● MONDAY, December 11

Changes in schedule of some trains

Train No. 821 that runs on the Chisinau – Iasi (Socola) route will now run on Fridays as well, not only on Saturdays and Sundays. This will set off from the Railway Terminal of Chisinau at 6:43am. The Chisinau – Moscow train No. 47, which earlier ran four times a week, will depart from Chisinau daily at 10:50am. The departure time of the Chisinau – St. Petersburg train was also modified. This will run on the odd dates of the month and will set off at 10:14pm. The passengers will go through the Moldovan customs checks while travelling, both to and fro. The administration of Moldova’s Railways in a press release said the Chisinau – Bucharest train will leave the Railway Terminal of Chisinau 11 minutes later than usual, at 4:56pm.

● TUESDAY, December 12

Moldova to buy mobile radiological complexes from Belarus

The Republic of Moldova will purchase mobile radiological complexes from the Republic of Belarus. A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed on December 11 during Prime Minister Pavel Filip’s visit to a company specialized in manufacturing modern medical equipment. According to the Government’s press service, the mobile medical units provide efficient solutions in the fields of pulmonary X-ray and mammography. The digital mobile radiological complexes will be used to prevent diseases, especially tuberculosis. The goal of the initiative is to increase the rural population’s access to prophylactic services of a high quality.

Prices of gasoline and diesel fuel decline

The National Agency for Energy Regulation has announced the fuel price ceilings for the next two weeks. As of December 13, the price ceiling per liter of gasoline will be by 0.26 lei lower, while per liter of diesel fuel by 0.20 lei lower. A liter of gasoline coded 95 will cost at most 17.41 lei, as opposed to 17.67 lei during the past two weeks, while a liter of diesel fuel will be sold for at most 15.65 lei, as opposed to 15.85 lei today. The new prices will be in force until December 26. The Agency asks to report cases when filling stations post higher prices than the ceilings on the green line +373 800 10 800 or through the email address anre@anre.md.

Opportunities for young people and women in agriculture discussed at national conference

The young people and women working in agriculture were informed about the development opportunities in this sector and possibilities of exchanging good practices in a national conference. The event was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment together with the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture, with support from the EU Delegation to Moldova. Iurie Usurelu, secretary general of state at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that one of the objectives of the event is to promote good practices that can be embraced by young people and women. Those who want to start a business in agriculture often do not have sufficient experience or do not know about the existing opportunities and the support provided by the state and foreign partners. “The goal is to combine three very important pillars – knowledge, financing and experience,” he stated. Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture director Nicolae Ciubuc noted that the state implements policies to support the young people and women who run businesses in agriculture. For example, the National Agriculture Development Fund benefits from increased subsidies, of 15% of the value of investments, in building and renovating hothouses and setting up multiannual plantations, in the animal-breeding sector, etc. Besides this support, the young people and women could get subsidies in advance next year. In 2017, there were over 500 young agricultural producers and more than 300 women running businesses in agriculture.

Romania is a gate through which Moldovan producers easier reach EU market, NFSA director

The Republic of Moldova goes through a broad process of modernizing the system of ensuring food safety and Romania, as a member of the EU, is a gate through which the Moldovan producers easier reach the EU market, Gheorghe Gaberi, director of the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA), stated in a news conference held to complete two bilateral Moldovan-Romanian food safety projects. According to Gheorghe Gaberi, when the Moldovan authorities signed the Association Agreement with the EU, which includes the DCFTA, a number of Moldovan products of vegetal origin reached the EU market through Romanian operators. “We realize how important it is to build here, in Moldova, a food safety control system. This is a priority for ensuring the health and welfare of the people,” stated the NFSA director. Stelian Caramitru, secretary general at the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority of Romania, said that one of the projects allowed providing specialty assistance in implementing in Moldova a traceability system for vegetal products by offering funds for purchasing the necessary equipment. Through the agency of the other project, the laboratory for determining pesticide residues in plants, soil and products of vegetal origin was outfitted with modern equipment and Moldovan experts were trained in the management of pesticides. Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau Daniel Ionita said the projects had a budget of almost €600,000. These were designed to strengthen the institutional capacities of the NFSA in developing an efficient and reliable system for monitoring and reporting pesticide residues and animal diseases. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Vasile Luca said the equipment of the laboratory will enable to meet the European food safety requirements and this will help fulfill the undertaken production- and export-related commitments by guaranteeing the conformity and inoffensiveness of products of vegetal origin. The two projects were launched in 2010 and 2012.

