● MONDAY, February 29
Hungary bans truck traffic
Hungary decided to restrict truck traffic on its territory starting with March 1. The restrictions will be imposed on particular days and refer to heavy goods vehicles with a capacity of over 7.5 tonnes. They will be valid until November 4, 2016. According to a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova, the bans will be valid on Saturdays, Sundays and on the national holidays of Hungary –March 15, August 20 and October 23. The Hungarian authorities also decided that the truck drivers who already entered Hungary wil have to stay in special parking lots. This rule does not apply to trucks that transport perishable goods, including fruit, vegetables and products from these, chemical or highly flammable products, poultry and livestock, including cattle and pigs.
Large-scale privatization should be in people’s interests, statement
The Political Party “Right” warns the current government and the people about the imminent dangers that can be generated by the Filip Government’s intention to privatize a number of companies, including Tutun-CTC and Moldtelecom. The party insists that the privatization should be in the interests of the country’s people. In a press release, the party says the dangers derive from the sad privatization experience of Moldova, starting with the big theft of the population called privatization against patrimonial bonds and ending with the stealing at Banca de Economii, which brought the national financial-banking system to its knees, and the concession of the Chisinau International Airport.
Two foreign companies to invest €60m in Free Economic Zone Balti
Two German companies will invest about €60 million in the Free Economic Zone Balti in the course of 2016. The zone’s main administrator Marin Ciobanu, in a news conference said the money will go to build two cable harness factories in Balti municipality and Orhei town. Marin Ciobanu said the given investments in Moldova will be made by the German companies “Draexlmaier” and “Sumitomo”. The size of investments was decided in meetings with the two companies’ administration. “Draexlmaier” will build a factory of 27,000 square meters, with production and administrative areas, at an estimated cost of over €30 million. The investments of “Draexlmaier” will benefit the districts located nearby, namely Rascani, Drochia, Glodeni, Falesti, Sangerei, and Floresti. “Sumitomo” will invest €29 million in a factory that will provide over 3,000 jobs, 180 of which of engineer. Of this sum, €17 million will be used to carry out the construction works, while €12 million to outfit the factory. Among the investment beneficiaries will be residents of the districts of Telenesti, Calarasi, Straseni, Rezina, and Criuleni.
Mobile phone carriers use 92% of allotted numbers
The carries in 2015 used 92% of the mobile phone numbers allotted to them by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology, up 3 percentage points on 2014. Thus, these used 5.6 million numbers of the 6.1 million allotted to them. According to a press release of the Agency, of the over 1.7 million fixed phone numbers allotted by the Agency, there were used 1.2 million or 71.6%. This discrepancy in the use of the two types of phone numbers is due to the increasing demand for mobile telephony that provides a broader range of services, amid the decline in the demand for fixed phone services.
35% of assistance offered by Romania to other states in 2016 goes to Moldova
About 35% of the official development assistance budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania in 2016 is intended for Moldova. The total budget is 10.09 million Romanian lei (about 50 million Moldovan lei). According to the Embassy of Romania in Chisinau, in Moldova there will be financed projects in such areas as justice and internal affairs, agriculture, education, institutional capacity building and development of civil society.
Privatization process can be monitored by group of experts
A group consisting of economic experts could monitor the process of privatizing state property that was recently announced. The group can be formed of four-five economists, including of the Independent Analytical Center “Expert-Grup”. Such a proposal was put forward by the main administrator of the Free Economic Zone Balti Marin Ciobanu in anews conference. According to Ciobanu, this will be a civic position because a lot of people do not know the subtleties of the privatization process. The manager said that to implement such an initiative, a special normative framework is not needed. “Several economists should come together and analyze the business plan, who takes part and how the tender contest was organized. They can also determine if the privatization process was held in a transparent way. We can provide several experts to say how all the segments are organized, including the announcement and coopting of potential investors,” said Marin Ciobanu.
● TUESDAY, March 1
State Tax Service to be reformed based on IMF recommendations
The recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will lay at the basis of the reformation and modernization of the State Tax Service that will be restructured. The reformation bill will be presented by end-April, the Head of the State Tax Service Sergey Puscuta said in a meeting with the IMF mission led by Fah Jirasavetakul. According to a press release of the State Tax Service, the interlocutors discussed the amendment of the legislation with a view to creating a central legal entity responsible for the collection of taxes and the institution of the duty to investigate tax frauds, by consultation with other responsible state authorities.
