● MONDAY, February 2
Air Moldova suspends flights to Bucharest
Air Moldova has suspended the flights to Bucharest. The information was confirmed by the airline’s marketing manager Natalia Rogovschi. She stated that the key reason is the low number of passengers. The airline will provide more details in the near future. At least in February, the flights will be operated in accordance with the set schedule.
2014 remittances from abroad higher than a year before
The volume of remittances transferred to Moldova from abroad through banks last year totaled US$1.612 million, as against US$1.606 million in 2013. 88.5% of the cash transfers were made through transfer systems without opening bank accounts.
Over 63% of the money transfers were made from the CIS, while 20.2% from the EU. Russia accounted for 61.6% of all the transfers. In January – July last year, this figure rose from 52% to 68.8% and then decreased to 50.4% in December.
● TUESDAY, February 3
Provider of electronic communication services fined
Focus – Sat SRL, which was authorized by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) to provide public electronic communication services, was fined 8,000 lei and banned from providing electronic communication services for a period of six months. The decision was pronounced by the Centru District Court and was upheld by the Chisinau Appeals Court. According to ANRCETI, last July it was established that Focus-Sat SRL didn’t obey the prescription concerning the violations of the obligations laid down in the general authorization conditions.
Focus-Sat will not provide services until June
The company Focus-Sat SRL, which was banned by court decision from providing electronic communication services during a period of six months, will not provide services until June 2. The Chisinau Appeals Court pronounced judgment on December 2, but the court decision reached the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) on February 2. The last time Focus-Sat reported 7,300 subscribers. ANRCETI press officer Anatolie Barbei has told hat the subscribers who have objections can ask to be refunded the money they paid for services in advance. They can also ask the contract to be terminated by a letter and can choose another operator.
● WEDNESDAY, February 4
System of reporting to National House of Social Insurance joined to Msign
The system of reporting to the National House of Social Insurance was connected to the MSign service. Now the economic entities will be able to access the service with the help of all the digital signatures available in Moldova (the signature of the Special Telecommunications Center, mobile signature, and the signature of the Tax Service), while the monthly process of e-reporting to the House will be facilitated. According to a communique of the e-Governance Center, the governmental digital signature service (MSign) is a mechanism for using and checking the authenticity of the digital signature, including in the context of the information systems and electronic services. Through MSign, one can sign documents, reports, declarations to institutions or online applications. Under the legislation of Moldova, the digital signature is equal to the holographic one.
Japan disposed to support cultivation of greens in Moldova
The Japan International Cooperation Agency aims to support the cultivation of greens in Moldova by the hydroponic method, which is without planting them in soil. Acting Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov has told that the given initiative will serve as an example for the national entrepreneurs. A feasibility study is made with the support of the Japanese Government. If the result is positive, Moldova will benefit from investments of US$12 million. “We had a meeting with representatives of Mirai Co. based in Tokyo. It is one of the first companies that developed this method to cultivate salad. Hydroponics is a new method of intensive cultivation of greens, used for the first time in Japan. It is based on methods applied in 1957”, said the official.
Suppliers and importers of medicines ask for VAT exemptions
The suppliers and importers of medicines demand VAT exemptions for being able to cover the costs incurred when supplying medicines to medical institutions following the depreciation of the leu. The information was communicated by acting Minister of Health Mihai Ciocanu in the February 4 meeting of the specialized parliamentary commission. “The leu depreciated by 20%. The economic entities have the right to a profit margin of 15% within the public tender contests to supply medicines to medical institutions. However, they do not apply the highest margin of 15%, but of only 7% or 10%. Thus, the economic entities say they will sustain losses if they supply medicines at the prices stipulated in the contracts. Only the Government or Parliament can adopt a decision to cover the losses sustained by the economic entities and the exemption from paying VAT is a solution,” stated Mihai Ciocanu.
Moldovans continue to use cards mainly for withdrawing cash
Of the 23.7 million operations performed last year in Moldova with cards issued in the country, 19.1 million were operations to withdraw cash and only 4.6 million were operations to make cashless payments, show data of the central bank. The cards in circulation totaled 1.3 million, an increase of 13.1% on a year before. Economic analyst of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Ion Tornea said there is a tradition and a culture of using cards in Moldova. But the banks and the economic entities do not make effort to popularize these payment methods.
● THURSDAY, February 5
New novelty related to The Bat!
