxes will be eliminated if debt rescheduling contracts are signed between business entities and the state. The rental costs for the companies of the hospitality industry will be reduced by freeing the individuals and legal entities that lease out areas to such companies from paying the income tax for 2021. The authors of the bill noted that only 6% of the companies in Moldova that operate in the hospitality industry said they received support from the state. This is much less than in Russia (25%), Romania (44%), Georgia (51%) or Poland (73%).

● FRIDAY, April 16

Chisinau Urban Bus Company to buy older, but cheaper secondhand buses

The Chisinau Urban Bus Company will purchase buses with a covered distance of up to 500,000 km and up to ten years old. A draft decision to this effect was adopted by the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC). The decisions modifies that of March 30, which envisions the purchase of buses with a covered distance of at most 400,000 km and at most eight years old. According to the informative note to the bill, for buying buses with a covered distance, the administration of the Company studied the bids that came from the secondhand buses market and determined that the buses in a satisfactory technical condition with a covered distance of at most 400,000 km and at most eight years old are very expensive. Therefore, it was decided to propose extending the distance covered and age of the buses to 500,000 km and 10 years respectively. In the CMC’s meeting of March 30, the councilors decided to purchase a number of secondhand buses to the value of 50 million lei. The buses were to have a distance covered and an age of maximum 400,000 km and eight years respectively. The proposal to increase the distance covered and the age to 500,000 km and 10 years respectively was formulated in order to enable to buy buses at a more advantageous price.

New rules concerning functioning of terraces in Chisinau

The business entities that will want to set up terraces in Chisinau will not place these based on land location contracts anymore. They will now submit a trade notification and will obtain the location scheme from the district head’s office. When terraces are laid out, capital constructions are not allowed. If these are set up near public eating places with tables, chairs and umbrellas, the place intended for pedestrians should be of at least 2.5 meters, says a decision taken by the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) that is quoted by IPN. More exactly, the paragraph saying the terraces near permanent public eating places are set up on land that is municipal property based on the CMC decision and the land location contract signed with the Chisinau City Hall was removed from the regulations that govern the organization of terraces. The terrace functioning period will no longer be set by the CMC. The point stipulating that the separate terraces set up on municipal land without land relations can work only in April-October was also removed. According to the author of the draft decision Inga Ionesii, deputy mayor of Chisinau, the changes will simplify the organization and functioning of terraces on the territory of Chisinau. Furthermore, given the pandemic situation, the commercial areas in the open air should be extended so that customers are served through the agency of terraces adjoining public eating places.

Premier Energy concerned about bill to provide compensations for electricity

The company Premier Energy expresses its concern about the draft law that stipulates that the state will offer all household users compensations for electrical energy for April and May. According to the supplier, the bill that was given a first reading today appeared in the public sphere without being discussed beforehand and without being approved by the Government, other parliamentary commissions. But this is mandatory given its impact on the state budget. It also wasn’t consulted with the National Agency for Energy Regulation. “We consider the interruption in the monthly payment of electricity bills does not contribute to the cultivation of a culture of responsibility for making the payments and to the efficient management of individual consumption by saving energy because what is not paid (or seems not to be paid from the own pocket) is not appreciated appropriately. Besides setting a precedent, this bill can create serious confusion among clients who can be misled by the bill details concerning the own debt. Furthermore, the consumers will ultimately have to pay anyway as the state budget is fueled by the taxpayers’ money or by loans that will have to be repaired,” Premier Energy noted in a press release. According to the company, the method of paying compensations defined in the bill is not the best one as regards transparency of the process. “We consider the compensations for electric power and for other indispensable services, such as water, gas and heat, should be transferred directly to consumers so that they later pay the debt to the operators”. The MPs gave a first reading to the PSRM’s bill providing that the state will offer each household user 428 lei in compensation for electrical energy for April and May.