● WEDNESDAY, October 24
Germany ranks fourth among Moldova’s main commercial partners
Trade between the Republic of Moldova and the Federal Republic of Germany in January – August this year exceeded US$ 460 million. The figure is by 36.54% higher compared with the corresponding period last year. By the volume of trade, Germany ranks fourth among the main global commercial partners of Moldova, with a share of 8.49% of Moldova’s trade. In Moldova, there are 427 enterprises with German capital, the investments totaling almost 700 million lei. By the number of enterprises and the volume of invested capital, the Federal Republic of Germany ranks sixth among Moldova’s main investors.
More cars to be added to Ungheni-Chisinau train as of October 26
The seven-car Chisinau-Ungheni-Chisinau passenger train will be supplemented with a set of four cars starting with October 26. The decision was taken after a group of people from Sipoteni village of Călărași district two days ago blocked the train for the reason that not everyone could get onto it. The Ungheni-Chisinau train travels daily. It sets off from Ungheni at 3:51am and arrives in Sipoteni at 5:15am, stopping in Chisinau at 6:59am. The ticket for a complete route costs 24 lei, while from Sipoteni to Chisinau – 14 lei.
Moldova can be presented as example in applying MTender system, statements
The Republic of Moldova can be presented to many countries as an example of implementation and utilization of the automated government procurement information system MTender, Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization Allan Wolff stated in a news conference held on the sidelines of a regional workshop on government procurement hosted by Chisinau. An analysis shows the system could bring savings of up to 1 billion lei a year into the national public budget. A number of 120 tender contests through MTender have been announced since October 17. The value of purchases exceeds 100 million lei. The regional workshop held in Chisinau involves delegates from 20 countries.
New law on salaries in budgetary sector finalized
The new law on salaries in the budgetary sector was finalized and is to be proposed for public consultations. The authorities aim to have this law adopted during the current session of Parliament so that this takes effect on December 1 this year. The initiative envisions pay raises for those working in health, education and culture and for the representatives of the local public authorities. Prime Minister Pavel Filip told a news conference that the law is designed to order the pay system in the budgetary sector and to support the categories of salary earners who were wronged in time. According to Pavel Filip, the effect of the pay raises in pre-university education will be felt by over 56,000 persons and the rise will be of about 20%. The salaries of 7,500 representatives of the local public administration will be raised by up to 20%. About 40,000 technical employees of the local public administration will have their pays raised by approximately 30%. The pays of about 6,000 personal assistants will grow by over 20%, while of social assistants by up to 55%. Nearly 6,000 budget-funded employees working in culture will have their pays increased by about 80%. Minister of Finance Octavian Armașu said the discrepancy between the lowest and highest salaries is of 33 to 1. When the given law is implemented, the ratio will be 15 : 1. The way in which the salaries of budget-funded employees rise is another inequity. The pays of some of the categories increase faster, while of other categories remain unchanged for even ten years. The new law will eliminate the inequities and all the budget-funded employees will be remunerated according to a common pay grade that envisions annual raises for each category.
● THURSDAY, October 25
Fiscal inspectors looking for those who do not pay taxes on leases
The State Tax Service calls on the citizens who lease out residences to sign tenancy agreements. Over 2,000 such agreements were registered at the local offices of the Service during the past two months. According to the State Tax Service, the fiscal inspectors in August-September identified over 700 private individuals who potentially leased out residential rental properties. There were additionally calculated basic payments to the budget of 26,500 lei, penalties of 1,600 lei and fines of 17,400 lei. Over 7,000 tenancy agreements were registered nationwide at the offices of the State Tax Service in the first nine months of this year. In the period, there were identified over 3,000 lessors who leased out properties without having residential lease agreements. Under the Tax Code, a tax rate of 7% of the earned incomes is paid on tenancy agreements. The persons who do not register tenancy agreements face fines and penalties.
Central bank hosts OECD mission in financial education
A mission of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be in Chisinau during October 24-26 to assess the financial education situation in the Republic of Moldova. The mission will have meetings with representatives of the public authorities, the public sector and nongovernmental organizations. According to the National Bank of Moldova, the interlocutors will discuss the priorities of financial education in Moldova in connection with the implementation of a new technical assistance project financed by the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands under the aegis of the OECD and the International Network on Financial Education. The project will be implemented during five years (2018-2022) and is intended for the Republic of Moldova and other countries of the region, such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Romania. Its goal is to put into practice and consolidate financial education initiatives in the participating states.
Repressive measures on currency repatriation no longer have economic justification, economist
The foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Moldova are sufficient for ensuring Moldova’s imports during six months and correspond to the money mass in circulation. Owing to the rise in the foreign exchange reserves, the central bank can continue to relax the currency policies that remain yet rather restrictive for the businesses and the population, economist of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Veaceslav Ioniță was quoted by IPN as saying in the program “15 minutes of economic realism”. The expert noted the foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Moldova in October 2018 for the first time exceeded US$ 3 billion and the evolution reflects the three crises experienced by the national economy. In 1998, the foreign exchange reserves were US$ 363 million and the crisis that led to the almost thrice depreciation of the lei diminished the reserves almost three times, to US$ 136 million. This depreciation led to the considerable impoverishing of the population, an economic crisis and a political crisis and, consequently, to the replacement of the country’s political elites. According to the expert, the second profound crisis took place in 2014. The reduction in the money mass resulted in the diminution of the loans provided to the economy. Only the loans released to the population increased in volume. Imports declined and the remittances, foreign funding and investment diminished following the banking fraud. The currency inflows decreased from US$ 6 billion to US$ 3 billion a year. The economist noted the situation of the foreign exchange reserves in Moldova is not critical now and the repressive measures concerning the repatriation of currency no longer have an economic justification.
