ECO-BUS WEEKLY DIGEST July 26-August 1. Most important Economy & Business news by IPN
● MONDAY, July 26
Investment map of Chisinau to be presented at investment forum
An investment forum staged by the municipality for the first time will take place in Chisinau on October 14-15. In the event, there will be presented the strategy for developing Chisinau 2030 and the investment map of the municipality, deputy mayor Olga Ursu was quoted by IPN as saying in the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services. Olga Ursu said the investment map will include over 50 realty, land, infrastructure, social education, recreational investment facilities and will present public-private partnership opportunities, such as electronic ticketing, development of the parking network, optimization of traffic, waste management, energy efficiency. Fourteen investment profiles depicting the investment opportunities have been already worked out. The forum will bring together over 350 participants both online and with physical presence, with over 100 of them representing the academic community and the NGO sector.
Bălți-Ungheni train route no longer available
The Ungheni - Bălți - Slobozia - Ungheni train route was halted today, July 26. The information was confirmed for IPN by the director of Moldova’s Railways Oleg Tofilat. According to the director, the locomotive is broken and can no longer be used. The price of tickets bought in advance will be refunded. Oleg Tofilat said the route was not in demand. The train that ran on this route was of diesel D1 type.
●TUESDAY, July 27
Romania to rehabilitates bridges over the Prut, to build new bridge in Ungheni
The National Company for the Administration of Road Infrastructure of Romania is implementing five projects to rehabilitate the bridges over the Prut and to build a new bridge in Ungheni that are financed with European grant funding. The announcement was posted by the Minister of Transport of Romania Cătălin Drulă on Facebook. Among the bridges that will be repaired are the Galați – Giurgiulești bridge on the DN 2B highway that was built in 1949 and is 125 meters long, the Albița – Leușeni bridge on the DN 24B highway, the bride in Sculeni on the DN 24 highway and the Oancea – Cahul budge on the DN 26A highway.
●WEDNESDAY, July 28
Gasoline prices raised
A number of filling stations posted higher prices for gasoline “95”. The prices are by about 0.20 lei per liter higher and vary around 20.60 lei/liter. Former MP Alexandru Slusari said today that a slight decline in the Platts quotations for gasoline and diesel fuel has been witnessed the past four days. “But the oligarchic oil republic has its own rules. During tens of years, the fuel prices have been set by agreement reached by a narrow group of companies, sometimes in coordination with politicians. The price of gasoline has been raised again by 0.40 lei. The new methodology is blamed. What does NAER do? Instead of intervening to see if the methodology is respected, the lads with salaries of 80,000 lei a month, appointed according to political criteria, invoke the flaws of the legislation. The new law is probably not perfect. But you, those from NAER, where were you when the given document was being worked out?” asked Alexandru Slusari. According to him, what’s happening now on the oil market is the next cartel agreement between the largest companies with the involvement of the National Agency for Energy Regulation and with the passive position of the Competition Council. “Oil sellers flex their muscles before the whole country, profiting from the long absence of a Government and from the fact that NAER has long depended on them. At the height of the harvesting period, they blackmail the farmers. They press the transport companies that are close to bankruptcy owing to the pandemic. They deride the citizens, changing the prices daily, even if their stocks are enough for two-three weeks, while the legislation sets gasoline and diesel fuel price ceilings,” said Alexandru Slusari.
Amendments proposed to law on oil products market
The law on the oil products market should ensure a balance between the interests of consumers and the functionality of the oil system. Oil sellers, experts and interested persons formulated proposals in the public consultations centering on the amendments to the aforementioned law. According to them, the methodology and the specific profit margin should be reviewed. NAER director Eugen Carpov said the new bill represents a very good basis, with elements that restore the initial logic that the prices should be capped by the National Agency for Energy Regulation, not by each company, and that full transparency and correctness in price formation should be ensured so that no one has questions. Ana Groza, executive director of the Foreign Investors Association, said the excessive regulation of the market is not accepted considering the international commitments and the constitutional provisions. Given the insistence on the capping of prices, the Association will help draft the amendments so as to ensure a better quality of the bill. One of the proposals is for the specific profit margin for the immediate period, the next calendar year, to be adjusted also to the impact of the consumer price index and the currency exchange rate. The specific profit margin should include all the relevant variable and fixed costs of companies, the primary transportation margin, including transportation up to stations, storage and manipulation costs and mandatory additional costs.
Administration of PPA accused of rigging contest to fill post of Moldaeroservice head
The administration of the Public Property Agency (PPA) is accused of rigging the contest to choose the manager of the state-run enterprise Moldaeroservice. The accusations were formulated in a news conference at IPN by Alexei Rogov, head of the Flight Operations Division of Moldaeroservice and one of the candidates for the post of manager. Alexei Rogov said that he returned home after working abroad for 21 years, after he felt that “something changed in the country “. A former military and civilian pilot and a specialist with tens of years’ experience in the national and international civil aviation and in managerial posts, Alexei Rogov is convinced that he would have won the contest if he hadn’t been eliminated “without any explanation”. Alexei Rogov was to appear at the news conference alongside Viorel Catană, the acting manager of Moldaeroservice. As it was announced, the two were to tell about “illegal transfers” of assets from Moldaeroservice. But Viorel Catană didn’t show up. According to Rogov, immediately after the press announcement was disseminated, a meeting was urgently called and Catană was offered the post of manager there.
