● TUESDAY, October 9

Official foreign exchange reserves on the rise

The official foreign exchange reserves at the end of this September were over US$ 3.021bn, up US$ 57.96m compared with August 24. The rise in the official foreign exchange reserves was determined by foreign currency purchases made on the domestic market totaling US$ 52.8m and the rise in the exchange rates of the currencies that form part of the foreign exchange reserves against the US dollar, totaling US$12.09m. The loans and grants registered in favor of the Ministry of Finance for investment projects came to US$ 4.23m. The revenues from managing the foreign exchange reserves added up to US$ 4.13m, while the net inflows in the account of the Credit Line Directorate came to  US$ 2.21 million. The increase in assets was also determined by the registration of US$ 0.11m in budget support that came from the International Development Association and other net inflows of US$ 0.64 million in favor of the Ministry of Finance.

● WEDNESDAY, October 10

Program to support entrepreneurial skills of youths agreed

The program to support the entrepreneurial skills of young people for 2018-2020 entitled “Start for the Youth, a sustainable business at home” was approved by the Cabinet. Within the program, the young people’s access to information about the starting and development of businesses and to entrepreneurship training will be improved. Assistance will be offered in establishing relations of cooperation with potential national and foreign partners. The participants in the program will benefit from a business voucher to access training and consultancy services to the value of at most 10,000 lei and from state financing for implementing the investment project. The financing will represent 80% of the necessary amount, but not more than 180,000 lei per business.

Tax and customs concessions on import of cult images

The Cabinet approved the regulations concerning the method of providing tax and customs concessions on the import of cult images and the list of beneficiaries of such concessions. Under the regulations, only the religious organizations and third persons included in the list of beneficiaries approved by the Cabinet could enjoy tax and customs concessions on the import of such religious objects.

Three regulations on government procurement through M-Tender platform

The Cabinet approved three regulations concerning the government procurement procedures through the online platform M-Tender. The regulation on the method of keeping the State Register of Government Procurement defines the tasks and duties of the participants in the system and the method of conducting all the procurement procedures. The participants could interact with other state information systems, such as the State Population Register, the State Register of Legal Entities and the Information Systems of the State Tax Service.

Land Registration and Property Valuation Project to be implemented in Moldova

The International Development Association (IDA) that forms part of the World Bank Group will offer Moldova €30.1 million for implementing the Land Registration and Property Valuation Project. The agreement with the IDA that was signed on September 17, 2018 was approved by the Cabinet and is to be submitted to Parliament for ratification. The largest part of the financial assistance provided by the IDA, €15.3 million, will be used on the primary registration of real estate, while €5 million will go to valuate property. The land administration system will benefit from €7.8 million in financing for strengthen its capacities. The rest of the money will be used to consolidate project management and capacities.

Veterinarians College to be founded in Moldova

A legislative initiative to create the Veterinarians College was debated by the Parliament’s commission on agriculture and food industry on October 10 and will be submitted to the legislature for consideration. The College will manage the fundamental aspects of the sanitary-veterinary activities and will coordinate the continuous professional development of specialists. The Veterinarians College will be an autonomous, apolitical and nonprofit professional organization that will mandatorily include all the veterinarians of the Republic of Moldova. Its annual revenues will consist of the annual membership dues.

● THURSDAY, October 11

Japan is third donor of assistance for Moldova

The financial assistance provided by Japan since the establishment of bilateral relations with the Republic of Moldova came to US$ 150 million. Japan is the third donor of assistance for the Republic of Moldova, after the United States and the European Union. The bilateral cooperation relations of and the opportunities to intensify cooperation in agriculture, regional development and environment were discussed in a meeting of Minister of Agriculture Nicolae Ciubuc and the Ambassador of Japan in Chisinau Masanobu Yoshii.

Minsk-Chisinau flight to be available from October 30

A new flight - Minsk – Chisinau - will be launched on October 30. This will be operated by the Belarusian company Belavia that already put tickets on sale. The aircraft will take off from Chisinau to Minsk on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 2:05pm and on Mondays and Fridays at 9:05am. The journey will last for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. A one-way ticket will cost about €83, while a return ticket about €153.

Farmers’ markets set up in support of agricultural producers

Agricultural producers could sell their products at famers’ markets in the districts of Chisinau each Saturday of October and November starting with October 13, at 9am. In Râșcani district, the famers’ market will be set up on Andrei Doga St, not far from the sports complex “Manej”. In Buicani district, the agricultural producers are expected at 27A Ioana Radu St, near the Dendrariu Park. Another famers’ market will be available in the Telecentru quarter, near the bridge.

