● MONDAY, July 18
Association of Poultry Industry Producers issue warning
The Association of Poultry Industry Producers raised again the theme of the import of poultry from Ukraine, signaling that the volumes continue to grow and this causes problems to the local producers. It warns that an increasing number of Ukrainian companies get authorization for supplying poultry to Moldova, while the national producers become more vulnerable and face the risk of reducing production and the number of workplaces. “In June 2015, when debating the agricultural package and in the context of the discussion on the opportunity of reducing VAT on the sale of meat, the Ministry of Economy promised to shortly introduce measures to protect the national producers from poultry imports from Ukraine. However, when the measures to limit imports from Ukraine were discussed in the first quarter of this year, the poultry was ultimately excluded from the list of products on which import duties were imposed, without explanations. The Association of Poultry Industry Producers, taking into account the significant rise in poultry imports from Ukraine, calls on the Government to return to the issue,” the Association says in a press release.
Unused pesticides will be transported to Poland
Over 360 tonnes of banned pesticides from the stockpile of Pascani village of Criuleni district are to be transported to Poland by the end of August for being burned within the regional FAO project “Improving capacities to eliminate and prevent recurrence of obsolete pesticides as a model for tackling unused hazardous chemicals in the former Soviet Unions”. In a press release, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry says that following multiple activities, in June the Republic of Moldova obtained a transit notification from Ukraine. This made the initiation of the transportation works possible. During July 1-15, over 70 tonnes of pesticides were already transported to Poland by a Czech company. The activities are carried out according to plan and are to be completed by the end of August.
● TUESDAY, July 19
Premier requests to hasten approval of Unified Report
Prime Minister Pavel Filip instructed the minister of finance and the minister of economy to hasten the examination and countersigning of the draft decision on the implementation of the Unified Report project to unify five reports on the payment of salaries and taxes. According to the Government’s press office, the measure is designed to facilitate the work of business entities by diminishing the time and costs associated with the compilation and presentation of reports to public authorities, eliminating information doubling, reducing the reported data by about 40% and creating the conditions needed for legal entities to interact with one authority instead of three, as now.
Customs Service launches Green and Red Corridors at customs posts
The Customs Service launched two passageways – the Green Corridor and the Red Corridor – at the border crossing points Sculeni, Leuseni, Giurgiulesti and Tudora with the aim of accelerating passenger and freight traffic. In a press release, the Customs Service says the move follows the considerable increase in the flow of passengers after the liberalization of the visa regime for Moldovans and introduction of amendments that enable the EU citizens to cross Moldova’s border, including based on ordinary identity cards.
● WEDNESDAY, July 20
Moldovan-German partnership for increasing efficiency of National Employers Confederation
The National Employers Confederation of Moldova was included in a program of cooperation that involves a number of German partners. The project is implemented with the support of the association “Eurochambres” within the East-Invest II Program. The goal of the project is to increase the relevance of the National Employers Confederation by working out a development strategy, with emphasis on services, and by implementing new services. The first event of the project was staged on February 8-12, when the representative of SEQUA gGmbH Anastasia Thulke and the representative of Bildungswerk der Wirtschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Henry Zimmermann had been on a working visit to Chisinau, where there were identified the Confederation’s main development directions and top priorities, especially aspects of the implementation of services provided to members.
UniAgroProtect: Barley and wheat prices are diminished artificially
The association of agricultural producers UniAgroProtect said the purchase prices of barley and wheat at national producers is decreased artificially by buyers. The association’s leader Alexandru Slusari issued a letter by which he requests the Competition Council to examine the situation on the grain market. In the letter that was disseminated to the press, Alexandru Slusari says the price of food wheat barely reaches 2.2 lei per kilogram, while the purchase price of barley fell to 1.7-1.8 lei per kilogram. In the neighboring countries Ukraine and Romania, the prices oscillate between 3 and 3.2 lei in ports and between 2.8 and 3.2 lei at traders.
Lithuania to assist colleagues from Moldova in combating swine fever
The Embassy of Lithuania in Moldova and the State Food and Veterinary Service of Lithuania signed an agreement within the program to develop cooperation and promote democracy in a move to implement the project “Consolidation of institutional capacities for monitoring, eradicating and controlling contagious diseases in animals”. The goal of the project is to offer assistance to the National Food Safety Agency. In a press release, the Embassy of Lithuania says the assistance will consist in building the administrative and institutional capacities, especially by reorganizing and strengthening of the legal framework for controlling and combating the African swine fever. The project will include fact-finding visits by specialists of the National Food Safety Agency to Lithuania and training sessions staged by Lithuanian experts for Moldovan colleagues.
