● MONDAY, July 22

Swine fever outbreak reported in Cahul

Ten pigs were slaughtered after tests confirmed an outbreak of African swine fever in Manta village, Cahul district. Six other animals developed the symptoms in the neighboring village of Pașcani, but the lab results are still pending. Vitalie Carauș, the National Food Safety Agency’s chief veterinarian, told IPN the results from Pașcani will be coming in later today. The affected pigs belong to the brother of the farmer from Manta. In Manta, the slaughtered pigs were buried, and the pen and utensils used in handling the animals were thoroughly disinfected. Almost 100 pigs remaining in the village have been put under supervision.

● TUESDAY, July 23

Cahul, Ungheni to benefit from new project

The border regions of Cahul and Ungheni will benefit from a new project for which the Government today started formal proceedings to receive funding from the European Commission. The project aims to create political, economic and social conditions to increase capacities of both women and men to achieve better living standards and higher-paying jobs in the selected pilot regions.  The project costs are estimated at €23.5 million, with €0.5 offered by the United Nations Development Program and the rest by the European Commission.

Bus crews, truckers can stay in Ukraine for 180 days in 6 months

Moldovan bus crews and truck drivers engaged in passenger and cargo transportation, respectively, in Ukraine will be allowed to stay in the neighboring county for a total 180 days every six months. The Moldovan Minister of Economy and Infrastructure says in a press release that this is a result of the entry into effect of a protocol on international road communications signed with the Ukrainian Government in October 2018.

Ministry of Finance announces tax measures as part of Budget adjustment

The Government plans to cancel tax exemptions enjoyed by the gambling business and public-private partnerships, and annul tax-exempt meal vouchers, among other fiscal measures designed to balance the State Budget. Deficit-wise, one problem highlighted by Finance Minister Natalia Gavriliţa, at a press conference today, was the adoption of the Law Salary at the end of last year without an accurate estimate of the number of budget sector employees. Gavriliţa says this has resulted in 1 billion lei in extra spending over what was originally planned. Further, the Ministry of Finance plans to backtrack on the 10% reduced VAT rate for the hospitality industry, and increase the excise tax on fine-cut tobacco. The construction of a new prison on Chisinau’s outskirts and the implementation of the project “Reform in Education” will be postponed until 2020.

● WEDNESDAY, July 24

Political stability is important for investment climate, discussions

The rule of law and political stability are important for building a competitive investment climate in Moldova. It is also important to restore confidence in the banking sector that now has a very bad image outside the country, stated participants in a new round of discussions staged by the Economic Press Club on July 23. Mariana Rufa, executive director of the European Business Association, said Moldova’s exports to the EU in 2018 would have been larger if the state institutions had invested in systems for tracing the products of animal origin. Such an action has been awaited for five years. The financial sector makes the national businesses non-attractive for investments. The insufficient investments in education and the training of staff needed on the market are also among the pressing problems. “It is very hard to find good specialists, economists, accountants,” stated Mariana Rufa. Executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova Mila Malairău said the Republic of Moldova can attract foreign investment only if it continuously improves the business climate. The justice sector reform and the fight against corruption are important factors that can help attract investment to the country. “Until the market does not protect the made investment, the investors will continue to have reservations or large investors would not be attracted,” noted Mila Malairău.

Slusari: Report on bank fraud could be presented in Parliament at first autumn sitting

The bank fraud inquiry commission’s report could be presented at the first autumn sitting of the legislative body, the commission’s chairman Alexandru Slusari stated in the program “About us” on Jurnal TV channel. According to him, the MPs are close to the moment when this report will be presented and two-three more persons could be questioned by then. “I hope that even if the MPs will go on vacation and we have a difficult period, the report will be completed by September 1. According to the Parliament decision, we must provide it by September 10, but given that parliamentary sittings will not be held in the period, if nothing extraordinary happens we will most probably present the report in the first autumn session of Parliament,” said Alexandru Slusari.

Termoelectrica looking to improve co-generation efficiency

The utility Termoelectrica is working together with the World Bank to identify new solutions to develop co-generation capacities with a view to making the process of generating heat, hot water and electricity more effective. A working visit in this respect was made to the heat-and-power plant CET-Source 2 and the heat-only station CT Vest. “We are permanently looking for technical solutions to make our generation process more effective and safe, and in this regard we count on the support of our World Bank partners, who have helped us make significant progress in improving the performance of our infrastructure,” said Termoelectrica CEO Veaceslav Eni. The World Bank experts commended the progress achieved by Termoelectrica and expressed availability to support such a project, the utility said in a press release.

● THURSDAY, July 25

Gambling business could be brought down by proposed fiscal measures, complain operators

If the latest draft amendments to the Tax Code are signed into law, the gambling industry could be “suffocated” and eventually collapse, said representatives of the industry during public hearings held by Parliament’s Economy Commission. One particular draft amendment proposes to reinstate the tax on gambling income, as the current exemption is regarded as a money laundering and corruption risk. “Money of dubious origin can be declared as gambling winnings,” argues the Ministry of Finance. Yet Vadim Hîncu, general manager of the National Lottery, thinks it doesn’t make sense to tax small winnings, and establishing a threshold for larger taxable winnings instead would be a better idea. The tax wouldn’t affect the National Lottery, but rather the winners would be those hit. The sentiment among players that the government “is stealing from them” could affect sales of the National Lottery, which by the way, – Hîncu recalls – is a state-owned company.

