● MONDAY, February 24
Company accused of illegally issuing licenses
A company during several years had issued licenses for different kinds of activity without legal basis, the State Main Tax Inspectorate said in a communiqué. Following inspections carried out at Euro Contact Transnational, it was established that without having a right, it issued licenses for work in the transport sector and started to work with persons selling at the Chisinau Central Market. Under the legislation, the licensing authorities of Moldova are: the Licensing Chamber, the National Bank of Moldova, the National Commission for Financial Markets, the National Agency for Energy Regulation, the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology, and the Broadcasting Coordination Council.
● TUESDAY, February 25
Amendments to legislation on tobacco will have unfavorable consequences, experts
The amendments to the legislation concerning the regulation of the production and sale of cigarettes will have a number of unfavorable consequences. Analyst Anatolie Golea said the banning of strong, light and slim cigarettes is not a solution to stopping smoking. Editor-in-chief of the news agency Infomarket Alexandr Burdeinyi considers that the given changes will generate a reduction of about 50% in the incomes collected into the state budget from the tobacco industry. Anatolie Golea doubts the necessity of the amendments that ban advertisements in places where cigarettes are sold as the vendors will start to sell cigarettes under the counter. The provisions will also lead to a decrease in the number of jobs.
Farmers demand introducing common tax in agriculture
A number of farmers organizations submitted a statement to Parliament and the Government, by which they ask introducing the common tax in agriculture. According to the signatories, this thing will significantly contribute to reducing tax evasion and to diminishing the illegal agricultural activities. The signatories insist that the common tax this year should be introduced on a trial basis in at least three districts of the country. They propose that the general common tax should be at most 3 lei per hectare, while for peasant farmsteads that cultivate less than 10 hectares – at most 1.85 lei per hectare. The organizations consider that a part of the problems concerning the tax policy in agriculture can be solved by introducing this tax, which will include the income tax, land tax, road taxes, payments for natural resources and water and the development tax. All the owners of farmland will pay this tax.
Officials responsible for Association Agreement respond to MPs’ questions about free trade
The free trade component of the Association Agreement with the EU specifies import quotas for certain Moldovan products. They can be reviewed two times a year if Moldova proves that it can export more, officials responsible for the negotiation of the Association Agreement with the EU said in the meeting of the Parliament’s competent commission on February 25. The Communist MPs asked questioning those who negotiate the Association Agreement as the document’s annexes stipulate that after the accord comes into force Moldova will be able to export only several tonnes of products to the EU duty-free. Chief negotiator for the creation of the Free Trade Area, Deputy Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac said these quotas refer to packed products that can be put on sale in the EU immediately. No quotas are set for products that will be exported to be processed.
● WEDNESDAY, February 26
World Bank will assist Government in improving business environment
The World Bank will help the Government of Moldova to establish a set of performance indicators for about 20 public institutions. The indicators will measure the institutions’ openness to the business sector. Such an agreement was reached by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar in a meeting with the World Bank mission for preparing the new Competitiveness Enhancement Project (CEP II). The objective of CEP II is to improve the competitiveness of the Moldovan companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, by strengthening the ties with the market, facilitating access to medium and long-term financing and improving the business sector. The World Bank will provide support in working out an institutional development strategy of the Organization for Developing the SME Sector and the Moldovan Investment and Export Promotion Organization. The institutions will be helped to develop new services and programs aimed at satisfying companies’ needs.
Premier seeks elimination of administrative obstacles to wine export
Prime Minister Iurie Leanca instructed minster of agriculture and food industry to take actions to remove the internal administrative obstacles to the export of wine. The European Union granted Moldova a free regime for the export of wine to the community market, without taxes and quantitative restrictions, starting with January 1, 2014. The Premier said the Moldovan production is not always competitive, often because of the internal administrative barriers. The official stated that the exporters must pay 2,000 lei for a compliance certificate for wine products at a time when in the EU it costs €12-20. Besides, the exporters must obtain a compliance certificate for every consignment of exported wine.
Privatization of a series of large companies postponed
The Government annulled its decision of November 13, 2013 concerning the privatization of state public property by investment contest, based on individual projects. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said the privatization round of 2013 showed that there is no demand on the market for such large companies as Moldtelecom, Air Moldova and Tutun CTC, which were to be denationalized based on individual projects, with the attraction of consultants. The official also said there is no direct connection between the annulment of the decision and the electoral year. However, the foreign investors want to be sure that people with progressive views will come to power in Moldova and there will be stability in the country after the elections.
● THURSDAY, February 27
Reserves of moisture in soil stand at 90-120% of norm
The reserves of productive moisture in soil on plowed and winter crop fields represent 90 -120% of the norm at the start of the sprouting period (March 16-25). According to the State Hydrometeorology Service, the moisture reserves formed in autumn in a one-meter layer of soil represent 110-200 mm or 100-160% of the norm. The precipitation this winter constituted 55-75 mm or about 60-90% of the norm. It is anticipated that the moisture reserves at the beginning of the sprouting period will represent 115-160 mm, which is up to 120% of the norm.