● WEDNESDAY, December 13

Arbitration Institute of Stockholm rules in favor of Moldova

The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce decided in favor of Moldova in the dispute with the firms Evrobalt and Kompozit. The claimants are to pay Moldova almost €1 million, including court costs. The announcement was made by the secretary general of the Ministry of Justice Anatolie Munteanu in the weekly press briefing at the Ministry. According to Anatolie Munteanu, at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Moldova was represented by the law firm “Gurian and partners” and an international company of experts. At the start of August, the Government decided to pay over €190,000 honorariums to the law firms that will represent the state in the lawsuit filed against the Republic of Moldova. The suit was filed by the firms Evrobalt and Kompozit, which claimed that they made an investment in a bank in Chisinau. The National Bank of Moldova established that the firms acted concertedly with other shareholders and obliged the shareholders to sell their shares.

National Bank gets Kroll’s consent to publishing particular information from report

The National Bank of Moldova said it hasn’t yet received the second investigation report of the companies Kroll and Steptoe & Johnson, but finished the discussions with the international consortium on the possibility of publishing particular information from this document. In a press release, the National Banks said Kroll and Steptoe & Johnson accepted to make a synthesis that will be made public following a request from the Moldovan authorities. The National Bank will publish the synthesis of the report that is to be transmitted by the international consortium. At the same time, the working documents that include detailed analyses of the tracking of the robbed funds will be sent to the competent Moldovan authorities. Representatives of the companies Kroll and Steptoe & Johnson confirmed their readiness to cooperate with the investigation bodies and support the efforts to recover the stolen funds at international level and to strengthen the collected evidence in the procedures initiated at national level.

Unified requirements for market surveillance programs

The Cabinet approved a decision on the unified requirements concerning the designing of the market surveillance general plan and sector programs. The approval of the unified requirements is stipulated in the law on market surveillance and in other legal acts that refer to product safety. The sector programs will stipulate the financial, technical and other types of resources allocated to the authorities that think these up. There will be specified the mechanisms of coordination between different authorities for ensuring the non-admission of noncompliant products to the market. The sector programs will contain information about the planned activities aimed at improving market surveillance at national level and specific intervention initiatives, for example, by categories of products, categories of risks and types of users. Based on sector programs, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure will work out the market surveillance general plan and will publish it on its website by December 31 this year.

● THURSDAY, December 14

MPs’ amendments to 2018 state budget law accepted partially

Of the 76 amendments proposed by MPs while examining the 2018 draft state budget law, 15 were fully accepted, 10 were partially accepted, while 51 could not be accepted, IPN reports, with reference to the Cabinet’s appraisal.  The Ministry of Finance said all the amendments contain requests for allocations, but the source from which these can be covered is not indicated. A total of 467.7 million lei was requested additionally. Supplementary allocations of 101.3 million lei were accepted, while allocations of 366.4 million lei were rejected. There were also accepted the proposals to redistribute allocations totaling 327.6 million lei. As a result of the made modifications, the main indicators of the state budget, namely the revenues, expenditure and deficit, will not undergo changes.

Bill to “de-criminalize” economic offenses can have connection with banking fraud, opinion

The bill to “de-criminalize” the economic offenses is related to the fraud committed in the financial-banking system, programs director at the independent think tank “Expert Grup” Dumitru Budeanschi and Transparency International Moldova expert Veaceslav Negruta stated in the talk show “Emphasis on today” on TVR Moldova channel. Ex-minister of finance Veaceslav Negruta said the law is actually not aimed at the business and investment climate and its goal is not to stimulate investments and this fact was noted not only by experts, but also by the National Anticorruption Center. There is a close connection between everything that is related to the banking fraud committed in Moldova and this bill. The law benefits the group of persons who stole the US$ 1 billion. “From our viewpoint, this bill is the third element of the series witnessed since December 2016. The first element was the attempt to legalize the illegalities by the so-called amnesty of capitals, but this initiative failed. The second element was the attempt to bring back into the country some of the money stolen from the banking system. This was done by a series of initiatives, such as the provision of nationality in exchange for investments, conversion of the debt into state debt. The third element – de-criminalization – is aimed at freeing the players that took part in a number of illegalities in Moldova from liability,” stated Veaceslav Negruta. Dumitru Budeanschi said the first concern about this bill is the fact that offenses that led to the financial-banking fraud could hide behind it and society would not accept this thing. The second concern derives from the reason that when damage is caused to a private individual by another private individual, these should be discouraged, not encouraged. “The bill refers not only to the relations with the state. It contains provisions that cover the private companies too. Here we can also refer to copyright,” he stated. A number of civil society organizations signed an appeal whereby they call on the Ministry of Justice not to promote the draft law that “de-criminalizes” economic offenses. The signatories say the bill is designed to free “shrewd guys” from criminal liability and undermines the fight against corruption.

