● MONDAY, August 22
Prime Minister stresses diaspora’s role in economic development of Moldova
“The economic model based on consumption and imports, which he had until now, allowed us to survive, but it is obvious it cannot be foundation for sustainable development”, said Prime Minister Pavel Filip during the Diaspora Economic Forum. The event took place on Sunday, August 21. The official stressed the diaspora’s role in the economic development of Moldova, especially through the remittances sent home by Moldovans temporarily settled abroad. The head of the government talked about the latest measures undertaken by the authorities to ensure an attractive and prosperous business environment at home, including for potential investments from Moldovans working abroad who want to expand or open a business in Moldova.
Year looks promising for fruit and vegetable exports
From the beginning of the year and until August 1, Moldova exported 108,700 tonnes of vegetable and derived products, compared to only 59,700 tonnes in the same period last year. The figures were presented at a press conference on Monday by the general director of the Agency for Food Safety (ANSA) Gheorghe Gaberi. “Previously, apples topped the charts, followed by plums, and that was pretty much it. But in recent years, farmers have planted new orchards with apricots, cherries, sour cherries. For examples, apricot exports increased from 395 tonnes last year to 6944 tonnes this year. Cherries didn’t fare as well in 2016. Apple exports increased from 52,000 to 87,000 tonnes”, announced the ANSA director.
Number of tourists visiting Cricova rose by 30%
Around 20,000 people have visited Cricova Winery in the first 6 months of the year, 30% more than in 2015, and 75% of them were foreign tourists. According to a press release of the company, Cricova Winery, Cricova-Vin Business and Tourism Center and the Agency of Tourism have signed a collaboration agreement in order to increase the number of visitors and harness the potential of wine tourism in Moldova.
Some of IMF money could be used to cover budget deficit, IPN debates
Some of the funds Moldova might get from the International Monetary Fund, if a Memorandum in this regard is signed, could be used directly for covering the budgetary deficit. If Moldova signs an agreement with the IMF, it will provide more predictability regarding the next 3 years both for Moldova society and for our development partners. The issue was discussed during a public debate on the topic “The economical and political importance of Moldova’s Agreement with the IMF and the political ability to implement it”, the 58th in the series “Developing political culture through public debates”, organized by IPN Press Agency in partnership with Radio Moldova. Former Minister of Finance and economic expert Veaceslav Negruta expects that more international financing for Moldova could be unfrozen by the end of October, when a decision regarding the signing of the IMF Memorandum with Moldova will be taken in Washington. “There will be some improvement in relation to the Ministry of Finance’s fulfilled budgetary commitments. What will follow, as regards the authorities’ commitments, is unpredictable and we might not get the decision we want from the board in Washington”, said Negruta. According to him, an agreement with the IMF would offer the government a break and a financial injection both via the Fund and other development partners.
● TUESDAY, August 23
Veaceslav Negruta: IMF agreement is last lifeline for Moldova
The agreement with the International Monetary Fund, if it is signed, is a last lifeline offered to Moldova to come out of this self-isolation and collaborate with other development partners. This opinion was voiced by economic expert and former Ministry of Finance Veaceslav Negruta during a public debate on the topic “The economical and political importance of Moldova’s Agreement with the IMF and the political ability to implement it”, the 58th in the series “Developing political culture through public debates”, organized by IPN in partnership with Radio Moldova. The experts thinks that a memorandum with the IMF is the last chance and solution for Moldova to get out of international isolation, which is a consequence of the authorities’ actions over the last three years. With no running IMF program, without coherent economic, social and financial policies, Moldova is alone and all the external funding from other development partners is blocked.
Roman Chirca: Consequences of IMF agreement political rather than economic
The scope of the IMF agreement is economically insignificant and its consequences are more important politically. Technically, Moldova will receive a credit of $179 million, but this is a meagre sum given our current expense sheet and currency reserves. This opinion was shared by economic expert Roman Chirca during the public debate on the topic “The economical and political importance of Moldova’s Agreement with the IMF and the political ability to implement it”, the 58th in the series “Developing political culture through public debates”, organized by IPN Press Agency in partnership with Radio Moldova. According to the expert, Moldova is not among those countries that need IMF funds to stabilize their expense sheet and maintain their currency reserves. He notes that recent events in the Parliament, the changing of four Cabinets in a single year have made our development partners a little reluctant and even our closest friend Romania, invoked the IMF when negotiating a technical credit. The IMF is famous for its tough negotiations with national governments.