US$192,000 to be allocated for Moldova’s representation at Paris Court of Appeals
The executive will allocate US$192,000 from its reserve fund for covering costs related to Moldova’s representation at the Court of Appeals of Paris in an international arbitration lawsuit over the October 25, 2013 decision filed by the Ukrainian company Energoalians against Moldova. Minister of Justice Oleg Efrim said the money is intended for paying honorariums and covering other costs in French courts. On July 8, 2010, Energoalians sued Moldova at an ad-hoc arbitration tribunal. On October 25, 2013, the tribunal decided that the Energy Charter Treaty was violated and obliged Moldova to pay 592 million lei and US$540,000 damages to the plaintiff. On November 25, 2013, the Moldovan authorities appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals of Paris. The Ministry of Justice held a contest to select a lawyer who will represent the country’s interests in the French courts. On January 17, 2014, the Associated Law Office “AICI Partners” was designated as a winner. It will work in partnership with DLA Piper UK LLP.
Term for liquidating businesses may be reduced
The amendments approved by the Government to a number of legal acts halve the term for voluntarily liquidating a business. The initiative was put forward by the Ministry of Economy and is to be adopted by Parliament. Currently, the creation and registration of a legal entity at the State Registration Chamber take at most five days. But the liquidation procedure lasts for about 12 months. For the procedure to be simplified, it was suggested reducing the term for claiming money from the company that is under liquidation from 6 to 2 months of the publication of the announcement in the Official Gazette. The term for distributing the assets may be decreased to one month of the approval of the liquidation balance.
● FRIDAY, February 28
Framework needed to produce renewable energy approved
Moldova aims to ensure at least 17% of the final gross consumption of energy from renewable sources until 2020. Given the country’s 95% dependence on the import of energy sources and the energy intensity that is about three times higher than in the developed countries, the use of energy from renewable sources will contribute to increasing the state’s energy security, it is said in the informative note to the bill.The use of such renewable sources as the solar power, wind, biomass and other residues and waste for producing electricity, biofuel and biogas offer considerable environment advantages given the increased potential of decreasing emissions of greenhouse gases in the energy production process and in the utilization process.
Public procurement at European standards
The national legal framework on public procurement will be adjusted to the European standards. The contracting authorities will be able to choose the winner by the lowest price or the most advantageous bid from technical-economic viewpoint. More time will be allotted for preparing and submitting offers. Under the bill approved by the Government, the bids will be submitted within 20 calendar days of the publication of the announcement in the Public Procurement Bulletin and during at least 52 days of the forwarding of the announcement for publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. There will be created the Challenge Examination Agency that will be managed directly by the Ministry of Economy. It is a new specialized public administration body that will contribute to preventing conflicts of interest that can appear in the work of the Public Procurement Agency.
Romanian company ready to invest €20 m in Straseni
The company Romcab based in Romania’s Targu-Mures intends to invest €20 million in the construction of a factory in the Straseni subzone of the Balti Free Economic Zone. The company is an important producer of cable and conductors that in 2013 reported a turnover of €80 million. Romcab will be the tenth resident of the Straseni industrial platform. It intends to invest €5 million this year and another €15 million next year. Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said the industrial platform in Straseni is the first private territory of a Free Economic Zone. He recommended the administration of the zone to follow the example of the industrial park Tracom and to set up a consortium of resident companies.
● SATURDAY, March 1
Moldova’s wine exports to EU lower than last January
Though the European Union full liberalized its market for Moldovan wines from this January, the Moldovan producers exported by about 3 million liters less wine than last January. According to the data provided by the Marketing and International Relations Division, 6.5 million liters of wine to the value of over US$6 million were exported to the EU in January 2014. In the same period of 2013, there were exported 9.19 million liters of wine to the value of almost US$11 million.
Macroeconomic indicators in Transnistria go up, Tiraspol
The Transnistrian administration said the macroeconomic indicators in the region have increased this year. Exports in January were almost twice larger than in the corresponding period last year. The production volumes also grew. The developments were discussed by the Transnistrian leader Yevgeny Shevchuk with representatives of the local executive power in a meeting. On its website, the News Agency “Novostipmr” says the Transnistrian administration fulfills all its social commitments towards the population of the region. The tax collection indicators planned for this period were exceeded by 3 percentage points.
14 companies to supply goods to Russia within production cooperation
The Governments of Moldova and Russia are to sign a protocol on the supply of goods within production cooperation for 2014. The Moldovan executive approved a decision on the initiation of discussions on the issue. Under an agreement signed with Russia in October 1998, the nomenclature and volume of supplies and the list of economic entities that will supply goods within production cooperation are determined annually by a protocol that is negotiated and signed by the sides.