Vladimir Cebotari: Bill on economic offenses omits any reference to banking fraud

The bill that is to “de-criminalize” the economic offenses, which was proposed to the Cabinet on December 13, omits any reference to the offenses related to the banking fraud and no speculations on the issue can be thus accepted, Minister of Justice Vladimir Cebotari stated in the talk show “Fabrika” on Publika TV channel. “The previous variants that were proposed for consultations also contained very clear mechanisms that had been discussed with prosecutors and the National Anticorruption Center. They prevented any type of clemency and freeing form punishment of those who were involved in the banking fraud or are to blame for it,” stated the minister. According to him, the bill says it clearly that the concessions do not apply to articles concerning an ongoing investigation, a trial or an accusation over the banking fraud. Vladimir Cebotari said one of the main concessions envisioned by the bill for the business community is the fact that if the entrepreneur made a mistake unintentionally, he will not be arrested and his business will not be closed. The condition is for him to repair the mistake in a reasonable timeframe. Alina Andriuta, cofounder of Angry Business, said there will be entrepreneurs who will try to profit from this law and will resort to tax evasion, but they bank on the fact that the entrepreneurs want a healthy business climate. “I want to believe that this law will not be used for evil purposes, but we are realistic and anticipate that there will be persons we will try to make use of it. But the law was designed so as to penalize those who pursue evil goals and it is thus very equitable,” she stated, noting that the delay in adopting this law will affect the business climate. A number of civil society organizations signed an appeal whereby they call on the Ministry of Justice not to promote the draft law that “de-criminalizes” economic offenses. The signatories say the bill is designed to free “shrewd guys” from criminal liability and undermines the fight against corruption.

● FRIDAY, December 15

Political agenda of PDM will be aimed at coming closer to people and their problems, resolution

The activity of the Democratic Party (PDM) will continue to center on such principles as attitude to the people, care for them, justness, development, dignity and values. These objectives are contained in the resolution adopted by the National Political Council of the PDM in a meeting in the evening of December 14. “Together with our colleagues, we assessed the activity of the party, our representatives in the Government and Parliament during a year, which is since our last congress that was held in December 2016. As the president of the Democratic Party, I presented a progress report covering this period,” the Liberal leader Vlad Plahotniuc stated in a press briefing after the Council’s meeting. Speaking about the main theses from the resolution, Vlad Plahotniuc said the attitude is one of the principles based on which the party will work. “The change in the political class should start from politicians, first of all from a change of attitude to the people, from the assumption of responsibilities, from the clear orientation of their activity to people’s interests. The reform of the political class that we launched this year should be continued based on this objective – radical change in the politicians’ attitude to the people,” said the leader of the PDM. According to the resolution, education is one of the areas in which a lot had been improvised the previous years, with extremely negative effects on children, parents and teachers. It is a difficult and bureaucratic area that necessitates profound changes. The healthcare and social protection are areas where the people expect the state to become involved more and the PDM will soon present a new concept of managing these areas, which will be based on their modernization and elimination of abuses and social inequity. Justice is another mentioned principle. “The people say they feel wronged in a number of areas, starting with the way in in which justice functioned during these years and ending with the way in which the investigation and inspection bodies worked. It’s true that the Republic of Moldova is a country where the level of abuses in this field is yet high. That’s why the PDM launched broad actions to reduce the number of inspection bodies whose main duty was to harass the people, both ordinary people and businessmen. It is an area where we will continue to clean up, even with more firmness and determination, so that the people no longer live in fear owing to the abuses committed during many years against them,” says the resolution. In the immediate future, the PDM will launch a broad program to build and rehabilitate national roads as this is an area that necessitates urgent state intervention. “For the next few years, we wil propose an ambitious program for the Moldovan communities entitled “One asphalted road in each village” by which to considerably improve infrastructure and realize the development potential of villages. This program will start at the beginning of 2018,” stated the politician. Vlad Plahotniuc noted that the Moldovans should regain dignity – either it is about the method in which they are treated by the national state institutions or it is about the attitude coming from outside the country. “The policies and actions of the PDM are and will be further aimed at respecting and protecting the dignity of Moldovans. It’s time for Moldova to have a firm voice at the foreign level and we are very motivated to give content to these aspirations of ours, as a country and as society,” said the Democratic leader. The politician also said that the PDM believes in the European values and promotes them by the reforms done by its representatives in the Government and Parliament. The European integration should be freed from political populism and incorporated into the national country development strategy. “Our representatives in the Government and Parliament will have the task of respecting these working principles and will be periodically assessed depending on results so that we do not lose the dynamics of changes, motivation and professionalism,” reads the resolution.

