● MONDAY, February 9
Fine of almost 5m lei imposed on shop chain
The administration of the company “47-th Parallel”, which manages the shop chain No.1, was fined almost 5 million lei for not allowing carrying out an unplanned inspection ordered by the Competition Council. The head of the Council’s PR Division Veronica Cojocaru said the investigation into this case goes on and they cannot yet provide details as they can affect the examinations. The Competition Council ruled that the Competition Law was broken by the refusal to allow carrying out the unplanned inspection and by presenting only some of the documents required by the inspectors. As a result, there was imposed a fine that is to be paid into the state budget by May 6.
Bread grew dearer in Orhei, more price rises expected
A producer from Orhei increased the price of bread by 10%. Acting Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vasile Bumacov said more bakeries could raise the prices in the immediate future. The director of the Orhei bread making company Ion Brodetski said they had to increase the price of bread from 3 lei to 3.20 lei because the price of wheat rose from 2.70-2.80 lei in December to 3 lei in February. According to Vasile Bumacov, other producers are also expected to put the prices up given the depreciation of the leu. “We should not pretend not to see what is going on. I spoke to producers and told them that it will be very hard in spring as they purchase chemicals and other products imported in foreign currency. How can I say that the price of wheat will not go up? What should the people do when they have to repay loans and to start the spring plowing campaign?” he asked.
Number of electronic export statements on the rise
Some 43% of the customs export statements submitted last months were performed electronically through the E-customs service. Last January, there were registered only several dozen electronic statements, the Customs Service has said in a communique. By eliminating paper documents and enabling performing export transactions electronically, the Customs Service offers the producers the possibility of becoming more competitive on foreign markets, minimizing the clearance time and considerably reducing the costs associated with the export of national products.
Central bank’s foreign exchange reserves go down
The official foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank of Moldova on January 31, 2015 totaled US$1.958,02 million, a decrease of US$0.198,61 million compared with December 31, 2014, when these came to US$ 1.156,63 million, the central bank says in a communique. The reduction in the official foreign exchange reserves was determined by the interventions on the domestic currency market in the form of currency sales of US$0.114,39 million and the deprecation of the currencies that form part of the foreign exchange reserves against the US dollar, in the amount of US$0.59,82 million.
● TUESDAY, February 10
Moldova to pay by 20% less for Russian gas
Moldova in the first quarter of this year will pay by 20% less for the natural gas imported from Russia. According to acting Deputy Minister of Economy Valeriu Triboi, Russia’s gas company Gazprom informed SA Moldovagaz that in accordance with the clauses of the bilateral agreement, the price of gas supplied to Moldova in the first quarter of 2015 will be US$311 per 1,000 cubic meters. This price is by 20% lower than the price paid in the fourth quarter last year, when 1,000 cubic meters of gas cost US$376.
84,000 tonnes of Moldovan apples sold on new markets
After making a first attempt to find new export markets, the Moldovan producers in the last six months of last year exported 84,000 tonnes of apples to new markets. Alexandru Ciobanu, of the National Food Safety Agency, has told IPN that the largest quantities of Moldovan apples were exported to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. “It’s early to compare the new markets with Russia’s market. Our products should be appreciated first, but their taste is much better than that of the Polish apples or of the apples produced in other states. This was a first attempt. The Moldovan apples are indeed appreciated. For example, the apple exports to Kazakhstan this year rose eight times,” stated Alexandru Ciobanu.
ANRE provides details concerning price of gas for end-users
Now that the Ministry of Economy informed that Moldova will pay by 20% less for the gas imported from Russia, the suppliers must update calculations and submit a justified application to the National Energy Regulation Agency (ANRE). After examining the application, the Agency will decide if there are reasons for reducing the charges for end-users or not. The Agency’s director general Sergiu Ciobanu said that they haven’t yet received the new contract. But the operators should inform the ANRE and submit the copy of the contract. The Agency will afterward take a decision.
● WEDNESDAY, February 11
National Business Agenda concerned about delay in forming state bodies
The National Business Agenda (NBA) of Moldova, which brings together over 30 business associations and chambers of trade, is concerned about the delay in the process of forming the bodies of the state power and in implementing the necessary reforms. “In the current conditions of political instability and uncertainty, when the state institutions serve the power, and in the absence of an adopted state budget, the quality of the business environment worsened significantly. The bodies of the state power ‘play’ with the rules, but do not ‘play’ according to the rules. The relations between the business community and the bodies of the state power become much more difficult. There are higher risks of deviation from the generally accepted ethical norms of business conduct,” reads the statement.
Deadline for submitting tax returns modified
Taxpayers have 42 days more for submitting tax returns and paying the income tax for 2014. From this year, the deadline for presenting tax returns is March 25, not March 30 as earlier. The head of the press service of the State Main Tax Inspectorate Eduard Balan said the deadline was modified in a move to optimize the process of submitting income statements and for processing the data. All the taxpayers can present tax returns. This procedure is mandatory for private individuals who earn taxable income from other sources than the salary, those who earn taxable income from salary at several jobs, and those who earn taxable income both in the form of salary and from other sources higher than 27,852 lei a year.
● THURSDAY, February 12
Five districts to receive money from EU for energy efficiency projects
The districts Ocnita, Soroca, Orheni, Ungheni and Cantemir, which signed the Covenant of Mayors, will receive financing from the European Union for implementing energy efficiency projects. The grants provided within the EU program for Sustainable Urban Demonstration Projects (SuDEP) will help provide Ungheni town with renewable energy, increase energy efficiency of a number of public and apartment buildings in Orhei town and modernize street lighting in Ocnita, Soroca and Cantemir. Acting Deputy Minister of Economy Valeriu Triboi told a news conference held to launch the project that there are many problems in Moldova’s energy sector. “The consumption of energy in economy and in domestic households is high. As a result, the energy intensity is three times higher than the average in the EU countries; the used technologies and equipment are outdated, while the energy performance of the industrial and apartment buildings is under the critical level. There is also no knowledge and capacity in the area of energy efficiency. These are problems we face, but which we want to solve with the support of the development partners,” he stated.