Deposits guaranteed last year rose 2.4 times, report

The deposits guaranteed in 2018 increased from 3.074 billion lei to 7.451 billion lei or 2.4 times. The number of depositors whose deposits are guaranteed is of over 4 million. The figure last year rose by almost 198,000, shows a report for 2018 presented by the bank deposit guarantee fund. The financial resources intended for guaranteeing private individuals’ deposits in the banking system that were accumulated in the fund totaled over 547 million lei by December 31, 2018. As a result of the withdrawal of the licenses of the banks under liquidation, there were paid guaranteed deposits of over 50 million lei. In the course of last year, the bank deposit guarantee fund collected over 60 million lei in quarterly contributions from licensed banks. The revenues from investment activity came to more than 28.7 million lei.

● FRIDAY, July 26

Stands with Moldovan organic products to be set up at 32 embassies

Fifty stands with different national organic products will be installed at 32 embassies of Moldova abroad and at head offices of partner and international organizations. The initiative was put forward by the Investment Agency on the occasion of a year of work and is designed to complement the global organic offer. The stands will contain processed food products, dried fruit and vegetables, tees and cans, honey, walnuts, cold-pressed oils, wines, cosmetic products, etc. These were certified as organic products and were selected according to the regulations worked out by the Investment Agency. Embassy officials in charge will have the task of updating the country’s annual organic offer. As they are mobile, the stands could be moved to take part in relevant foreign exhibitions and fairs.

Parliament Democrats seek Minister Gavrilița’s resignation

The Democratic group filed a motion today in Parliament criticizing Natalia Gavrilița’s two months in office as minister of finance, demanding her resignation. MP Vladimir Cebotari accused Gavrilița of “ineffectiveness and inability to accumulate revenue”, and in particular criticized her proposals to cancel meal vouchers and reinstate a standard VAT rate in the hospitality industry.Besides demanding Gavrilița’s resignation, the Democrats request that the IMF agreement conditions are published and that the fiscal policies are reversed.

Analysis to be conducted to see how foreign assistance is assimilated

The efficient and timely assimilation of the financial assistance provided by the foreign donors is a priority for Moldova, Prime Minister Maia Sandu stated, referring to the money allocated by the EU for implementing three recently approved projects to the value of over €40 million in grants. In the July 26 meeting of the Cabinet, the Premier ascertained with regret that owing to the insufficient absorption of the allocated funds, the implementation of a series of projects is put off from year to year and the population is deprived of the benefits of these projects. In this connection, Maia Sandu asked to conduct an analysis to see how the ongoing projects are being implemented and who bears responsibility for the delays. The assessment covering the financial assistance projects is to be carried out by the Ministry of Finance. The technical assistance projects will be assessed by the State Chancellery.

● SATURDAY, July 27

National Bank extends list of nontransparent jurisdictions

The Executive Board of the National Bank of Moldova approved changes to the list of jurisdictions that do not implement the international transparency standards. In a press release, the bank said the list was supplemented with 16 jurisdictions, namely: Botswana, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Curacao, the Republic of Ghana, Fiji Islands, Labuan Islands, the Maldives, Oman, American Samoa, Morocco, the Mongolian People’s Republic, Palau, Thailand, the Tunisian Republic, Trinidad and Tobago.

Moratorium on applications for obtaining citizenship by investment

A four-month moratorium will be instituted on the receipt of new applications for obtaining Moldovan citizenship by investment, under a bill approved by the Government. Until the four-month period expires, the Government will decide whether to extend the moratorium for another period of at least two months or not. All the applications for obtaining Moldovan citizenship by investment submitted before the bill takes effect will be examined as usual. It should be noted that Parliament gave a first reading to a bill that abrogates the program to grant citizenship by investment. Two persons have been granted Moldovan citizenship by investment so far. One is from Australia and another one is from India. A number of 34 files are being examined.

More money to be allocated for implementing a number of projects

The agreement of assistance for the development objective between the Government of Moldova and the Government of the United States for increasing trade and investments in key sectors, which was signed in September 2016, will be supplemented with US$17.3 million. The Cabinet on July 26 approved the negotiation and signing of an amendment to the given agreement. The implementation of the action plan for using this financing will start this autumn. Another amendment that is to be negotiated and signed envisions the augmentation of the financing intended for implementing the Agreement for More Efficient and Responsible Governance, which was signed by the sides also in September 2016, by US$11.43 million. The financing for both of the projects comes as a grant.

Patent-based retailing activities authorized until 2022

The activities to retail food and perishable products based on patent could be carried out until December 31, 2022. The Cabinet approved relevant changes to the law on the entrepreneur’s  patent. They refer only to the private individuals who on December 31, 2019 will hold a patent allowing them to perform such activities. Through its decision, the Cabinet promised that within the next exercise to amend the Tax Code it will make changes that will contribute to simplifying the fiscal regime of private individuals who work independently in retail trade so as to diminish the administrative burden on them. The individual activity in retail trade is an alternative to the entrepreneur’s patent approved by the executive, but this wasn’t accepted by patent holders given that they have to respect a number of conditions, including possessing a cash register.