IPN: Monitor of Official Gazette, 15.12.2017

The December 15 issue of the O.G. starts with the Law on banking activity (No. 202, October 6, 2017), which was adopted on the Government’s initiative. This transposes several directives and regulations of the European Parliament and European Council concerning access to the activity of lending institutions and prudential supervision of lending institutions and investment funds, which were published in the Official Journal of the European Union in June 2013. The law is designed to develop the inspection duties of the National Bank of Moldova and to adjust the national legislation to international standards and practices. It should be noted that under the new law that will take effect on January 1, 2018, within five months all the banks that hold licenses issued by the National Bank of Moldova in accordance with the Law on Financial Institutions (No. 550 of 21.07.1995), which was almost fully substituted by the given law, are obliged to obtain new licenses and to update the statutes and own regulations, in accordance with the new requirements. The Law on Savings and Loans Associations No. 139/2007 was amended also on the Government’s initiative in a move to protect the interests of depositors and to ensure the stability of the financial system. A new notion was introduced by the changes – risk management – and a special procedure applying to such associations in difficulty was instituted. Earlier, Law No. 139/2007 was amended for several times, the last time on July 21 this year. The current issue of the O.G. also contains two documents concerning the working out of important strategies: Decree on the constitution of the commission for thinking up the National security strategy of the Republic of Moldova (No. 478, December 11, 2017) and Government Decision on the approval of the draft Parliament Decision concerning the adoption of the National defense strategy and the plan of action for implementing this for 2017-2021 (No. 1043, December 5, 2017). The current law on the approval of the National security conception of the Republic of Moldova (No. 112/2008) defines the national security goals, values and general principles that are to be protected by the Moldovan state and society. The law provides that after the conception is adopted, the National security strategy of the Republic of Moldova will be worked out and approved. This will specify the methods of ensuring national security and the mechanisms of cooperation between the components of the given system. On December 1, we informed the readers about the alarming conclusion of the Parliament Decision on the 2016 annual report of the Court of Auditors on the management and use of public financial resources and public heritage (No. 234, November 16, 2017). The current O.G. contains the quoted report (pages 71-153). The faults identified by the Court of Auditors of the Republic of Moldova are worrisome and not only because of the size of figures. Such reports are annually presented to the Government, Parliament and the Prosecutor General’s Office, but nothing is done to prevent such situations. Among the executive’s acts is the Decision on the approval of the National plan of action on trade facilitation for 2018 – 2020 (No. 1065, December 12, 2017). The document is aimed at optimizing the administrative procedures regulating trade, simplifying customs procedures, implementing the one-stop shop for trade and developing the concept of Authorized Economic Operator and the electronic transit system. Not less important is the Decision on the approval of the Concept for restructuring the railway sector of the state-run Moldova’s Railways for 2018-2021 (No. 1042, December 5, 2017). The two documents are designed to develop trade and communications, which have always been key areas for ensuring the people’s welfare. The Financing contract between the Republic of Moldova and the European Investment Bank for ensuring the electric interconnection between Moldova and Romania (No. 1084, December 13, 2017) is another document designed to stimulate the country’s development. This is a very important and awaited step as the problem of alternative/additional sources for the supply of electric power has been on the agenda since the declaration of the country’s independence. Among the documents of the Central Election Commission is the Decision concerning the invalidation of the local referendum on the dismissal of the mayor general of Chisinau municipality (No. 1274, November 22, 2017). It should be noted that the CEC decision of September 26 this year provided that the referendum will be organized at a cost of 8 910 640 lei. The issue also contains several decisions of the commission on the financial reports of competitors involved in the campaign prior to the new local elections and participants in the local referendum on the dismissal of the mayor general of Chisinau municipality of November 19, 2017. The CEC decisions based on official reports presented to it are rather inoffensive if considering the assessments on the real costs incurred by election runners made public by observers of NGOs.