●THURSDAY, July 29
Crisis on oil products market is artificial, opinions
The oil sellers created “a state in the state”, while the crisis on the oil products market is artificial, said former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alexandru Slusari and economist Veaceslav Ioniță. According to them, the oil sellers try to impose their own rules as the regulatory institutions are inefficient. According to the ex-Deputy Speaker, the law on the oil products market that was adopted at the end of the previous parliamentary session is imperfect, but is necessary. “There are technical and legal aspects that generate confusion. But the idea of adjusting the prices of oil products in the Republic of Moldova to the international quotations is correct. It’s clear that the oil sellers do not like this. Seeing this governmental chaos with an inefficient Competition Council, they try to keep the whole country hostage. They created this artificial crisis, blaming the methodology. The Platts quotations during four days have declined, while they continue raising prices,” Alexandru Slusari stated in the talk show “Secrets of the Power” on JurnalTV channel. For his part, economist Veaceslav Ioniță said the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) acts in collusion with the large oil companies and pursues the goal of eliminating the small owners of filling stations from the market.
● FRIDAY, July 30
Government should bank less on foreign loans, economist
Economist Viorel Gîrbu believes the Moldovan authorities should bank less on foreign loans and should do a fiscal reform so as to generate own resources. After the ruling party announced that the new executive is to negotiate a new agreement with the IMF, Viorel Gîrbu said the document should not be negotiated based on excessive concessions. “It is regrettable that the political elite lay such a great emphasis on loans and grants offered to the Republic of Moldova in concessional conditions. The higher is the number of loans and grants, the greater is the extent to which our partners appreciate as very week. Receiving loans is similar to being placed in intensive care. The assistance from the IMF is a signal of our failures. We continue to pay interest on the loans raised earlier. And where did we get to?” Gîrbu stated in the program “The Fourth Estate” on N4 channel. According to the expert, to lay the basis of a well-founded economy, the authorities should start with a broad fiscal reform.
Moldova’s lavender holds interest for French and Bulgarian people
The Moldovan lavender growers would like to compete with Bulgarians,” the Bulgarian publication “Dnevnik” has said, quoting an article of France-Presse Agency (AFP). The Agency refers to Alexei Cazac, who planted his first bushels in 2015 and is among a growing cohort of farmers in Moldova fuelling a resurgence in the aromatic herb, whose cultivation collapsed along with the Soviet Union.Cazac, who has over 60 acres of lavender, says he charges visitors the equivalent of about $3 to meander through his purple bushels. On the horizon, he sees plenty of room for expansion. He sells his lavender to a French group. ”Moldova is producing much less than it could,” he says. “But first we need to prove we’re producing a quality product at international standards.” The local variety yields less oil, concedes Nicu Ulinici, who inherited his father’s farm and harvested his first bushels in 2014. “But it’s higher quality,” he says. Its aroma is “more pleasant, softer.” “After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the industry was forgotten,” says Alexandru Badarau, president of the Lavender Growers Association. “It collapsed precisely because our connection was severed with Moscow, where most of the essential oils produced in Moldova were exported,” he told AFP. “We’re working hard to revive it.” Badarau’s association says members export 99 percent of their oil to the European Union, specifically Germany, and to two other well-known producers: France and Bulgaria.
CFM restores suburban train routes as from August 2
The state-run enterprise Moldova’s Railways (CFM) decided to restore a number of suburban train routes as from August 2 given that the diesel trains have been repaired. The given train routes are: No. 6931/6936 Bălți Slobozia – Ocnița – Bălți Slobozia, No. 6924/6923 Bălți Slobozia – Rogojeni – Bălți Slobozia, and No. 889/894 Ungheni – Bălți Slobozia – Ungheni. On July 26, route No. 6889/6894 Ungheni – Bălți Slobozia – Ungheni was suspended because of the unsatisfactory technical state of the D1 diesel trains running in this suburban route.
● SATURDAY, July 31
NBM takes anti-inflationary measures
The base rate on the main short-term monetary policy operations was raised by 1 percentage point to 3.65% a year. The interest rate on overnight loans was increased by 1 percentage point to 6.15% annually, while that on overnight deposits to 1.15% annually. The monetary policy decision was adopted by a unanimous vote by the Executive Board of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM). According to NBM, the updated forecast shows the inflation rate can exceed the upper limit of the variation interval of the inflation target in the pronounced pro-inflationary context of the external environment that is marked by the higher than anticipated recovery rate of the world economy and of the main foreign commercial partners of the Republic of Moldova, alongside the persisting high oil quotations. At the same time, the inflationist pressure is supported by the internal aggregate demand that is fueled by the recovery of the population’s consumption following the rise in salaries in the economy, the volume of released new loans and of money transfers in favor of private individuals.
