● MONDAY, September 14
Sheep and goat breeders in critical situation
Pintilii Bulgaru, who heads the Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders of Moldova, said the situation of the breeders is critical. He stated that given the shortage of fodder for winter owing to the drought, the breeders started to slaughter a part of the animals. The very low demand for lambs and kids is an even more serious problem. The young goats and sheep born this spring weigh by 50 kg already and should be sold, but the traditional export markets, the Arab ones, no longer want to purchase lambs and kids because of the armed conflicts in the region. The home market is too small and cannot use the whole supply. Moldova cannot yet export live animals or meat to the EU. Thus, the breeders don’t know what to do now with the animals.
Moldova’s exports of goods decline
Moldova’s goods exports to Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Russia have considerably decreased. In the first seven months of 2015, the exports to Ukraine were by 65% lower compared with the corresponding period last year, to Azerbaijan – by 54%, while to Russia – by 53%. The data were made public by the Nation Bureau of Statistics. Statistics show that the general exports in the first half of this year decreased by almost 16% on last year to US$1.157,8 billion. Exports to Turkey in January-July declined by 47.4%, to Lithuania – by 43.7%, to Bulgaria – by 36.4%, while to Uzbekistan – by 32.6%. At the same time, exports to Indonesia, Cyprus, Latvia, Kazakhstan, the UK and the Netherlands increased significantly.
Walnut harvest is better this year
The walnut harvest this year is larger than last year, while the walnut kernel is of a higher quality. The head of the Walnut Exporters Association of Moldova Dumitru Vicol has told that for this reason and because of the economic crisis in the region, the prices of walnut kernel will fall by 20-30%. Moldova annually exports 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of walnut kernel. This is practically the produced volume. The kernel reaches the Arab states, the EU and the CIS. About 1% of the kernel remains in the country. Dumitru Vicol said that last year Moldova exported about 10,000 tonnes of kernel.
● TUESDAY, September 15
Tourist pensions could be set up on farmland
The land used for farming could be used for developing rural tourism. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry proposed for debates a bill to amend the Land Code. The main amendment allows using the farmland for tourism without changing its purpose. Thus, the farmland owners will be able to set up agri-tourist pensions on this land if they had farmed for at least five years.
Over 100,000 phone numbers ported during two years
More than 10,000 phone numbers have been ported in Moldova since the portability service was launched in 2013. Some 91% of the numbers ported until September 15, 2015 are mobile phone numbers, while the rest are landline numbers. “This figure shows that the telephone users in our country make use of the number portability service and keep their number when they change the phone carrier. I’m convinced that much more users resort to this service in order to renegotiate the contracts. This thing has an impact on competition enhancement and the prices of telephone services,” said the ANRCETI director Grigore Varanita.
Festival “Golden Barrel” to be held in May
The second Festival of Handmade Wine, Gastronomic Traditions and Handicrafts “Golden Barrel” will take place near Causeni town along the Botna River next May. Each year, the festival will be held in a new district, depending on the territorial origin of the best homemade wines that won the contest the previous year. The festival was initiated based on the best homemade wine contest that has been staged since 2002. The wine producers will compete in five categories. Echo of these categories includes subcategories for red wine and white wine. Thus, the winemakers will compete in the following categories: young wine from technical sorts of the species Vitis Vinifera; young wine from hybrid sorts and from the species Vitis Labrusca; homemade wine kept for more than a year; desert wine, and wine from autochthonous sorts.
Customs Service informs economic entities about new customs procedures
The Customs Service on September 15 launched a series of conferences intended for economic entities that will be held at the seven customs offices of the country in the period between September 15 and October 15. The conferences center on the recent changes to the customs legislation, which aim to simplify the customs procedures and to help comply with the European clearance standards. “The impact of these changes on the economic entities is great. They help save time and money when performing export-import operations,” said the head of the Customs Control Organization Division Corneliu Croitoru.
Free train tickets booked online
The state-run company Moldova’s Railways on September 15 launched a campaign to promote new methods of purchasing train tickets. Thus, to make the people aware of the possibility of buying tickets online, a train ticket during the next two weeks will cost 0 and 1 leu if it is purchased online. The campaign is aimed at stimulating passengers to travel by the modernized trains. The tickets can be purchased for any distance on the Chisinau - Ungheni and Chisinau – Ocnita routes, on which modernized trains were put, only one day before the trip.
● WEDNESDAY, September 16
New road section to be rehabilitated
The State Road Administration on September 18 will sign a contract to the value of about €9 million with the Bulgarian contractor SK-13 Patstroy JSC, for the rehabilitation of the R6 M1-Ialoveni road, 00+000 km - 6+550 km, over the next two years. The contract is part of the Road Sector Program for whose implementation the Government of Moldova received financial support from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure said the contractor was selected at a competitive international tender contest, held in accordance with the conditions and purchase policies of the EIB and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. There were seven bidders for the contract.