Andrian Candu: Nobody can edit a report compiled by an international company

Nobody can excerpt, edit or modify somehow else a report produced by an international company, Head of Parliament Andrian Candu said in response to allegations that the  Kroll 2 report on the banking fraud could be published in an “edited” form. The statement was made in the talk show “In Depth” on Pro TV Chisinau channel. “The international company will issue us with the report and we requested it to find a way for this report to be made public. Discussions are now held between the National Bank and Kroll to find a solution as the contract was signed between them. As far as I know, a decision as to when and how it will be published wasn’t yet reached,” stated Andrian Candu. The Speaker noted that after the Kroll 2 report is issued, a strategy for recovering the stolen assets from abroad will be agreed with this company or another investigation agency as swiftly as possible. “This thing was also agreed with the International Monetary Fund and we will see more investigations abroad, besides those conducted at home by prosecutors and the recovery agency,” said Andrian Candu. He also said that the trace of money will never disappear. “We will look for it and will find it today or tomorrow and will bring it back to the country,” stated the Speaker, adding he is not satisfied with the way in which justice works in relation to the banking fraud. “I’m not satisfied, but I will not phone the judge to tell him to faster translate a decision,” he noted. Andrian Candu said over 900 million lei has been recovered until now from all the possible sources in the process of liquidating the consequences of the banking fraud. According to him, the information that will come from Kroll will be made public by December 20.

New approach is needed to better promote Moldovan wines abroad, statement

A new approach to production is needed to better promote the Moldovan wines abroad. According to the Moldovan authorities, the wineries in Moldova should produce wine from combined types of grapes, not from only one type as until now, director of the National Office of Vine and Wine Gheorghe Arpentin said in a tasting event where 20 types of wine made from national types of grapes were presented. According to Gheorghe Arpentin, the combination of sorts of grapes can be a new profile for the Moldovan wines. In connection with global warming, an increasing number of wines accumulate sugar and, respectively, a high level of alcohol and are thus not in demand on the market as the consumers now want lighter wines. “The national grapes are very well adjusted to our climate and we should realize what we have to do based on this,” said the Office’s director. He also said that the National Catalogue contains 42 types of grapes for making wine, but the vineyards in Moldova 55% consist of five types of grapes from which 85% of the Moldovan wine is made. “We now have only wine made from one type of grapes and we encounter difficulties on foreign markets as we do not have what to show to distinguish ourselves from those who sell the same Savignon, Cabernet, Merlot etc.”, concluded Gheorghe Arpentin. Ion Luca, director of the winery “Carpe Diem Wines”, said the domestic types of grapes have been the most serious challenge during the last few years and each producer is doing their best to cope. Such wines as Cabernet, Chardonnay and Merlot, which are made from one type of grapes, are sold all over the world, but the consumers now look for combined wines that have a different aroma and taste. “These are unique and interesting and can be found nowhere else,” stated Ion Luca. Diana Lazar, vice director of the USAID Moldova Competitiveness Project, said Moldova can distinguish itself abroad and can become much more interesting for foreign consumers if it combines types of grapes through which Moldovan traditions and specific features can be transmitted. “All the top international wines are specific as they are a perfect combination of different types of grapes,” she stated. The tasting event involved Swedish sommelier Andreas Larsson, who is considered one of the most important wine critics and tasters. In 2007 he was named the best sommelier in the world. He came to create mixtures of wines from national types of grapes.

