In July 2014, IPN News Agency carried out an awareness raising campaign entitled “Myths and truths about the Association Agreement”, which tackled the main fears related to the process of signing and ratifying this accord. In almost three years, we decided to return to the same sources and the same subjects in order to see how things changed in evolution and if the expectations that existed before the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU were met.
---
“Small businesses will be hit the hardest by the reform following the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU.”
President of the Small Business Association Eugen Roscovanu said the development of the small and medium-sized enterprises depends not on the European polices, but rather on the national ones and on the reform spirit. The Association Agreement, especially the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, clary stipulates that the Government undertakes to stimulate the development of SMEs. The fact that their number started to decline in 2010-2016, as the incomes did, shows that even if the legislative and executive powers committed themselves to support the development of small businesses, they didn’t fulfill their commitment.
“We have to ascertain that the small and medium-sized enterprises decreased in number and their incomes diminished to the level of 2013. Maybe we exaggerated with the prognostications, but we intuited that the development policies are below any level. The people working in small business not accidentally took to the streets during many years to protest at the fact that local bureaucracy throttles small businesses and no method of negotiation with the Ministry of Economy or even with the heads of the executive or legislature produced results,” stated Eugen Roscovanu.
The president of the Small Business Association noted that there are ten principles for developing SMEs in the EU, while in Moldova these principles are not respected. Even if the Law on Small and medium-Sized Enterprises took effect at the end of last December, these do not stipulate concrete mechanisms that would enable to develop the given sector. “It is excessive bureaucracy, while the financing is beyond any level, with high interest rates that do not enable the enterprises to develop, plus many other regulations that are based on fines, not on stimulation. It is not enough to declare and sign documents. Their provisions should be yet carried out,” said Eugen Roscovanu.
He noted that after almost three years of the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, it is evident that the SMEs have oriented themselves to the European policies and area and the European standards on small businesses.
Eugen Roscovanu underlined that the decline in the number of SMEs is not due to the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, but to the fact that the executive and legislative powers include personnel that tend to monopolize and ‘oligarchize’ the economy. “They say one thing, but do another one. The key resides in this. If we speak about corruption, we must say that the underground economy influences directly the economic policies of the executive because, on the one hand, they declare the course to European integration, but, on the other hand, they flagrantly monopolize the economy, ignoring the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises and even of the population. As a result, the economy declines. The competent people, experts say the black economy has a budget similar to the official state budget and this reveals the passivity of the executive and legislature, which does not allow the country to Europeanize,” stated Roscovanu.
According to him, as long as they will say one thing, but will do another one, we will be in a state of economic degradation. The economy still includes Soviet aspects, while the statements are pro-European and the documents that regulate the development of SMEs are not implemented. “This is duplicity as those who are in power, especially the Ministry of Economy, plead for the European development of SMEs. On the other hand, they do nothing to ensure economic freedoms, which is very important. There are no methods of stimulating clear projects that would be designed for all the enterprises, in terms of financing for these. Nepotism prevails even in business, from down to up,” said the president of the Small Business Association, who concluded that the executive and legislature have yet a lot to do, but those from the business sector hope real economic freedoms will yet appear.
Alina Marin, IPN
The article on the issue published in July 2014 can be read here.