Ritlabs, SRL on February 5 releases The Bat! v6.7.20 and now offers a 64-bit version of the program as well. From now on users can install either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of The Bat! Email Client depending on the bitness of their operating system. Thus, using 64-bit programs in 64-bit operating systems is more secure as threats that particularly target the 32-bit applications are harmless to the 64-bit ones. Data Execution Prevention, a security feature that prevents code execution from system memory reserved for Windows and other authorized programs, is always turned on for 64-bit programs while it might be disabled for 32-bit programs. The 64-bit operating systems offer a higher level of security as its Windows ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) is more effective due to a much larger address space than in 32-bit systems. Additionally, the 64-bit version of Windows automatically rejects drivers without valid digital signatures.
Central bank revises up inflation for 2015
The National Bank of Moldova revised up the inflation rate for 2015. Thus, the average rate of inflation will be 5.8%, up 1.2 percentage points from the projections made last October. In 2016 the inflation was projected at 6.1%. “The new forecast places the inflation in the variation interval of plus-minus 1.5 percentage points from the National Bank’s target of 5% in the next eight quarters, though there is a risk that the inflation will temporarily go above the upper limit,” said the central bank’s governor Dorin Dragutanu.
Company fined almost 116,000 lei for economic concentration
The company “Etalonus-Grup” SRL was fined almost 116,000 lei for performing an economic concentration operation without notifying the Competition Council. The decision was pronounced by the Council on February 5. Andrei Tomsa, senior state inspector at the Competition Council, has told that the company took over another economic entity. Under the Competition Law, the economic concentration operations are subject to evaluation and are then performed after notifying the Competition Council. The economic concentrations are operations carried out by merging with or taking over a legal entity.
Vasile Bumacov: Order is needed at Agency for Payments in Agriculture
Acting Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov said something dubious happens at the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture. The process of providing agricultural subsidies was disrupted last year. In a program on Realitatea TV channel, the official said things at the Agency must be brought in order. He made a relevant call to the future Government and the future administration of the Ministry of Agriculture. “The subsidization fund was managed very well in 2012 and 2013. But something happened afterward. Order is needed at this Agency. I cannot bring things in order myself as all those whom I dismissed were reinstated by court decision,” said the official.
National Bank governor specifies size of loan provided to banks under special administration
The loan granted by the National Bank of Moldova to the banks that are under special administration (Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Sociala) represents 3.5% of the GDP, which is about 4 billion lei, the central bank’s governor Dorin Dragutanu said in a news conference. He argued that the role of the National Bank is to ensure stability in the banking system and thus it took such a step. “We intervened in order to calm things down and to ensure the protection of the private individuals and legal entities that deposited money at these banks,” said the governor. According to him, some of the indicators of the banking system last November, based on which the special administration was instituted at the three banks, were affected by a series of dubious transactions. For example, the volume of new loans provided in lei in the fourth quarter of the year rose two times compared with the similar period of 2013.
● FRIDAY, February 6
We witness collapse of Moldovan leu, experts
The Moldovan leu is depreciating continuously, with some of the decision makers from the banking system favoring this phenomenon, said experts invited to the talk show “Place for dialogue” on the public station Radio Moldova. Economic expert Gheorghe Costandachi made pessimistic forecasts about the stability of the national currency. “Moldova is not a producing country. We do not have surpluses of products and we cannot count on the stability of the leu in the current conditions. The Moldovan economy depends a lot on Russia’s economy, which is in recession. Russia’s bans on the import of Moldovan fruit affected our exports in proportion of at most 8%. But we also export industrial products to Russia and the exports of such products diminished owing to the situation there. It’s practically impossible to export these products to the EU as they do not meet the quality standards. Therefore, the national currency will only decrease in value,” he stated.
● SATURDAY, February 7
Amounts collected into state budget larger than projected
The State Tax Service in the first month of this year managed to collect 661 million lei into the state budget, as opposed to the 636 million lei projected initially. Compared with last January, the rise is of 220 million lei. The head of the State Tax Inspectorate Ion Prisacaru, in a program on Radio Moldova station, said this result shows the taxpayers realize the necessity of fully paying the taxes on time. ”Over the last few years, we changed emphasis in our activity. The Tax Service is not only an inspection and penalization institution. It serves the interests of the taxpayers, trains and informs them so as to help them fulfil their obligations to the budget,” stated Ion Prisacaru.
Moldova to access €53m through ENPARD
Moldova over the next three years will access over €53 million for the strategic modernization of agriculture through the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD), the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agricultue says in a communique. In 2014, the Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agricultue used about 110.7 million lei allocated through the ENPARD funds. There were supported 525 farms and agricultural companies. As a result, there were created more than 1,200 new workplaces.