Users speak by 3.46 hours on average a month over mobile phone
The average monthly traffic per mobile phone user last year rose by about 7% on 2014 to 226 minutes or 3.46 hours. The total al volume of voice traffic in the mobile phone networks increased by 3.7% to over 6.3 billion minutes. The data were published by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology. The clients of Orange Moldova spoke over the phone 274 minutes on average a month, those of Moldcell – about 170 minutes, while those of Moldtelecom (Unite) - 114 minutes. The number of SMSes sent by users through mobile communications networks was 983.6 million, which means that a user sent by 22 messages a month.
Budgetary-fiscal policy to be presented next week
The Cabinet members agreed to present the budgetary-fiscal policy next week. If the document is prepared by next Wednesday, an extraordinary meeting of the Government will be summoned to examine it, Prime Minister Pavel Filip has said. The Premier noted that after the budgetary-fiscal policy is approved, the state budget law will also be presented. Speaking about the IMF mission that worked recently in Chisinau, Pavel Filip said they managed to consult the budgetary-fiscal policy and the draft budget law for 2016 with this.
Free Trade Agreement with Turkey likely to be ratified this spring
The Free Trade Agreement signed by Moldova and Turkey could be ratified by both of the sides this spring. The issue was discussed by Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Eduard Grama and Turkey’s Ambassador to Moldova Selim Kartal in a meeting. The two officials also discussed the bilateral cooperation in agriculture and attraction of investments. According to a press release of the Ministry, the sides noted the cooperation potential in the agricultural sector between the two countries, which hasn’t been yet fully realized. “I would like to lay emphasis on the agro-industrial sector. We should probably bring more industry to Moldova,” stated the diplomat.
Crowd funding platform Government 24 in support of persons with ideas
The first crowd funding platform in Moldova - Government 24 – has been officially launched. In the launch, TEDx Chisinau supervisor Elena Zgardan, who created the platform together with a team of enthusiasts, said that Government 24 is actually a communication platform between persons with project ideas and members of society. By modest donations made online, society can help implement these projects and ideas. “We informed about the creation of this platform on December 22, 2015. The platform invites the people to invest, support or donate for different local social or entrepreneurial causes. During two months, we managed to launch 20 projects. Two projects were completed, while 15 are under implementation. Our citizens contributed over €71,000 to these projects. The donations represented US$1 dollar to US$500 and were 52% made by the diaspora and 48% by the people from the country,” she stated.
● WEDNESDAY, March 2
Number of users of 4G mobile Internet up four times
The number of users of mobile Internet through the 4G networks last year rose over four times. According to the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology, the number of connections rose from 32,000 in 2014 to 132,000 in 2015. The number of mobile broadband users in 2015 increased by 19% to 1.4 million users. The rise in the number of users of mobile Internet led to a 6.8% increase in the high speed Internet access penetration rate to 41%.
Russia seeks guarantees for quality of exported Moldovan agrifood products
Russia asks for guarantees for the quality of the Moldovan agrifood products exported to it. The issue was discussed by Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Eduard Grama with Russia’s Ambassador to Moldova Farit Muhametshin in a meeting. The officials underlined the importance of stimulating the dialogue between the countries, especially in the agro-industrial sector. The Russian diplomat underlined the necessity of monitoring the quality and inoffensiveness of the Moldovan agrifood products exported to Russia. “We are ready for cooperation, but ask for guarantees for the quality of products so that they meet the Russian standards. An optimal middle should be identified between the EU market and the Russian one,” said Farit Muhametshin. According to him, the political stability is as important as it enables to implement long-term projects.
Price of electric power could be decreased by 10%, PM
There are now preconditions for the price of electricity for end-users to be decreased by 10%, Prime Minister Pavel Filip said after a working meeting at the Government, which centered on the supply of electric power. The Premier told the press that there was signed a new contract for the purchase of electric power at a more advantageous price than the one stipulated in the previous contract that expires on March 31. They discussed the impact that the new price can have on consumers. The final price for end-users is expected to decrease by 10%.
● THURSDAY, March 3
Central bank blocks group of shareholders of Moldova-Agroindbank
The Executive Committee of the National Bank of Moldova established that a group of shareholders of BC “Moldova-Agroindbank” SA acts concertedly in relation to this bank and earlier purchased a significant shareholding of the bank’s registry capital (39.58%), without obtaining the written consent of the central bank first. Thus, the National Bank blocked the given group of shareholders. The shareholders will be asked to comply with the Law on Financial Institutions, which obliges to sell the shares purchased this way within three months, from March 2, 2016. The Executive Committee ordered that BC “Moldova-Agroindbank” SA should convoke and hold the General Assembly of Shareholders within 30 days and consider discharging the bank’s Board so that a new Board could be named.
