● MONDAY, December 24
Reduction in social insurance payments will enable companies to transform revenues into dividends, opinion
The initiative to reduce once again the social insurance contribution for companies that was presented at the Gala of the Moldova Business People Association will enable national businesses to accumulate financial reserves that will be invested in the economy. This will also allow the companies to transform the revenues into dividends. Alexandru Baltag, director general of the Moldova Business People Association, said the second stage of the fiscal reform means continuation of what was started this year. Andrei Jicol, entrepreneur working in the IT sector, said that by the decision to annul the tax on the reinvested capital, a door is opened to larger investments. Journalist Oleg Cosyh voiced hope the reduction in the contribution paid into the social insurance fund will enable the national businesses to gather financial reserves that will be invested in the economy. Lilia Ranogai, textile industry entrepreneur, said the country should be ruled by a managerial rather than political administration.
Fuel prices to be again set by oil traders
By March 1, 2019, the National Agency for Energy Regulation is to approve a new methodology for forming and applying the prices of oil products. Under this, oil traders will agree and will modify by themselves the retail prices of the main oil products and of the liquefied petroleum gas based on consumption and costs related to the sale of the given products, in accordance with the applied accounting standards, including an annual profitability rate envisioned by the methodology, which will not exceed 10%. Contacted by IPN, energy expert Sergiu Tofilat said that the old mythology is restored by the new provisions, with the setting of the profit margin of 10%. It looks like an agreement with oil importers and traders. Creating a competition market as in most of the developed countries would be ideal for consumers. For the purpose, a proper Competition Council and legal system are needed.
● WEDNESDAY, December 26
Changes made to commission empowered to hold privatization contests
The post of chairman of the commission for the privatization of public property by investment or commercial contests will be held by the director general of the Public Property Agency. The Cabinet approved an amendment to this effect to the current regulations. The change was made because the Public Property Agency is directly managed by the Government and was empowered to manage the public property of the state.
● THURSDAY, December 27
Experts pronounce on economic year 2018
2017 and 2018 from economic viewpoint were failed years and the witnessed economic growth was rather recovery than development, experts Veaceslav Negruță, Veaceslav Ioniță and Sergiu Tofilat were quoted by IPN as saying in the talk show “Expertise hour” on Jurnal TV channel.Transparency International Moldova expert Veaceslav Negruță said that if we consider the growth and investment potential, the years 2017 and 2018 were failed years. Serious investments, especially from outside, are still being waited for and this is mainly due to the lack of coherence in the economic and financial policies. Furthermore, both in 2017 and in 2018, Moldova didn’t receive sufficient financial resources from the EU and the IMF owing to the fact that the Moldovan authorities abided by a business, group agenda. Economic expert Veaceslav Ioniță said in 2017 and 2018 the economy rather recovered. Expert of the WhatchDog.md community Sergiu Tofilat said the last three years in Moldova’s development can be described as stability in the government’s incoherent policies, in the irrational use of public funds, in decisions that are not based on economic logic.
New measures to facilitate employment
The persons looking for a job will benefit from free training and professional development courses, while the employment of particular categories of unemployed persons will be subsidized by the state. The executive approved 11 new procedures for ensuring access to employment measures whose implementation will contribute to preventing and reducing unemployment, diminishing the discrepancy between the supply and demand and increasing the employment rate, especially in rural areas. The document defines the procedure for registering persons as unemployed. A person looking for a job could register at one of the local offices of the National Employment Agency. The unemployment benefit will depend on the insurance period and average monthly income of the person the previous period. The jobs intended for persons who need additional support on the labor market will be subsidized. This way, the employer will monthly receive 30% of the average official salary during six months for each employed person who was out of work. The employers that create or adjust workplaces for persons with disabilities will have 50% of the incurred costs covered by the National Employment Agency.
● FRIDAY, December 28
Erosion of framework for fighting money laundering is a worrisome tendency witnessed in 2018, experts
The economic year 2018 was marked by the overlapping of positive economic tendencies that were rather shallow ones with negative tendencies. This points to the appearance of profound development constraints. This way, even if a constant economic growth of about 4% was seen, accompanied by an essential inflationist moderation and even slight reinvigoration of the private investment activity, the recovery pace is yet small against the low comparison basis, says a new edition of the “Economic Reality” produced by experts of the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup”. According to the authors, the informal employment continues to grow and the agricultural sector, which is the most important employer in the country, stagnates. This points to the low quality of the economic growth and the limited impact of this on the improvement of the quality of life. Even if the reforms in the financial-banking sector were stepped up, the financial intermediation level continues to decline and the banks are more interested in lending to the state than to the real sector. Despite the stabilization of public finances amid the rise in the amounts collected into the budget, the fiscal reform and the infrastructure projects financed with public funds will essentially weaken the Government’s financial position and the budget deficit could grow considerably in 2019, with negative repercussions for the economic growth.
Passenger transportation generates losses of millions to Moldova’s Railways
The revenues of the state-run Moldova’s Railways come from freight transportation. In the case of passenger transportation, the costs are much higher than the incomes and the losses rise to 100 million lei a year. The company’s administration said they achieved many results this year, including related to the payment of salaries, but they have yet a lot to do. The company’s director general Iurie Topala told a news conference that when he took over, Moldova’s Railways had debts and salary arrears. In three years, the situation improved and the employees will soon receive salaries on time. This month they transferred money for paying a part of the salaries for November. The company’s administration is having negotiating with the Railway Trade Unions Federation so as to increase the salary coefficient of each employee of the railway system by 35%. Currently, the average salary of an employee of Moldova’s Railways is 4,500 lei.
● SATURDAY, December 29
Period of stay for Moldovan freight and passenger carriers in Ukraine to be extended
The maximum period of 90 days during which the Moldovan freight and passenger carriers could stay in Ukraine will be extended. The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko announced the implementation of the protocol that will solve the problem of freight and passenger carriers in the nearest future. The announcement was made in a meeting with Prime Minister Pavel Filip. Pavel Filip said that in terms of joint projects, the two states also advance at a dynamic pace and the problems that appear are solved swiftly and for the benefit of the citizens of the two countries. He gave as an example the launch of joint control at the Moldova-Ukrainian border on a number of segments, including the Transnistrian one. In this connection, Petro Poroshjenko expressed the Ukrainian side’s readiness to extend the joint control at other state border crossing points and said the common measures to ensure security in the region and to promote the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two states should be stepped up.
