Competition watchdog implements competition environment development project in Moldova

The National Agency for Competition Protection Tuesday launched the Twinning project “Support to Implementation and Enforcement of Competition and State Aid Policy in Moldova”, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communique from the watchdog. “We aim to obtain the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Competition and the Law on State Aid. This is our objective and we today take a first step towards achieving it,” the Agency's director general Viorica Carare said during the launch of the protect. “Today we launch a very important project that will support the policies on competition protection and state assistance promoted by the national competition authority and the steps taken by it in this respect. Protection of competition and elimination of monopolist activities are preconditions for ensuring a functional market economy. The experience of our European partners in this project is special and the transfer and implementation of their knowledge represents a very important objective for us,” said Head of Parliament and Moldova's Acting President Marian Lupu. The EU-funded project will last for 18 months. During this period, European experts will work in Chisinau alongside the Moldovan authorities and will help with the implementation of the project, which aims to improve the implementation and observance of the policy on competition and state aid in Moldova. It will strengthen communication between the public institutions, promote competition culture in Moldova and will help create and apply the normative framework on state aid. The project launch conference was attended by the Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Dirk Schuebel and the head of the Romanian Competition Council Bogdan Marius Chiritoiu. The EU partners of the project are the Romanian Competition Council, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority, and the Latvian Competition Council.