Wine Day celebrations cancelled, Tourism Federation sounds alarm
The Tourism Promotion Federation of Moldova is concerned about the winemakers’ decision not to stage the National Wine Day this year. In a communique, the Federation says the holiday already became a nice tradition observed during many years and such a decision could have negative consequences both for the truism agencies and for the national tourist accommodation units that will sustain losses in this regard as well as for Moldova’s image at national and international levels, which will be affected if this event is cancelled. The Moldovan winemakers had a meeting where they decided that the National Wine Day this year, set for October 3-4, will not take place owing to the protests mounted in the Great National Assembly Square. According to the Federation, such a decision will cause problems to the tourists who planned their visit to Moldova on the National Wine Day and booked and purchased plane tickets and to the accommodation facilities where these reserved rooms.
Authorizations for exporting products of animal origin to be issued through one-stop shops
One-stop shops will be set up within the local offices of the National Food Safety Agency for issuing authorizations and other documents needed to export products of animal origin and offal. The given one-stop shops will issue the following documents: sanitary-veterinary certificate; certificate of compliance for the consignment of products of animal origin; sanitary-veterinary export authorization, and sanitary-veterinary authorization for units of transport.
● THURSDAY, September 17
State Tax Service could investigate cases of tax evasion
Cases of tax evasion could be investigated not only by the competent bodies, but also by the State Tax Service. The Ministry of Finance submitted a relevant bill that changes the legal status of the State Tax Service. The bill empowers the Service to investigate cases of tax evasion. It says that owing to the interruption in the consistency of the actions imitated by the fiscal bodies the investigation of economic and financial crimes is delayed, the cases of modification of the obtained evidence are favored and the actions of the offenders are thus reformulated. As a result, the investigation is dropped. “It is now opportune to regulate the activity of an anti-fraud body that will include prosecution officers and investigation officers who have the right to wear uniform,” says the document.
Half-year GDP 3.6% up
The Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in the first half of 2015 grew by 3.6% on the corresponding period last year, to 52.950 billion lei at market prices. The gross value added generated in the economy delivered an 83.9% contribution to the GDP grow, with a 3.8% increase in volume. The contribution of the taxes on products was 16.4%, with their volume increasing by 1.8%. The exports of goods and services and the gross fixed capital formation also had a contribution following the increase in their volumes by 5.1% and 2.5% respectively.
New format for National Wine Day
The National Wine Day 2015 will be celebrated in a new format, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Ion Sula announced. In a message on a social networking site, the minister says that emphasis this year will be put on wine producers, while cultural and tasting events will be staged at each winery separately. During the last two years, the National Wine Day has been celebrated in the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau, where there are now about 3000 tents put up by people who protest there round-the-clock. Large-scale protests were mounted there during the last two Sundays.
Hominy of 550kg made at second Corn Festival
A hominy weighing 550 kg was prepared at the second Corn Festival that was staged at the Phitotechny Institute “Porumbeni”. This was larger than the hominy made at the first festival. The Institute’s director Pintilie Parvan said they aim to gradually break the record for the largest hominy, which weighed only 1 tonne. This year again, the Corn Festival brought together hundreds of agricultural producers, traders in goods and equipment and ordinary people who came to see new corn hybrids and to taste the largest hominy made in Moldova. Pintilie Parvan said that this year the hominy was made from cornmeal from hybrid corn grains created at the Institute “Porumbeni”. These corn hybrids are intended namely for hominy and the cornmeal from them is even better than the imported one. The goal is to substitute the imported cornmeal with locally produced flour.
Corn hybrids resistant to drought created in Moldova
The Phitotechny Institute “Porumbeni” developed corn hybrids resistant to drought. The Institute’s director Pintilie Parvan said the average corn harvest in a year with drought is 2 tonnes per hectare, but owing to these hybrids the crop is thrice higher and reaches even 7 tonnes per hectare this year. Corn is cultivated on about 35% of the arable land worldwide. Pintilie Parvan said climate change determines the creation of new hybrids that would meet the conditions in the countries where corn is grown. Though Moldova is a small country, it is divided into zones and subzones where different sorts of corn must be cultivated.
● FRIDAY, September 18
Pellet factory in Pascani testing all kinds of raw material
The first factory making pellets from biomass, which was built in Pascani village of Criuleni district with the support of the Government of Japan, is yet on trial and is now testing all kinds of raw material, from sawdust to dry corn plants. Factory worker Petru Chirita has told IPN that during the testing period they make by 1 tonne of palettes an hour, but the factory does not work to full capacity. “We are now testing all kinds of raw material, like sunflower and corn plants. The largest quantity of pellets is made from sawdust mixed with straw. The quantity made from other raw material is lower,” he stated.
Moldova joins WHO Government Procurement Agreement
Moldova has completed the procedures for joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement. The Ministry of Economy said the signing of this agreement would lead to enhanced competition for large infrastructure projects implemented in Moldova, promotion of good governance at the level of national institutions, increase in the level of transparency and, implicitly, to corruption fighting. The agreement will also allow improving the management of public resources and the national economic entities’ access to foreign government procurement markets by taking part in international tender contests.
● SATURDAY, September 19
Producer prices in industry go up
The producer prices in industry increased last month. The National Bureau of Statistics said the prices this August rose by 2.4% on this July and by 7.4% on last August. The prices in the energy sector rose the most – by 9.5% on this July and by 9.8% on last August. In the processing industry, the prices increased by 1.6% on this July, while in the extractive industry – by only 0.1%.