● FRIDAY, October 26
New EBRD loan to finance upgrades of local businesses to EU standards
Small businesses in Moldova will be able to upgrade their operations to European Union (EU) standards with a new €10 million loan provided by the EBRD to ProCreditBank Moldova. The funds are provided within the EU4Business-EBRD credit line, to which the EU provides grant funding under its EU4Business initiative. An agreement to this effect was signed at a news conference in Chisinau on October 25. The new EBRD Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus Matteo Patrone was presented in the news conference. Irina Coroi-Jovmir, Deputy CEO of ProCreditBank, said the minimum loan repayment period for final beneficiaries will be 36 months and the interest rate will vary between 4.5% and 6%, depending on the repayment period and the client’s capacity to cooperate. The Bank has internal capacity to release loans repayable even in 12 years. The grant component will be up to 15%, depending on the project. At the end of 2016, the EBRD provided a €10 million loan to Mobiasbancă - Groupe Société Générale to support small and medium-sized enterprises. Later, as part of the same program, the Bank offered additionally a €20 million loan to Mobiasbancă to meet the high demand for loans from local companies that invest in the improvement of quality of their products and services. The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Moldova. Since the start of its operations in the country, the Bank has invested close to €1.3 billion in more than 120 projects in Moldova’s financial, agribusiness, energy, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.
Companies that export to Russia obliged to subject plums to lab tests
The National Food Safety Agency obliges the companies that export plums to Russia to subject to laboratory tests each consignment of plums that is to be exported. The Agency informed the plums are no longer exported based on the certificate issued by it. The Agency’s director Gheorghe Gaberi has told IPN that Monilinia fructicola that is classified as a quarantine pathogen in Russia was recently detected in a consignment of nectarines exported to Russia by a company from Stefan Vodă. Thus, the company was banned from exporting nectarines to Russia at the request of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance. The Moldovan side was obliged to increase phytosanitary controls on stone fruit. An order was thus issued to make the exporters have lab tests. Given that the test lasts for up to 14 days, the National Food Safety Agency requests the stone fruit growers and exporters to invite inspectors of the Agency’s local subdivisions to take samples of fruit and send them to the laboratory. The Agency also warns about the cases of detection of the oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta Busck), which also represents a phytosanitary risk for Russia. If the phytosanitary requirements on the export of vegetal products are not met, the Russian side can impose bans on the export.
Investments in Free Enterprise Zone “Bălți” go up
The investments in the Free Enterprise Zone “Bălți” rose by 24%. There were created more than 8,000 jobs. The average salary was over 10,000 lei. The data were presented by the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure after analyzing the activity report and performance indicators of the Free Enterprise Zone “Bălți” for the first nine months of this year. According to the report, the investments attracted to the Zone grew from US$142 million to about US$ 175 million. The taxes paid into the state budget came to 716,000 lei. The number of employees of the resident companies came to over 8,000, as against 5,000 in 2017, an increase of almost 50%. Sales in nine months rose to about 4 million lei, as opposed to 1.6 million lei in the corresponding period last year 2017.
Bridge over Byk in Anenii Noi put into operation
The bridge over the Byk River in Anenii Noi district was opened to traffic on October 26. It forms part of the regional road Floreşti – Anenii Noi and ensures connection between a number of local arteries. The construction works cost 18 million lei, with the funds being allocated from the state budget. The old bridge was closed in July 2017 and the demolition and construction works started last autumn. Attending the inaugural ceremony, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said the bridge is a symbol that unites people and localities literally and figuratively. Pavel Filip today also inspected the building site in Speia village of Anenii Noi district. 2.2 km of a local road there are being rehabilitated with the 30 million allocated from the road fund. The road connects the district center and five large villages. The Premier said construction works will soon start near Delacău village, on a road portion of 4 km. The works to build the 28-km Bulboaca-Delacău road were estimated at 189 million lei.
● SATURDAY, October 27
Realty market shows signs of reinvigoration, opinions
The Moldovans choose to buy apartments with an average area of up to 70 m2. Over 20,000 real estate transactions were recorded during the past year, by about 5,000 more than the average for the last few years. 70% of the sales were logged in Chisinau. According to economic expert Veceaslav Ioniță, of the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul”, the realty market in Chisinau shows signs of reinvigoration after ten years of continuous decline and stagnation of apartment prices. The average price of an apartment of 70 m2 rose slightly, from €36,500 in the second quarter of this year to €36,600 in the third quarter. The reinvigoration is due to the rise in the population’s purchasing power and the changes in the purchase preferences. The average salary of the population recalculated in euros the past year rose from €262 to €310 a month. Andrei Bătrînac, of a realty company, has told IPN that the number of apartment buyers is higher, but the rise is insignificant. 80% of the buyers raised home loans. The people purchase mainly two-room apartments with an area of up to 70 m2 whose price does not exceed €40,000 or a one-room apartment with an average area of 40 m2 that cost about €25,000.
