● MONDAY, December 10
Court of Auditors finds no distortions in financial reports of NAC
The National Anticorruption Center (NAC) ensured the organization and functioning of its financial management and control system, described the operational processes and designed the Register of Risks Related to the Management of Public Funds. This allowed compiling correct and reliable financial reports, says the audit report examined by the Court of Auditors in a meeting on December 10. The report contains particular audit observations concerning the classification of fixed assets in accounting records, which generated deviations in the case of some groups of amounts and the classing of particular assets as costs. But these deviations didn’t cross the significance ceiling. Also, the auditors established that the procedure for adjusting the cadastral value of two buildings hasn’t been finished.
Restrictions concerning last three hotbeds of African swine fever lifted
The National Food Safety Agency announced that the restrictions concerning the last three hotbeds of African swine fever, in Paicu and Zârnești villages of Cahul district and in the municipality of Cahul, were lifted. Under the current regulations, the identified hotbeds are monitored during 24 months. A number of 37 hotbeds of African swine fever were recorded in Moldova in the course of 2018. Of these, 27 involved domestic pigs. About 600 animals were killed.
Increasing number of users prefer IPTV services
The IPTV services market in the first nine months of this year continued to grow amid the contraction of the cable TV services market, the national ICT regulator (ANRCETI) said. In January - September 2018, the number of subscribers to IPTV services grew by about 10% compared with the end of 2017 to 153,400, while the revenues from the sale of these services rose by 2% to 56.5 million lei. The number of subscribers to cable TV services decreased by 10.6% to about 164,700, while the sales of such services declined by 2.8% to 62.6 million lei.
Electrical waste collection points to be set up in Chisinau
About 80 electrical and electronic waste collection points will be built in Chisinau as part of an information campaign launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment in partnership with a European project. Svetlana Bolocan, division head at the Ministry, told a news conference it is very important for the electrical and electronic waste to be collected separately. Collection points will be set up both in public institutions, such as education institutions, and also in private institutions. “We cannot influence the quantity of this waste, but can instead reintroduce them every time in the economic circuit by recycling,” stated Svetlana Bolocan.
● THURSDAY, December 13
Annual rate of inflation in November was lower than a month ago
The annual rate of inflation last month was 0.9%, by 0.3 percentage points lower than in October. Similarly, during the past six months it has been below the lower limit of the variation interval of ±1.5 percentage points from the inflation target of 5.0%. The figures for October and November are lower than the anticipated ones owing to the lower than expected rise in food prices. According to the National Bank of Moldova, food prices and the basic inflation contributed by 0.8 percentage points to the annual rate of inflation. In November, food prices rose by 0.8% compared with the previous month following the increase in the prices of eggs (+6.0%), fresh vegetables (+5.7%), potatoes (+2.7%), milk and milk products (+1.2%) and fats (+0.6%). The evolution of food prices was offset by the decline in the prices of fresh fruit (-1.1%) and sugar (-0.9%). Excluding the seasonal factor, the food prices diminished by 0.1% on October.
“Expert-Grup” anticipates economic growth much below optimal level
Moldova’s economy in 2018 grew at a rate that ranged between 4.2% and 4.6%, which covered practically all the essential sectors. The rise in foreign trade deficit was one of the most worrisome developments. The decisive structural and geographical tendencies strengthened through the growth of the European Union’s role. The data were presented by the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup” in the launch of the biannual publication “MEGA”. As regards the forecasts for next year, the analysts anticipate a GDP growth of 3.5%, according to the pessimistic scenario, and of 5.2%, according to the optimistic scenario, which is much below the optimal growth level of 7-8%. As to public finances, the executive director of “Expert-Grup” Adrian Lupușor said the deficit this year will match the acceptable limits as share of the GDP, but next year the risks are evident given the electoral costs and the measures taken as part of the fiscal reform that, on the one hand, cut the fiscal revenues, and, on the other hand, increase costs. The risks also derive from the method of financing the budgetary deficit. The access to external financing sources is limited, especially for 2019, and the financing based on the state-owned real estate purchased by commercial banks runs counter to the Government’s objective to stimulate investment activity by lending. The banks prefer to lend to the Government at acceptable interest rates and to risk almost nothing than to lend to the real sector.
Over 2,000 persons to pay wealth tax
The State Tax Service said it issued notices for paying the wealth tax to 2,133 subjects, which is by 154 fewer than in 2017. Over 40 million lei is to be collected in wealth taxes. The deadline for paying the wealth tax is December 25. A penalty of 0.0329% will be paid for each day of delay. The wealth tax is paid by private individuals who own housing and vacation homes (except for land) whose value is estimated at 1.5 million lei and over and are 120 square meters and over in area.
● FRIDAY, December 14
New Wizz Air plane arrives in Chisinau
A new aircraft of the low-cost airline Wizz Air reached Chisinau on December 14. As of December 15, the Airbus A320 plane will operate flights to five destinations. For the first time, flights will be provided from Chisinau to Dortmund and Memmingen in Germany. According to Avia Invest company that manages the Chisinau International Airport, with the extension of the fleet of the operational base in Chisinau, new flights will be provided to Copenhagen (Denmark). Brussels (Belgium) and Paris (France), this time operated by Wizz Air. So, flights to Brussels will be operated also from the Charleroi Airport, not only from the national one.
● SATURDAY, December 15
Pavel Filip: Economic growth is due to rise in investment
The economic growth in the recent period is due to the rise in investments, Prime Minister Pavel Filip stated in a program on Publika TV channel. According to him, investments totaling over US$ 115 million were recorded last year in the Free Economic Zones alone. The Premier said more than 7,500 jobs were created in the Free Economic Zones. During three years since the start of 2016, the Republic of Moldova collected budget revenues that were by over 12 million lei larger than those of the previous years. The Government copes with the money available in the national economy after a part of the foreign financing was stopped.
Rural women urged to more actively become involved in business and decision-making
85% of businesswomen in Moldova work in urban areas, 60% of whom in Chisinau. The discrepancy between the number of businesses started by women in villages and towns is wide and such a state of affairs should be changed. The picture is similar when it is about the involvement of women in the decision-making process at community level. The opinions were stated in the fourth National Women’s Forum of Moldova 2018 entitled “Woman and Migration“ that was held on December 15. Attending the forum, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said Moldova should be attractive not only to investments from outside, but also to domestic investments. The Government is implementing a number of reforms to create a favorable investment climate by reducing the number of permissive documents, introducing the one-stop shop, supporting different financing programs intended for young entrepreneurs and not only. During three years, there were created 170,000 jobs and US$130 million was directly invested in business. The figure this year is by US$ 43 million higher than last year.