Premier Filip: Implementation of Association Agreement with EU is a priority

Prime Minister Pavel Filip encouraged the state institutions to devote maximum attention to the fulfillment of the commitments related to the implementation of the Moldova-EU Association Agreement. In the meeting of the governmental commission for European integration held on October 10, the Premier said the implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU is a priority and every effort should be made to avoid delays, this being an essential governmental obligation. In the meeting, the participants summed up the results of the first ministerial meeting on trade. Moldova in the last nine months of this year exported by 33% more compared with Ukraine, whose exports rose by 10%, and with Georgia, whose exports grew by 5%. Pavel Filip encouraged continuing realizing the potential of this format by identifying the key areas and areas of interest for extending the cooperation relations.

Draft law on advertising passed in first reading

Parliament adopted a bill that is to substitute the current law on advertising in the first reading. It institutes a legal regime of messages of public interest that are defined as “social advertisements” in the current legislation and are regulated contradictorily. Under the bill, the messages of public interest can center on the constitutional values and principles, the basic human rights and freedoms, healthy lifestyles, conditions of accessing and using public services provided free by the public authorities, environmental protection, informing of citizens in the electoral period about elections, social protection of the population, etc. Such messages could be broadcast free and for money.

Accord to amend grant agreement between Governments of Moldova ad Japan

Parliament ratified the accord compiled by the exchange of notes concerning the amendment of the grant agreement between the Government of Moldova and the Government of Japan for implementing the project “Conservation Agriculture – Development of a Sustainable Land Management System in the Republic of Moldova”. The accord envisions the allocation of US$ 4.8 million in non-reimbursable assistance for developing conservation agriculture in Moldova, in particular for purchasing  agricultural machinery. The document defines the mechanism for distributing the goods supplied by the Japanese side in the process of implementing the grant agreement. The goal of the changes is to open an account at a bank agreed by the sides so as to deposit there the incomes from the sale of products in the national currency of the Republic of Moldova. The deposited money could be used to promote the economic and social development of Moldova.

● FRIDAY, October 12

Public Property Agency launches new privatization round

State-owned shareholdings in 16 joint stock companies will be put on sale at the Moldova Stock Exchange during November 19-23. The holdings in 14 of the companies are majority ones. The 16 companies include 11 road repair and maintenance companies, Chisinau Hotel (60% of the shares) and other enterprises. The initial selling price of the shareholdings that will be sold at outcry auctions is 376.9 million lei.

Structure of Moldova’s economy is non-European, Romanian expert

The economic growth in the Republic of Moldova during the last few years has been insufficient, considers doctor Petrișor Peiu, coordinator of the Economic Analyses Department of the Black Sea University Foundation. In debates centering on the European integration of Moldova held in Bucharest, Petrișor Peiu said the economic growth of 4.5% on average logged in Moldova during the last few years in under the economic growth levels in the states of Eastern Europe. According to him, the economic stabilization in the Republic of Moldova was ensured with the assistance of Bucharest. “Romania made use of an unusual instrument – the famous loan of €150 million. This loan was provided to Moldova in non-transparent conditions and without any conditionality,” stated Petrișor Peiu.

Parliamentary hearings on banking fraud

About 420 million lei of the sum stolen from the financial-banking sector has been recovered so far owing to the common activity of the law enforcement agencies. The figure does not include the money recovered by the National Bank of Moldova, which said that 1.219 billion lei, plus the sums that were in accounts during the intervention, has been recovered since the licenses of the three banks – Banca de Economii, Banca Socială and Unibank – were withdrawn. The information was presented in the October 12 sitting of Parliament, where the managers of the National Anticorruption Center and the National Bank of Moldova were questioned. National Bank governor Sergiu Cioclea said in Parliament that 1.260 billion lei has been repaid to the Ministry of Finance by September 30. 18% of this sum come from the sale of owned assets, while the rest from the sale of pledges, repayment of loans or forced financing that represents 21% and benevolent financing that represents 58%. The liquidators instituted civil proceedings against all the parties involved in the fraud. These are fraudulent debtors, managers and shareholders.

● SATURDAY, October 13

National Wine Day attracted about 120,000 visitors in central Chisinau

This year’s edition of the National Wine Day brought together about 120,000 people who celebrated the holiday in the Great National Assembly Square. During two days, the visitors bought 83,000 bottles of wine and tasted about 10,000 bottles. Each fourth visitor tasted 12 high-quality wines with a Protected Geographical Indication by using the Taster’s Card. According to the organizers, hundreds of people visited the Wine School and took part in oenological-gastronomical masterclasses staged by the National Office of Vine and Wine. A number of 600 disposable ethylotests were distributed there to promote the correct and moderate consumption of wine. As many as 400 visitors who measured the concentration of alcohol in the exhaled air received the necessary recommendations as regards the subsequent behavior at the holiday.

PARE 1+1 program to be extended

The program to attract remittances to the national economy PARE 1+1 that expires at the end of this month will be extended until 2021. The obligation for the enterprises to have made profit during the past three years will be excluded from the eligibility criteria. So as to efficiently manage the financial resources allocated within the program, the regulations will be supplemented with a new paragraph - “Ineligible costs/goods” - that will include 15 categories of costs/goods that will not be financed as part of the program.