● MONDAY, March 13

Farmers are 97% supplied with seeds 

The Moldovan farmers are 97% supplied with crop seeds. Of the necessary amount of 35,000 tonnes, more than 34,000 tonnes are available in national storehouses. Of these, 32,500 tonnes have been already tested in lab conditions. Dumitru Rusu, head of the Seed Control Division of the National Food Safety Agency, told a news conference that the farmers are worst supplied with vegetable seeds, which they import. Corn, pea and sunflower seeds are also imported. The specialist said the inspectors are now checking the local agricultural storehouses so as to prevent the sale of unfit seeds. The seeds are also examined and certified through lab tests.

Meat processing factory to be erected in Balti 

A meat processing factory will be constructed in Balti town in 2017-2018 with investments of €14 million. The project will be implemented by the company “Produse de Familie” that owns the brand Filletti in Moldova and by “Basarabia-Nord”, with the involvement of Italian investors and with financial support from European grant programs. According to the director general of the meat processing company “Basarabia Nord” Dumitru Munteanu, the new factory will use innovative energy saving technologies and will fully meet the European standards.

African swine fever confirmed in Soroca district 

Rublenita village of Soroca district will be in quarantine for 60 days owing to the African swine fever confirmed there by specialists of the National Food Safety Agency. The Agency’s vice director general Vsevolod Stamati told a news conference the virus was allegedly brought from Ukraine, where there are 210 hotbeds of African swine fever. Vsevolod Stamati said the hotbed in Moldova was identified in Rublenita on March 10 and sanitary restrictions were imposed on March 11. Based on a decision by the head of Soroca district, the area was officially declared unfavorable. Currently, over 3,000 pigs are raised in Rublenita, which almost fully supplies Soroca district with pork. There are 17 farms in Soroca district, which breed about 2,500 pigs, while over 17,000 pigs are raised in the private sector.

UniAgroProtect has a new leader 

The Board of the National Association of Agricultural Producers UniAgroProtect accepted the resignation of chairman Alexandru Slusari and chose Valeriu Mironescu as the new head by a unanimous vote. Alexandru Slusari said he decided to leave as he considers the post of UniAgroProtect chairman is incompatible with that of vice president of the Political Party “Platform Dignity and Truth”. According to him, any of his statements about the problems faced by farmers is described by the government as political. He considers his chairmanship of the association is already noxious.

● TUESDAY, March 14

Individual entrepreneurs expected to submit tax returns by March 25 

The deadline for presenting tax returns by private individuals who practice entrepreneurial activities (peasant farms, individual enterprises) is different from the time limit set for the other private individuals – taxpayers. This is March 25, as in the case of legal entities. Given that March 25 this year fells on a Saturday, the time limit will be March 27. For the convenience of taxpayers, the subdivisions of the State Tax Service on March 22-24 will work for two hours more, until 7pm. On March 25, the working program will close at 5pm, while on March 26 at 1pm. The tax returns are submitted to the subdivisions of the State Tax Service that serve private individuals who practice entrepreneurial activities.

● WEDNESDAY, March 15

Cost of doing business in 2016

In Moldova, the time spent by companies dealing with regulatory authorities decreased in 2016, after a decade of no meaningful change, according to the Cost of Doing Business 2016 survey, released by the World Bank Group and the Government of Moldova. Business managers estimate that the total time spent dealing with authorities is now at 7.9%, the lowest level in the past decade, with the indicator usually tracking around 10-11%, and is comparable with the objective set in the Strategy “Moldova 2020”. This improvement has been achieved thanks to trade authorizations reform, which replaced authorizations with a notification system. Other improvements include the introduction of electronic tax reporting and a moratorium on inspections imposed by the Government in 2016.

Deadline for collecting bids to supply electrical power extended

The managers of ICS Gaz Natural Fenosa Furnizare Energie SRL, ICS Red Union Fenosa SA, SA Furnizare Energie Electrica Nord, IS Moldelectrica, SA Red Nord and SA Red Nord Vest informed the Ministry of Economy that they extended the deadline for collecting bids to supply electrical power until March 27. The decision was taken given the absence of guaranteed bids to supply electricity in full amount for the period between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018. As no national or foreign companies submitted guaranteed bids to supply power in full amount, the managers of the aforementioned companies decided to extend the bidding deadline, expressing their confidence that potential supplies will adjust their bids in the immediate future amid transparent competition in the bidding process.

Transnistrian administration bans pork from right side of the Nistru

The Transnistrian administration banned the bringing of pork from the right side of the Nistru River following the discovery of a hotbed of African swine fever in Soroca district. The import of pork from Ukraine, where there were detected over 200 hotbeds, was also banned. The virus spreads very swiftly and poses no threat to humans, but the infected animals die in several days. The virus can be destroyed only by burning the infected animals.

Landline telephony continues to lose ground

Statistics for 2016 show the value of fixed-line telephone services decreased by 14% on 2015 to 876 million lei. The decline was due to the diminution of the number of subscribers and voice traffic in fixed-line telephone networks. During a year the number of subscribed decreased by about 31,200 to almost 1.1 million. According to the data furnished by the 22 active fixed-line telephone providers to the regulator, the number of subscribers of S.A. “Moldtelecom” decreased by over 30,800, while of the alternative providers by 363. As a result, the fixed-line telephone penetration rate per 100 people declined by 0.9 percentage points on 2015, to 32.9%.

UNDP Business Innovation Lab launched in Chisinau

UNDP Moldova launched its first Business Innovation Lab, in the premises of the Tekwill ICT Center of Excellence, a fitting environment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in innovative projects. The Lab will offer tailored trainings and consultancy by international mentors in business innovation. It will also provide matching direct cash support to SMEs for collaborative innovation projects. Project Manager Dumitru Vasilescu said at UNDP’s Business Innovation Lab, one will find absolutely new solutions to cross-cutting constraints to business development in various sectors, including but limited to ICT. The lab will contribute to finding innovative solutions to sector and cross-sector problems and challenges in a collaborative manner.

