The bill on mortgage could be adopted by the Parliament at the start of this year, Minister of Economy and Trade Igor Dodon said recently, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Last year the Government approved this bill several times after withdrawing it from the Parliament for improvement. Experts of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), who took part in the formulation of the bill, requested the introduction of amendments. According to officials, the mortgage market in Moldova develops unsteadily and not according to the classic mortgage formula owing to the lack of a legislative basis on mortgage. The interest in mortgage finance is expected to increase and the banking systems will more actively engage after the Parliament adopts the law. The authorities say that the law on mortgage will stimulate loyal competition on the market, will eliminate the present practices when a commercial bank signs a sale-purchase contract together with the mortgage contract, while another one considers that such a thing is illegal. At the same time, the new legislative framework will define the notions of mortgage and mortgage loan, will determine who can be mortgagee and who can be mortgagor. There will be also defined the specific features of the right to mortgage, to transferring and selling the mortgaged property. The foreign mortgage experts that visited Moldova last year ascertained that the mortgage market exists and develops, even if there is no special regulatory law. At the same time, the experts said that the people should not believe that once the law on mortgage is adopted, all the mortgage-related problems will be solved or it will be easier to take out mortgage. The Government will have to implement a number of economic and social measures for this to happen. Foreign experts say the law should establish consumer protection principles that must include precise regulations concerning the protection of mortgagors’ rights related to the interest, commission and costs incurred while the contract is in force. The experts also say that not only financial institutions should be mortgagees, but also leasing and insurance companies, private pension and investment funds.