● MONDAY, December 18
Mobiasbanca gets additional loan from EBRD
Under the EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing an additional €20 million loan to Moldova’s Mobiasbanca - Groupe Société Générale to meet growing demand from local businesses investing in improved quality of their products and services. A previous €10 million loan extended under EU4Buisness-EBRD Credit line to Mobiasbanca in December 2016 was met with high demand. Twelve local firms have already benefited from EBRD financing and the number of loan applications is rapidly growing.
Single phone number for obtaining information about train schedules and ticket prices
A single phone number will be active at the information office of the state-run company Moldova’s Railways for obtaining information about train schedules and ticket prices as from January 1, 2018. The new number (022) 83 33 33 can already be used. The current numbers used for the purpose will become nonfunctional on January 1 next year.
Subsidization policies became more favorable to businesses, secretary of state
The number of companies that received subsidies from the National Agriculture and Rural Development Fund in 2017 is almost twice higher compared with 2016, secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Iurie Usurelu stated in a news conference. According to Usurelu, owing to the approval of the agriculture subsidization regulations for five years, not for a year as earlier, the subsidization policies became more predictable and more favorable to agricultural businesses.
● THUESDAY, December 19
Balancing of business and society interests is a precondition for development
The bill to reduce the pressure exerted by state institutions on the businesses proposed by the Ministry of Justice was subject to a broad debate that involved over 100 businessmen, public servants and representatives of civil society organizations. Minister of Justice Vladimir Cebotari said the bill is designed to further improve the business climate, to attract new investments to Moldova’s economy and to reduce the pressure on entrepreneurs exerted by the law enforcement agencies.
SA Transgaz Romania opens representative office in Moldova
The Public Service Agency put the Limited Liability Company “EuroTransgaz”, which is the representative office of SA Transgaz Romania in Moldova, on the State Register of Legal Entities. According to the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, among the main objectives of the new business entity are to produce, transport, distribute, store and supply natural gas, to ensure transportation through pipes and storage, and to provide business and management consulting services.
Protocol of ninth meeting of Moldovan-Turkish intergovernmental commission signed
Trade between Moldova and Turkey rose considerably during the past few years, to about US$500 million. This is due to the Free Trade Agreement between Moldova and Turkey that took effect on November 1, 2016. The sides aim to increase the value of commercial exchanges to US$ 1 billion in the nearest future, co-chairmen of the Moldovan-Turkish intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation, Deputy Prime Ministers Octavian Calmic and Hakan Çavuşoğlu, stated in a news conference in Chisinau.
Joint Moldovan-Ukrainian control at “Palanca” customs post launched
The joint Moldovan-Ukrainian control at the “Palanca” customs post was launched on December 19. At the initial stage, given the infrastructure constraints related to the extension and modernization of the customs post, border controls will be performed at a temporary border crossing point. According to the authorities, the institution of common border control at the given customs post will help ease transfrontier traffic and ensure greater transparency in the process of performing controls by implementing the one-stop show.
● WEDNESDAY, December 20
Moldova’s first IT Park to start working in Jan. 2018
Moldova IT Park will become operational on 1 January 2018 as the Cabinet today approved the initiative that was first announced in October. The Park, which will begin as a virtual entity.
Government to subsidize job creation
The Government today decided to subsidize each new job created in 2018 with 40,000 lei. The subsidies will be offered to companies engaged in entrepreneurial activities, except for the fully or party state-owned ones. The funds required are provided for in the mid-term budget framework. The amount of the subsidy will be indexed annually depending on the size of the average salary.
EBRD, BEI offer €270M for Moldova-Romania power interconnection
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Union (EU) and the World Bank are providing a €270 million package to finance a permanent interconnection between the electrical networks of Moldova and Romania. The package includes EIB and EBRD loans of EUR 80m each, a EUR 70m loan from the World Bank and a EUR 40m investment grant from EU funds. Funding agreements to this effect were signed today in Chisinau.
● THURSDAY, December 21
Government approves Food Safety Strategy
The Government has approved the 2018-2022 Food Safety Strategy, a document that aims to also achieve greater consumer protection. The Strategy has a comprehensive approach that covers all the sectors and stages of food production, from fodder, to animal and plant health, to processing, storing, packaging, to marketing.
EBRD welcomes improved transparency in Moldova’s banking sector
Moldova has improved governance and transparency rules in the banking sector, and this will allow to attract reputable foreign investors. This was stated by Dimitri Gvindadze, head of the EBRD’s office in Chisinau, during his end-of-term press conference on Thursday. Dimitri Gvindadze has noted that two-thirds of the Moldovan banking sector is under the National Bank’s special supervision because of shareholder and governance issues.
Banking crisis led to accelerated growth of non-banking lenders, expert
Due to the banking crisis, the market share of the non-banking sector more than doubled from 7.1 percent in 2013 to 16.4 percent in 2017, said expert Veaceslav Ionita, of the IDIS Viitorul think-tank, during the presentation of the paper “Economic Outlook: 2018 – A Year of Reform or Stagnation?”.
● FRIDAY, December 22
Municipal enterprises and CMC divisions will conduct tenders via Mtender
In 2018, the municipal enterprises and the division of the Chisinau Municipal Council will conduct public tenders via the electronic system Mtender. This concerns only small tenders, under 80,000 lei. The idea was put forward by the Socialists.
Maximum lease term for farmland extended by two years
Parliament voted to approve in a first reading an amendment extending from three to five years the maximum term for leasing farmland. If the land is leased for the maximum period, the lease contracts will have to be registered with the cadaster authorities, and if for shorter periods the leaseholder will have the option to register it with the local authorities.
Pollution pax deadlines extended
Parliament has passed in its final reading, with 82 supporting votes, an amendment to the Law on environmental pollution. According to the amendment, those who admit and pay this tax are exempted from equal amounts in fines and penalties under the Fiscal Code.
● SATURDAY, December 23
Kroll 2 raises many questions, say experts
The summary of the second Kroll report, published by the National Bank of Moldova on December 21, raises more questions that should be answered by the government, say experts. The topic was discussed during the Cutia Neagra talk-show on TV8. Lilia Carasciuc, executive director at Transparency International Moldova, said that the main question the summary report doesn’t answer concerns the final beneficiaries of the fraud.
Kroll highlights Shor Group´s role in bank fraud, say experts
Former finance minister Veaceslav Negruta, currently an expert at Transparency International-Moldova, says that the summary of the Kroll reports suggests the Shor Group wasn’t operating alone during the theft of the billion, but played a key role in the scheme. On the other side, current finance minister Octavian Armasu promised the government will seize the assets of those involved in the fraud. Negruta told Radio Free Europe that the new report confirms the information from the first one and lays out the schemes through which money was stolen and laundered from Moldova.
Seasonal factor is rural tourism’s main weakness, says expert
Occupancy rates in agro-, eco- and rural pensions are under 20% overall, whereas in the summer they increase to an acceptable 40%, which means that the seasonable factor is the biggest weakness of rural tourism, says economist Veaceslav Ionita of the think-tank IDIS Viitorul.
