● Tuesday, April 25
AmCham Moldova has new President and Board of Directors
Veronica Malcoci, General Director of Grawe Carat Asigurari, was elected President of AmCham Moldova. The newly elected Board of Directors is represented by 11 member companies as follows: Octavian Cazac (Turcan Cazac Law Firm), Vitalie Corniciuc (KPMG Moldova), Boris Efimov (Orhei-Vit), Roger Gladei (Gladei & Partners), Constantin Ivas (Petrom Moldova), John Maxemchuk, Tatiana Stavinschi (PwC Moldova), Traian Nechifor (Coca-Cola Hellenic Moldova), Charles Vernon (Vernon | David) and Carmina Vicol (Prime Capital). The elected members will serve the organization for the 2017 – 2019 mandate.
EU supports local economic development in 898 communities
A number of 898 territorial-administrative units of Moldova will benefit from financial support from the European Union for ensuring local economic development by creating jobs and supporting the cooperation between local public authorities and other local players in order to foster economic growth. In this regard, the European Union on April 25 launched the project “Mayors for Economic Growth” that has an initial budget of €5 million. Within this initiative, the European Union will offer the LPAs of Moldova €600,000 worth of grants to support the most innovative and sustainable economic recovery ideas applying to communities.
● Wednesday, April 26
Pavel Filip: Fines for illegal passenger transportation should be heavier
The fight against illegal passenger transportation was discussed in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Pavel Filip in the evening of April 25. The Premier said the passenger carriers should work based on authorization/license and should pay taxes to the state. The fines should be heavy as the rules and laws must be obeyed. The Prime Minister underlined the importance of applying mechanisms known at international level for identifying authorized transport, such as the allotment of yellow license plates for authorized transport, imposition of harsher penalties for illegal entrepreneurial activities and adoption of transparent regulations in the field so that there are no administrative barriers to the legalization of businesses. As to the illegal transportation of passengers in international traffic, the Premier said the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure, the Customs Service and the Border Police should cooperate so as to ensure a permanent exchange of information that would facilitate the identification of carriers working illegally. Pavel Filip instructed to create a working group that would propose solutions to the existing problems. There was also discussed the draft plan of action for combating illicit transportation for 2017-2020. This was worked out by the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure and the National Auto Transport Agency. “We must fight this phenomenon in a correct way that will be agreed concertedly. Our approach should be intelligent so that we institute a system with clear, transparent rules and monitoring based on risk management,” concluded the Premier. As a result of discussions, it was agreed that the plan of action will be discussed on the platform of the Ministry of Economy with the participation of all the interested sides.
Contract for rehabilitation of sections of M3 road to be terminated
The committee for the surveillance of the project to support the road and railway sectors program analyzed the results achieved in the rehabilitation of the national road M3 Chisinau – Giurgiulesti and decided to coordinate the termination of the contract for the repair of the sections between 151 – 171 and 179 – 190 kilometers. Only 2.64% of the road was rehabilitated, while the execution guarantee expired on April 24, IPN has learned from the Government’s press service. There was also coordinated the termination of the contract for the repair of the sections of the M3 national road between 96 – 122 and 122 – 151 kilometers if a sufficient progress rate for completing the works by the end of this year is not achieved by the May 15 deadline. These are the first contracts of the kind that are to be terminated by the Government owing to inappropriate implementation. The meeting also discussed the progress made in rehabilitating the national road R33 Hancesti - Lapusna-M1. The representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Road Infrastructure reported a series of difficulties caused by the unauthorized construction of a lake near the road. These lead to delays in implementing the project and to higher costs. The committee decided to make a request to examine the created situation to the Prosecutor General’s Office. The reformation of the state-run company “Moldova’s Railways” was another subject for discussion. According to the presented information, the roadmap and the plan of action concerning the collective government of the company were drafted and will be soon submitted to the Government for approval. The measure would ensure the restructuring and modernization of the institution.
Over 1 million lei in fiscal fines collected in three weeks
As a result of inspections carried out all over the country during April 3-22, fiscal inspectors imposed fines of 205,000 lei on business entities that do not obey the law and of 1.175 million lei on private individuals who practice entrepreneurial activities illegally. According to the State Tax Service, the general fiscal administration divisions performed 53 inspections at companies. Violations of the legislation were identified in 49 of these. The illegalities include mainly the non-use of cash registers and non-presentation of documents of origin at the first request of fiscal inspectors. There were inspected persons who trade, provide agricultural services such as plowing, car service, transportation, hair cutting and other kinds of services.