● THURSDAY, July 21
Clearer procedures regarding foundation and running of state-owned companies
The methods of registering and running state-owned (municipal) companies, of managing their property and of liquidating them are defined in the draft law on the state-run enterprise that was approved by the Cabinet. Thus, to prevent the sale of public property with social purpose (housing stock, kindergartens and summer camps), the bill bans the repaying of companies’ debts to the state and other creditors with this. The given property will be transmitted to the state-owned (municipal) company only for using it for economic purposes and will be indicated in the accounting records in separate reports. The other property will be included in the share capital. In this regard, it is suggested setting a cap of 20,000 lei for the share capital of state-owned (municipal) companies. Among sources for the formation of share capital can be property and cash belonging to founders, except for property classed as public.
Polish loan for farmers was missed because of authorities, opinions
The Polish loan of €100 million provided to Moldovan farmers in May 2014 was missed owing to the authorities. The issue was developed in the talk show “Place for dialogue” on the public station Radio Moldova. Radu Mudreac, who heads the parliamentary commission on agriculture and food industry, said the Government deliberately crated obstacles to famers in accessing the loan offered by the Government of Poland. “It is a tragic situation and a destructive policy. The Ministry of Finance ignored the applications of farmers. It lobbied for commercial banks. The Government’s decision to authorize the commercial banks to distribute the Polish loan is unjustified. The interest on the loan will be higher and will not be so accessible to farmers, especially the beginning ones,” stated the MP.
Government approves method of distributing subsidies to farmers
The executive agreed on the method of distributing the agriculture subsidization fund for this year. According to Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Eduard Grama, the 900 million lei earmarked for the purpose (including the 387 million lei provided within the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development) will be allocated for increasing the competitiveness of the agrifood sector, for modernizing this, for ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources and for increasing investments in the rural service infrastructure. Subsidies will be provided to farmers who aim to adjust their products to the European standards, including the packing. The agriculture subsidization fund will be managed by the Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture.
Government approves unification of reports on salaries and taxes
The Cabinet endorsed the bill to implement the common report on salaries and related taxes. The measure is designed to facilitate the work of business entities by diminishing the time and costs associated with the compilation and presentation of reports to public authorities. Instead of presenting five reports to three institutions in different periods of time, the business entities will submit the report FSIC16 to one institution by the date of 25 of each month. The common report will include the report on the value of income taxes paid; the declaration on the calculation and utilization of mandatory state social insurance contributions; the insured person’s declaration, including the form REV-2; the report on the calculation of mandatory health insurance premiums, and the form 2-03/l. These are regularly presented to the State Tax Service, the National Health Insurance Company and the National House of Social Insurance.
Young entrepreneurs can apply for grants from Business People Association
The Moldova Business People Association will offer new grants for developing businesses from the youth entrepreneurship support fund. The deadline for submissions is August 19, 2016. The second round of grants for business development this time is intended mainly for Moldovans who work abroad and want to return home and for their relatives. The grants will consists of 50,000.00 lei each, which is provided for developing the business, and of training programs.
● FRIDAY, July 22
Period of liquidation of banks extended
The process of liquidating the banks whose licenses were withdrawn by the National Bank of Moldova was extended from three to five years, with the possibility of prolonging it for two more years. For the purpose, Parliament adopted a legislative initiative to amend and supplement the Law on Financial Institutions and the Law on the State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs. According to the informative note to the bill, the liquidators of the banks meet with difficulties in this process in connection with the prolonged examination of disputes in court. In February 2016, there were 11 banks under liquidation: BCA “Bancosind”, “BIID MB” SA, BC “Basarabia”, Bank “Guinea” SA, BCA “Intreprinzbanca”, BCI “Oguzbank” SA, BC “Investprivatbank” SA, Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala, Unibank, and Universalbank.
Successes and failures in subsidization of agriculture
The implementation of the conception concerning the agriculture subsidization system for 2008 – 2015, which was worked out and promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry in concert with associations of producers and other civil society organizations, enabled to think up a common agriculture subsidization system, says the study “Subsidization of agriculture in the Republic of Moldova – reforms and failures” that was presented by the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul”. Study authors Viorel Chivriga and Diana Enachi mentioned also other results in the implementation of the conception, including the setting of priority directions and sectors of agriculture that benefit from financial support from the state, determination of the mandatory criteria when setting the eligibility criteria for the recipients of subsidies and creation of the institutional system for managing the financial resources intended for subsidization.
● SATURDAY, July 23
Average salary rose on paper, but is smaller in relation to prices
The nominal gross average salary for this May increased. The National Bureau of Statistics said this rose by 7.5% compared with last May, to 4,863 lei. In the budgetary sphere, the average salary was 4,177 lei, up 3% on last May. In the real sector, the average salary was 5,152 lei, an increase of 9.2% on May 2015. Divided by areas, the salary in wholesale trade rose by 17.2% to 4,483 lei, in accommodation and public food – by 15.2% to 3,420 lei, while in the information and communication technology sector – by 15.6% to 10,869 lei.