Natan Garstea: IMF wants changes in the banking system
Most of the International Monetary Fund’s expectations regarding Moldova concern the stabilization and improvement of the situation in the banking system and the capital market. The IMF is yet to put forth a set of conditions, it’s waiting to see the authorities’ intent to change something. The Fund probably expects that before the vote on the agreement with Moldova, reforms will advance enough to be clear that it’s an irreversible path. The topic was discussed during the public debate on the topic “The economical and political importance of Moldova’s Agreement with the IMF and the political ability to implement it”, the 58th in the series “Developing political culture through public debates”, organized by IPN Press Agency in partnership with Radio Moldova. Economic expert Natan Garstea thinks the IMF wants more autonomy for the National Bank. Special administration was instituted over the three raided banks the second day after elections and not two months before.
ANRE raises fuel price caps
The National Energy Regulatory Agency ANRE has updated today the price caps on both gasoline and petrodiesel – up by nearly 0.8 lei and 1 leu a liter, respectively – valid for the next two weeks. As a result, one liter of 95 gasoline shall sell for no more than 15.99 lei, as compared to 15.21 lei before. Diesel fuel shall maximally cost 13.82 lei, as compared to 12.88 lei in the past two weeks.
Sales of mobile telephony services are decreasing, report
In the first semester of this year, the total sales of mobile telephony services were estimated at 1.6 billion lei, decreasing by 94.7 million lei (5.4%) compared to the same period of last year. According to the statistics of the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and the Technology of Information, the drop was caused by a lower number of mobile telephony users and a lower amount of voice traffic. Moldcell sales dropped by 7.6% to 451.3 million lei. Orange recorded a slightly lower drop of 5.3%, with total sales of 1.1 billion lei. Moldtelecom’s Unite actually enjoyed a growth of 8.7%, with sales reaching 68.1 million lei.
● WEDNESDAY, August 24
Small Business Association issues open letter to Prime Minister Filip
The Small Business Association issued an open letter to Prime Minister Pavel Filip, asking him to intervene and cancel the legal provisions that ban, starting from 2017, running a business based on a patenta (small business license). Eugen Roscovanu, the president of the Association, told a press conference at IPN that the members of the association demand the economic freedoms of small business to be respected. They want the business environment to be improved by weeding out corruption, respecting democratic principles in economic reforms, de-monopolizing the fields for small and medium businesses and reducing bureaucracy in regulatory institutions.
Transgaz, Vestmoldtransgaz sign agreement
The Romanian company Transgaz and the Moldovan company Vestmoldtransgaz today signed a cooperation agreement in the field of gas interconnection. The document sets out the general principles of cooperation between the two operators of gas networks and transit systems, in particular with a view to advancing the project to interconnect the Romanian and Moldovan gas systems.
Exports, imports expected to grow in next three years
The Ministry of Economy is predicting exports and imports to grow in 2017-2019 at an average annual rate of 5.7% and 4.7%, respectively. To extend and diversify export markets, as well in light of the interest showed by Moldovan agrifood companies to trade with China and Egypt, the Ministry of Economy has initiated preliminary consultations on potential free trade agreements with these countries.
● THURSDAY, August 25
PM Filip seeks cap on liquefied gas prices
Prime Minister Pavel Filip has instructed the Ministry of Economy to make whatever regulatory modifications are needed to re-instate a price ceiling mechanism on retailed liquefied gas. “In 2015 a new price-forming mechanism had been instituted for petroleum products, whereby liquefied gas had been subject to price capping just like gasoline and Diesel fuel. I just want people to know that the annulment of the price ceiling on liquefied gas this summer was the result of an amendment proposed by a group of MPs. I regret that the amendment was ultimately passed by Parliament. We shall discuss with the MPs to see how this was possible”, Pavel Filip told Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
First installment of Romanian loan to be spent on development projects
The first €60 million installment of the €150 million loan offered by Romanian to Moldova will be used to implement development projects. The money also enables the Government to unblock procurement proceedings. This was stated by Finance Minister Octavian Armasu at a joint meeting with his Romanian counterpart Anca Dragu. The loan is intended as a general-purpose budget support, says Armasu, meaning it will be used to cover all the State Budget spending lines. “While until today, budget spending was limited to basic expenditure: salaries, pensions and minimal expenses to keep the government functional, as of today we can already fund development projects, such as road rehabilitation. Now all the procurement proceedings are unblocked and, within the budget adopted (for this year), we can afford to finance all the projects”, stated Octavian Armasu.
Pay TV revenues slightly risePay TV revenues slightly rise
The pay TV market, including cable TV and IP TV services, reported a slight rise in revenues in the first half of the year despite a drop in subscribers. In particular, total pay TV sales rose on the similar period last year by 3.1 million lei to 78.3 million lei. Meanwhile, since the end of 2015 the number of subscribers dropped by 6,700 to 268,600.