Government approves new investment attraction and export promotion strategy
The encouragement of exports by attracting investment, especially foreign direct investment, represents the key objective of the new national investment attraction and export promotion strategy for 2016-2020, which was approved by the Government. The document will support the fulfillment of the commitments undertaken by Moldova within the Association Agreement with the EU. The strategy is aimed at attracting about US$380 million in foreign direct investment until 2020 and at creating at least 10,000 jobs. The document covers the sectors that are the most promising in terms of potential to attract investment during the next five years. The implementation of the strategy will help attract major investment projects that will contribute to increasing the production and export capacities, stimulating the national SMEs and promoting knowledge in new areas for the national economy.
Fewer technical barriers to trade
The restriction to produce, import and sell strong alcoholic beverages in bottles with popping stoppers on the home market was lifted. The Cabinet approved a bill to amend and supplement the Law on the Manufacture and Circulation of Ethyl Alcohol and Strong Alcoholic Drinks. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac said the use of popping stoppers was introduced with the aim of combating the counterfeiting of strong alcoholic beverages. This goal wasn’t achieved as the counterfeiters possess cheap means to use these corks and forge production.
● FRIDAY, March 4
EU promises assistance in developing agricultural sector of Moldova
The European Union is ready to further support the agricultural sector in Moldova. For the purpose, the high-level adviser for agriculture and rural development Snezhana Blagoeva was delegated to work at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Eduard Grama, who had a meeting with representatives of the EU Delegation to Moldova, highly appreciated the decision to delegate a European expert to support the European integration efforts of Moldova.
According to a press release of the Ministry, special attention in the discussions was paid to the ENPARD Financing Agreement and the actions that need to be taken by the Ministry in 2016, in accordance with this agreement. “For us, it is important to do what’s overdue. We have a lot of work to do and want the farmers to be able to benefit from the support of the European Union,” stated Eduard Grama.
Tiraspol: New contract for supply of electricity with Chisinau saved region’s economy
The one-year contract for the supply of electric power from the Transnistria region, which was signed with the authorities of Moldova, practically saved the region’s economy from a catastrophe, said the so-called minister of economy of Transnistria Dmitry Boltrushko. “The export of electricity to Moldova represented 37% of the total exports in 2015. If we hadn’t signed the contract for 2016, this would have been a catastrophe for the Transition economy, which, together with the impossibility of keeping the free access to the EU, would have meant the collapse of the economy,” stated Boltrushko, quoted by the Transnistrian press.
Law on moratorium on state inspections adopted
Parliament adopted in the second and last reading the law on the moratorium on state inspections at business entities. The law provides for the institution of a moratorium on all the state inspections for a period of three months. Thus, there will be performed no state inspections, including fiscal, financial, mobile customs, of the quality of products/services, public health, technological parameters and/or specific requirements for the kind of activity, and concerning the observance of the labor protection, sanitary and anti-fire norms. The law does not yet refer to the customs checks when entering and leaving the country.
Works to rehabilitate Ferapontievca-Avdarma road could start this year
The repair works on the Ferapontievca- Avdarma road in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia are likely to begin this year. A sum of 15 million lei is to be allocated for the purpose. The subject was discussed in the joint meeting of the Cabinet and representatives of the Executive Committee and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure Iurie Chirinciuc said that this sum will be enough at the initial stage and will be used to ensure traffic security on the two bridges located on this road segment. The road is to be rehabilitated in two stages. The money could be allocated from the National Regional Development Fund and or partially from this Fund and the Road Fund.
Horse farm “AT Prolin” to become property of Gagauzia
The state-run horse farm “AT-Prolin” will be transferred from state property under the property of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. A decision to this effect was taken in the March 4 joint meeting of the Cabinet and members of the Executive Committee and the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia. Governor of Gagauzia Irina Vlah welcomed the decision to transfer the company based in Ceadar-Lunga town under the ownership of Gagauzia. According to her, a sum of 400,000 lei was invested in the farm’s development last year. It is planned that “AT Prolin” will be included in the tourist facilities of the southern region of Moldova as it is considered a real pearl. A horse race was scheduled to take place in the region on May 6.
Lack of transparency and inefficient planning result in non-credible local budgets, expert
The inefficient planning and lack of transparency generate non-credible local budgets. At the same time, the public authorities of Moldova have an insufficient financial potential and low own incomes. These are some of the conclusions of a report on the financial sustainability of the local public authorities, compiled by the independent think tank “Viitorul”. According to a press release of “Viitorul”, the budgetary process in Moldova does not produce credible budgets. Report author Angela Secrieru considers that the local budgets are planned based on simplistic techniques of forecasting the incomes and spending. “The costs are estimated based on norms that do not take into account the real needs of the communities. Therefore, the local budget is not very credible at local level,” said the expert.