European support for “green growth” in Moldova

During five years, the European Union, together with the development partners, has promoted the “green growth” in the Republic of Moldova through a project to green the economies in the Eastern Partnership countries. In Moldova, a number of companies helped implement mechanisms for the efficient use of resources. Now they can economize on water and energy, Aneil Singh, Head of the Operations Section of the EU Delegation to Moldova, said in a conference held on December 15. Within the EU-funded Project “Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighborhood” that was launched in 2013, there were developed strategic planning policies in the field of green economy and national “green growth” indicators. There were strengthened the capacities of experts and officials in the field of strategic environmental planning and environmental assessment. There were implemented two pilot-projects on the strategic assessment of Orhei town and the program for promoting green economy nationwide. Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Vasile Bitca said the project envisions relevant actions in ecological agriculture, strategic environmental assessment, regional development and planning, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. These measures bring a realistic view as to the promotion of green economy in Moldova. The Government’s deputy secretary general Valentin Guznac said important measures to promote green economy in key sectors were integrated into the program for promoting green economy in Moldova, which, after public consultations and assessment by ministries, is now at the Ministry of Justice and will be presented to the Cabinet for examination and approval by this yearend. “We will promote the principle of green economy in all the sectors nationwide so as to ensure sustainable economic development and the welfare of the population of the Republic of Moldova,” stated Valentin Guznac. Iuliana Dragalin, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, noted that the development of the potential of greening the SMEs, promotion of environmental management standards at these enterprises alongside quality management standards, enhancement of energy efficiency, more intense use of renewable sources of energy and reduction of dependence on imported energy can create preconditions for a sustainable economy, for improving competitiveness and further conquering regional and global markets. Rodica Iordanov, executive director of the public association “EcoContact”, said that owing to this project that was implemented with the involvement of a number of environmental NGOs, the method of cooperation was modified and now they all have the same interest. They all want to improve the quality of environment in Moldova and to create favorable conditions for the economic and social development of the country.

Parliament lifts restrictions on opening of drugstores

Parliament passed a bill to amend the Law on Drugstores and lift a number of restrictions on the opening of pharmacies by 69 votes in favor. The bill modifies Article 19 of the law. Paragraph 4 that is removed provides that the newly founded drugstores will be placed at a distance of at least 250 meters of an existent pharmacy and at a distance of at least 500 meters of an existent drugstore that sells and also prepares medicines. In the previous version of the law, there were stipulated demographic norms for opening drugstores. Thus, a pharmacy could be founded for 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants. This provision was also eliminated, as was the provision concerning the founding of drugstores in accordance with the National Pharmacy Location Plan.

2018 state social insurance budget and mandatory health insurance funds laws adopted

The legislative body on December 15 passed the state social insurance budget law and the mandatory health insurance funds law for 2018 in the final reading. The revenues of the state social insurance budget next year will total 19.247 billion lei, 34.8% of which will be transfers from the state budget. The state social insurance contributions were planned at 12.546 billion lei. The state social insurance contribution remained at the level of 29%, of which 23% is paid by employers and 6% by employees. The contribution to the remuneration fund intended for persons employed based on an individual work contract in agriculture was kept at 22%, 6% of which will be subsidized from the state budget. The individual entrepreneurs, lawyers, notaries, bailiffs and other persons who work on their own and the holders of entrepreneur’s patent next year will pay a contribution of 8,424 lei. The same sum will be paid by private individuals for voluntary insurance, based on an individual contract signed with the National House of Social Insurance. The fixed insurance tax for farmland owners or lessees who cultivate the land individually will be 2,148 lei. The revenues and expenditure of the mandatory health insurance funds for next year were projected at 6.659 billion lei each. The mandatory health insurance premium in the form of percentage contribution paid from the salary and other recompenses remained at the level of 9%, which is 4.5% for employers and as much for employees. The premium in fixed sum also remained at this year’s level of 4,056 lei. The 50% reduction if the health policy is purchased by April 1 was kept. The reduction for farmland owners is of 75%.

Specialists of Rosselkhoznadzor to visit Moldova

A delegation of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia, Rosselkhoznadzor, will be paying a visit to Moldova during December 18 – 21, at the invitation of the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA). According to the NFSA, during the visit the Russian specialists will familiarize themselves with technologies to make and keep products of vegetal origin intended for export. In the course of the year, the Agency insisted that Rosselkhoznadzor should examine the applications to export vegetal products to Russia received from 264 potential exporters of fruit from Moldova. The National Food Safety Agency voiced hope that the Moldovan fruit and vegetable growers that meet the export conditions will be able to sell their products to Russia as a result of this visit.

