● MONDAY, August 1
New grapes of 2022 harvest go on sale
The first table grapes from open-field vineyards appeared in city markets in Moldova a week ago, which is about ten days earlier than last year, according to EastFruit.com. Experts say these are grapes of such types as “Pink Dubovski” and “Super Extra” grown in southeastern Moldova on both sides of the Nistru River, in “half-protected” vineyards. The first lots are small. The farmers retail them themselves without intermediary wholesalers. The prices are about 35-40 lei/kg (US$1.83-2.09 per kg), said the source, noting that the first wholesale lots of early table grapes were purchased from vineyards at such a price last August.
Wholesale price of gas for August rises sharply
Moldovagaz president Vadim Ceban announced the company will buy Russian gas for $1458.5 in August. This is a significant rise from the previous months: in July, Moldova bought gas for $980 per 1,000 cubic meters (+48.8%) and in June the price was $880 (+65.7%).
● MONDAY, August 2
Admission 2022: Education sciences and engineering are essential areas for state
Educations sciences, engineering, information technology and medicine are essential areas for the state. Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Research said the country needs specialists in these fields. Therefore, the Government will finance the training of such specialists. The rector of the Moldova Technical University (UTM), which absorbed the Agrarian University, said that agronomy and veterinary sciences continue to be ignored by the candidates for admission.
We have a harmful contract with Gazprom and we now reap the harvest, opinions
The exorbitant purchase price of gas for August raised again the necessity of negotiating the contract with Gazprom. Representatives of the extraparliamentary opposition accuse the government of negotiating a harmful contract that is detrimental to the citizens of the Republic of Moldova. For their part, representatives of the government said the agreement with Gazprom is exclusively commercial and does not imply political concessions on the part of Chisinau, as it happened under the previous governments. The extraparliamentary opposition said the huge price paid now by Moldova for gas is a consequence of the negotiating team’s incapacity to obtain an advantageous price for the country. The representatives of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” (PPPDA) said that Chisinau constantly concedes to Tiraspol and pays a very high price for gas to Moscow.
● TUESDAY, August 3
“Selecția” Institute of Bălți reports harvest of 7-9 tonnes per ha for some types of wheat
The Bălți Research Institute for Field Crops “Selecția” said that even over 9 tonnes of wheat per hectare were obtained this year as part of research on its experimental lots together with the Technical University of Munich. The study covered seven types of wheat and a hybrid that were sowed on six fields and were treated with mineral and organic fertilizers. Irrigation was performed through aspersion in two stages – immediately after sowing and at the spring vegetation stage, with irrigation norms of 600 m3/ha in both of the cases.
Lowering of temperature and online learning proposed in case of limitation of natural gas supplies
The authorities prepared a number of measures to reduce the impact of possible lower supplies of natural gas. Among these are the daily monitoring of reasonable consumption of energy resources and ensuring of the recommended internal temperature in buildings. This would enable to reduce energy consumption in public and commercial buildings by 10%. The measures are stipulated in a draft decision presented by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development for public debates. The action plan envisions the lowering of the temperature of the heat supplied into the centralized heating system by up to 10% by maintaining the minimum required values, turning off of street lighting at night starting at 11pm, organization of distance learning for educational institutions.
Arbitration Institute in Stockholm rejects suit filed by Airport Invest Ltd against Moldova
The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce rejected the lawsuit filed by Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd against the Republic of Moldova, offering Moldova €216,678.75 in comepstaion for the costs incured in connection with the arbitration, Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco has said. “I remind that by the application to institute arbitral proceedings of May 15, 2020, Komaksavia asked the Arbitration Institute to oblige the Republic of Moldova to continue to implement the contract for the concession of the assets managed by the Chisinau International Airport and the adjoining land. In an alternative way, Komaksavia asked that the Republic of Moldova should pay €883.7 million to it for the expropriation of the alleged investment in connection with the concession contract,” stated the minister.
Country’s vulnerability is social in character, not related to energy, opinions
If the energy situation turns dramatic, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița should go to Russia to negotiate a better price of gas with the Kremlin, said ex-Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alexandru Slusari. According to him, Chisinau should have a dialog with the Russian side and should use the Transnistrian region as a trump card in the negotiations with this. Energy expert Victor Parlicov said the probability that Gazprom will terminate the contract with Moldovagaz is low as this would mean the suspension of gas supplies to the Transnistrian region.
Gas more expensive from August 1
The consumers from August 1 will pay 21.296 lei per cubic meter of gas without VAT. The new prices of gas at exit points from low-pressure gas distribution pipelines were approved by the National Agency for Energy Regulation following an approach made by SA “Moldovagaz”.
The Agency’s representative Ecaterina Strungari said that a number of objective factors were identified for reviewing the prices, including the increase in the average annual price of natural gas from US$696 to US$899 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, which is by about 29%, and the evolution of the average exchange rate of the national currency against the U.S. dollar.
Komaksavia’s reaction to Stockholm arbitral ruling
Komaksavia Airport Invest Ltd says that the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration Institute to reject its claim against the Republic of Moldova is merely “intermediate” and will be challenged in a higher Swedish court. The company also says that the court did not examine the claim on the matters, but only on its admissibility under the Convention on Investment Protection between the Republic of Moldova and Cyprus.
Interest rates on overnight loans and deposits rise
The National Bank’s board increased interest rates on overnight loans and deposits to 23.50% and 19.50% per annum, respectively. It also decided to increase the base rate on main short-term monetary policy operations to 21.50%.
Reserves requirements for Moldovan lei and non-convertible currencies also rose: to 37% for August 16 - September 15, and for September 16 - October 15, to 40%. For freely convertible currencies, reserve requirements rose to 42% and 45% for the periods above.
● THRUSDAY, August 5
Official reserves rising for third consecutive month
For the third consecutive month, official reserve assets are increasing. At the end of July, they amounted to 3.725 billion US dollars, an increase of 108 million dollars compared to June 30s. The National Bank of Moldova says that the increase in official reserve assets was due to net inflows related to the mandatory reserves in foreign currency of the licensed banks in the amount of 66.89 million dollars. It also increased due to net interventions in the domestic foreign exchange market in the form of foreign exchange purchases – $55.00 million. Also adding is a $20.04 million credit from the Polish Government for the financing of the state budget, including for the management of the refugee crisis.