Minimum guaranteed salary in real sector of economy goes up
The minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector of the economy, which covers enterprises, organizations and institutions with financial autonomy, regardless of the form of ownership and legal organizational form, from May 1, 2017 will be 14.4 lei an hour or 2,380 lei a month, for a full working program of 169 hours a month. The minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector is reassessed annually depending on the annual aggregate rise in the consumer price index and labor productivity growth rate at national level. The minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector on May 1, 2016 was set at 2,100 lei.
New regulations on organization of State Tax Service
The regulations concerning the organization and functioning of the State Tax Service following its reorganization by the absorption of 35 local tax inspectorates were approved by the Government. The State Tax Service will become an administrative authority managed by the Ministry of Finance. Among its main functions will be: organization of the administration of the fiscal management system; collection of taxes and other revenues into the national public budget; prevention of fiscal violations, including tax evasion; fiscal control and examination of challenges. The State Tax Service will be led by a director and four vice directors. There will be instituted the Executive Board that will act as a decision-making body. The personnel of the State Tax Service will consist of at most 1,892 units, which is the number of employees working at the institutions that will be absorbed.
Seed distributors can supply seeds needed for sowing again some fields
The distributors of seeds have about 100 tonnes of corn seeds and 30-35 tonnes of sunflower seeds available and are ready to import more if need be. The topic was discussed in a meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. According to a press release of the Ministry, the meeting with distributors of phytosanitary products and seeds was convened to ask them examine the possibility of assisting agricultural producers that could need to sow again some fields or to apply additional phytosanitary measures following the heavy snowfalls of last week. The farmers who attended the meeting said they do not possess the financial resources needed to purchase seeds and phytosanitary products and, in this connecting, asked that the Ministry of Agriculture should draft a bill on natural calamities. Specialists of the Ministry, in concert with agricultural scientists, formulated a series of recommendations for agricultural producers, which should be applied in the immediate future to reduce the risk of losing harvests following the tempest of April 20 and 21. Currently, local commissions are gauging the extent of the damage caused in agriculture.
● Thursday, April 27
Activity of commercial-economic services in Germany and Poland to be stepped up
The Government made a series of changes to the annexes to its decision concerning the approval of the structure, personnel and allowances of the institutions of the diplomatic service of the Republic of Moldova of March 16, 2010. These are aimed at stimulating the activity of the commercial-economic services of Moldova’s embassies in Germany and Poland. The move was determined by the necessity of strengthening the cooperation platforms and realizing the commercial-economic and investment potential of the given countries, including in the context of the implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement that forms part of the Association Agreement with the EU. Thus, the commercial-economic offices will be restructured by transferring the post of adviser of Moldova’s Embassy in Berlin to the Consulate General in Frankfurt on Main, near the centers where the German business and investment communities are concentrated (Stuttgart, Munich, Hanover). Also, the post of first secretary of Moldova’s Embassy in Bucharest will be transferred to Moldova’s Embassy in Poland. The strengthening of the capacities of embassies’ commercial-economic offices will enable to implement important projects in the automotive industry, to promote Moldova’s exports to the EU and to attract investment from German firms that work in Poland and want to expand to third countries, in particular Moldova.
Mobile and fixed Internet access services are most dynamic in sector
The mobile and fixed Internet access services in 2016 were the most dynamic in the electronic communications sector. According to a report published on the website of the national ICT regulator ANRCETI, the total sales of the two types of services increased by 12% on 2015 to 1.8 billion lei, which is 27% of the total value of the electronic communications market. The number of users of mobile broadband Internet access services, based on 3G and 4G technologies and by dedicated access, rose by 30% to over 1.893,5 million, while of users of fixed Internet access services grew by 4.3% to over 557,400. Consequently, the mobile Internet penetration rate per 100 people de rose to 54%, while the fixed Internet penetration rate to 15.7%. After a period of stagnation of several years, sales of mobile telephony services in 2016 fell by 4.4% on 2015 to 3.4 billion lei, while of fixed telephony services, which have been in decline for ten years, decreased by 14% to 876 million lei. The sales of audiovisual programs broadcasting and retransmission services diminished by 18.9% to 297 million lei. The total sales of electronic communications services decreased to 6.7 billion lei.