● THURSDAY, March 16

Fiscal authority to work as single legal entity as of April 1 

Starting with April 1, 2017, the fiscal authority of Moldova will be reorganized and will work as a single legal entity called the State Tax Service. Currently, the fiscal administration system consists of the State Main Tax Inspectorate and 35 local state tax inspectorates. These are distinct legal entities with individual legal-organizational structure, which include maintenance services for each tax inspectorate. State Main Tax Inspectorate chief Sergiu Puscuta told a news conference that the structure of the fiscal authority dates from 1990 and inherited particular aspects typical of the Soviet regime, including the organization according to the territorial principle. This approach does not enable the Service to properly fulfill its duties. There were cases when local tax inspectorates interpreted the fiscal legislation differently. The inspection activities not always produce the expected result owing to the lack of skilled personnel. Besides, the fiscal inspectors of local tax inspectorates know all the local taxpayers and there is a risk that unlawful relations will appear, including corruption.

Commission created by Government decision to manage TARIM database 

The Integrated Customs Tariff of Moldova (TARIM) database will be managed by an interdepartmental commission that will consist of representatives of the Customs Service, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance. The commission will approve the draft regulations and laws that stipulate tariff or economic policy measures and will ensure the correct determination of tariff positions for the categories of goods that require permissive import/export documents or with import/export bans.

“Viitorul” determines efficiency of central bank compared with similar foreign banks 

The Republic of Moldova has the most inefficient central bank among the group of 16 countries analyzed by the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” in terms of number and involvement of employees. Study author Denis Gorea said “Viitorul” decided to compare the efficiency of the National Bank of Moldova’s employees with that of employees of the central banks of other states. In 2015, the NBM had 478 employees, while the National Bank of Sweden 386 employees. Thus, the ratio of the NBM employees to the GDP generated by Moldova is of 1 to US$ 14 million. In Romania, this ratio is of 1 to US$ 93 million.

Jobs created with support from Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation 

Three towns (Ialoveni, Edinet and Straseni) and three villages (Colibasi, Carpineni and Selemet) received grants of US$ 20,000 from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, through the UNDP Migration and Local Development Project to boost local business development. The direct beneficiaries of the projects will be about 200 small and medium enterprises, agricultural producers, processing enterprises from textile, trade and industrial products industries, as well as economic agents - residents of industrial parks of Edinet and Straseni municipalities. The indirect beneficiaries of the projects will be over 1,200 farms from rural areas from closely adjacent localities. Following the implementation of these projects, new jobs, half of which will be taken up by women, will be created.

● FRIDAY, March 17

New company to work in Free Economic Zone “Balti”

The Free Economic Zone “Balti” has a new resident company. This is “Tiglamet” SRL with the investment project “Production of pleated sheets”. The decision was taken by the contest commission for selecting new residents. According to the project, “Tiglamet” SRL will start work in the third quarter of this year at Straseni subzone No.4 of the Free Economic Zone “Balti”.

Women entrepreneurs to be trained at Business Academy 

Three hundred women entrepreneurs will develop their business skills at a Business Women Academy within an initiative promoted by the Organizations for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (ODIMM) with financial support from the European Union. In the launch, ODIMM director Iulia Iabanji said the goal of the project is to create a continuous training system for women entrepreneurs and to promote their economic and social empowerment. The Business Women Academy will support the women entrepreneurs who run businesses started about a year ago and who are now at the moment when stagnation is usually witnessed. Iulia Iabanji said the Academy will help women who want to increase turnover or want to find out why their business does not expand.

Problems of farmers discussed in conference staged with EU support 

In Moldova, over 54% of the population lives in rural areas. This makes the Ministry of Agriculture to make considerable effort to improve the living conditions in rural areas and the conditions for developing agribusinesses, Moldovan officials and EU representatives stated in a roundtable meeting. Iva Stamenova, project manager on agriculture, rural development and food safety at the EU Delegation to Moldova, said the EU agricultural policy is very complex, while in Moldova the European Union contributes to creating opportunities to increase the living standards of the people in rural areas. The rural development policies are closely connected with the economic development, regional development and social policies.

Subscribers to Internet access services go up in number 

The number of subscribers to Internet access services in 2016 increased by 23,000 on 2015 to over 557,000. According to the data collected from 83 fixed broadband Internet service providers, the rise in the total number of subscribers was due to the 9% increase in the number of users connected to the networks by FTTx (Fiber to the premises) technology. The number of subscribers connected based on xDSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology, by coaxial cable (DOCSIS) and based on other technologies decreased.

Moldova has best walnuts in world 

The Moldovan walnut is the best in the world. There is something in the territory between the Prut and Nistru Rivers that make the Moldovan walnuts better than the rest, executive director of the Union of Associations of Walnut Producers of Moldova Constantin Gajim stated. According to the producer, the Moldovan and Chilean walnuts are the most appreciated in the world. The state register of Moldova includes 14 sorts of walnuts, but among the best sorts are Peschianski, Kogalniceanu, Cazacu and Codrene. The sort Costiujenschi yields fewer walnuts, but is a very good pollinizer for the other sorts.

● SATURDAY, March 18

 Average salary in economy at 5,084 last year 

The average salary in the economy in 2016 was 5,084 de lei. The information was presented by the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family in the March 17 number of the Official Gazette. The average pay in 2016 was by 473 lei higher than the average monthly salary in 2015, which was 4,611 lei.