● SATURDAY, December 16

2018 state budget law passed in final reading

The MPs on December 15 adopted the 2018 state budget law in the final reading by 55 votes in favor. According to the head of the Parliament’s commission on budget and finance Stefan Creanga, the document was designed based on the economic development forecast for 2018-2020 and the objectives of the fiscal policy for 2018. The budget provides for revenues of 36.6 billion lei, an increase of 8.4% on this year, and for an expenditure of 41.3 billion lei, up 9.4%. The budget deficit is of 4.7 billion lei. The allocations planned for 2018 will go to cover the priorities in the fields of activity, according to the national and sector policy documents, to continue reforms initiated in such areas as social protection, education, health, public order and justice, to implement the legislation on remuneration in the budget-funded sector and the projects and measures specified in the agreements signed with the development partners. The same day, the MPs passed the fiscal and customs policy for 2018 in the final reading. The document is aimed at strengthening the institutional capacities of the state in order to accumulate revenues and optimize fiscal and customs administration and to reduce the proportions of tax evasion. Under the law on public finances and budgetary-fiscal responsibility, the annual budget laws are examined and adopted in two readings. The general indicators of the budget, such as the revenues, expenditure and deficit, are adopted in the first reading, while in the second reading the MPs consider each article apart or, as a whole, taking into account the submitted proposals and objections.

Fruit and vegetable storage capacity stands at 78.4%

In Moldova, there are 338 cold storage facilities with a capacity of 196,100 tonnes. The temperature for 120,000 tonnes of these can be controlled. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, the storage capacity is insufficient given that the quantity of fruit and vegetables that needs to be stored is of about 250,000 tonnes. In a response to an inquiry made by IPN News Agency, the Ministry said the fruit and vegetable storage capacity now stands at 78.4%. When production volumes rise, the storage necessities will also grow as the value of agricultural production and the profit of companies need to be increased. The development of postharvest infrastructure and of the whole pre-cooling, sorting and freezing process is aimed at obtaining products with a high value added. When the necessary infrastructure is ensured, the agricultural producers can obtain homogenous products packed according to the market requirements and with a long use-by date. The products can be thus sold throughout the season at higher prices both at home and abroad, says the informative note of the Ministry. In 2016, there were launched ten new sorting lines. The data for this year are not yet available. State investments in the development of postharvest infrastructure came to 363.9 million lei.

Fine of 3.5m lei for cartel agreement between two companies

The companies “Dominic” SRL and “Comert - Gaz” SRL were fined over 3.5 million lei for violating the competition legislation. The Competition Council said the companies concluded a harsh horizontal anti-competitive agreement, taking part with rigged bids in a public tender contest held by the municipal road maintenance company Autosalubritate, which is a serious violation of competition rules. In a press release, the Competition Council noted that the fine for “Comert - Gaz” was reduced because the company cooperated with the Council during the investigation and provided the required information and details of the concluded anti-competitive agreement. Thus, “Dominic” SRL was fined 2 571 671 lei, while “Comert - Gaz” SRL – 998 343 lei. The fine is to be paid into the state budget within 60 days. Under the legislation on competition, any agreements between companies or associations of companies, any decision by associations of companies and any concerted practices that are aimed at hampering, restraining or distorting competition on the market in Moldova or on a part of it are banned.

Labor supply can be stimulated by policies centered on youth, families and elderly people

The economic activity of the population decreased in the first half of this year despite the economic growth. The economic activity rate, adjusted according to season, fell by 0.7% to 42.3%. Such contracting of the economic activity indicator has rather a statistical effect as it is distorted by the demographic and external migration effects, said experts of the independent think tank “Expert-Grup”. The exclusion of these factors can result in a higher activity rate for the last few years. The rate would rise by about 10% to 53 – 54% and this level would be comparable to that in the region, say authors of the study “Analysis of economic growth in the Republic of Moldova in the fourth quarter of 2017”. According to the experts, such an adjustment of the indicators is necessary in order to exactly determine the active population on the domestic labor market and the growth potential of the labor supply. The probability that the activity rate will grow in the immediate future is rather low owing to the rapid ageing of the population. The aging effect will intensify in the immediate future and will push down the aggregate activity rate. The experts of “Expert Grup” consider that in the medium and long run the labor supply can be stimulated by active aging policies and by encouraging groups with low activity rates – young people and women – to take part in the labor market. The recent amendment made to the Labor Code to decrease the unpaid childcare leave by two years, from six to four, was a step forward in stimulating the women’s participation in the labor market. But these efforts produce effects only in the long run and will have a rather compensatory effect.