12 companies with foreign capital on list of projects of national importance
Twelve companies with foreign capital operating in Moldova were put on the list of investment projects of national importance. In practice, this means that the given companies will benefit from authorities’ assistance in eliminating bureaucratic deficiencies when applying for permissive documents or when dealing with conflicts related to the interpretation of the legislation. The decision was taken by the Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects of National Importance in a meeting on April 26. Among the selected companies are “Draexlmaier Automotive” of Balti municipality, “La Trivineta Cavi Development” of Straseni, “Fujikura Automotive” of Chisinau and “Euro Yarns” of Ungheni. The full list can be found on the websites of the Government and the Moldovan Investment Attraction and Expert Promotion Organization. To be included in this list, the company must have an investment volume of over US$ 1 million, provide a significant number of jobs, implement a unique project in Moldova, use innovative technologies and equipment and produce goods and services intended for export. The Council for the Promotion of Investment Projects of National Importance was constituted last May and is chaired by Prime Minister Pavel Filip. It consists of managers of ministries and agencies with which investors interact.
● FRIDAY, April 28
Joint plan for interconnecting power and gas networks of Moldova and Romania
A joint plan for implementing the projects to interconnect the electric power and natural gas networks of Moldova and Romania will be worked out and put into practice by May 15, 2017. A decision to this effect was taken by Ministers of Economy Octavian Calmac and Mihai Tudose in a working meeting held in the Romanian town Ploiesti in the evening of April 27. In a press release, the Ministry of Economy of Moldova says the two ministers ascertained that the project to interconnect the natural gas systems is implemented according to plan and the Ungheni – Chisinau gas pipeline will be put into operation by the end of 2019. In this connection, chairman of the Administration Board of the National Society for Natural Gas Transportation “Transgaz” SA Ion Sterian informed that the meeting of experts that will be held in Chisinau next week will discuss the plan of action for the next stage of the project. Referring to the interconnection of the power supply networks, the two ministers noted a delay of several months is witnessed, first of all owing to the delay in implementing the technical project of the interconnection. Mihai Tudose assured that the Romanian authorities will allocate the €1.8 million needed for realizing this project so that this could be presented by the middle of July.
Production of renewable energy up 11% in seven years
The production of renewable energy in the Republic of Moldova increased from 4% of the energy production in 2010 to almost 15% in 2017. The rise is mainly due to the financial support provided by the EU through the Energy and Biomass Project that is to be completed this year. In a press club meeting on April 28, Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac said 200 million lei will be allocated from the state budget next year for implementing energy efficiency projects. This is by 100 million lei more than this year. The authorities will increase investments in energy efficiency projects because the European financing offered during the last seven years showed these bring many advantages to the national economy. The Energy and Biomass Project, the second stage, is a three-year project implemented throughout the period 2015-2017. The Project has a budget of €9.41 million allocated by the European Union and it is implemented by the United Nations Development Program. It follows up the first stage of the project, implemented in 2011-2014, with a total budget of €14.56 million, provided by the European Union (€14 million) and the UNDP (€560 000).
Central bank imposes penalties on former managers of Moldindconbank
The Executive Committee of the National Bank of Moldova decided to impose fines of eight to ten average salaries in the financial sector on 11 former managers of the commercial bank Moldindconbank. The fines came to 1 719 785 lei. The fines were imposed for violating provisions of the Law on Financial Institutions and normative documents of the National Bank of Moldova in the period when these managed the bank. The violations mainly include the non-observance of prudence requirements concerning risk concentration, asset assessment and classification in lending activity and provision of loans to groups of persons who are connected.
● Saturday, April 29
DCFTA contributed to higher exports to EU and reform implementation
The implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) contributed to an increase in Moldova’s exports to the EU, up to 65% of total exports. With the technical support of the EU, new factories were opened in Moldova and foreign investors were attracted to the country. The results achieved in the implementation of the DCFTA were made public in a conference on April 28. Head of the EU Delegation to Moldova Pirkka Tapiola said the DCFTA is a common agreement as this creates a common market in accordance with the European standards. During three years, emphasis has been placed on the harmonization of the legislation and on the implementation of the best EU practices in Moldova.