● MONDAY, June 12
Fly One cancels particular flights. CAA convokes commission to assess situation
The flight schedule of Fly One airline was modified following technical faults in an aircraft. Some of the flights were cancelled, while others were delayed. The Civil Aviation Authority (ACC) for Monday convoked the air operators certification commission to assess the situation and determine the reasons that led to cancellations and delays.
Moldova boosts partnership with China in wine industry
The Republic of Moldova has strengthened the relations of partnership with the People’s Republic of China in wine industry. A memorandum to this effect was signed in Yinchuan by Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, and China’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian.
Fly One: Three aircraft malfunctioned simultaneously
The cancellations of a number of Fly One flights were due to technical problems at three aircraft simultaneously, which took a while to fix. The airline’s representatives reported this at a meeting of the Air Operators Certification Commission, convened by the Civil Aviation Authority.
● TUESDAY, June 13
Vadim Bînzari: There are about 100m cubic meters of gas in stock
Moldova has about 100 million cubic meters of natural gas purchased at high prices in stock, said the acting director general of Energocom Vadim Bînzari. He explained that the authorities bought large amounts of gas that were later stored as last winter was expected to be harsh. The official noted that the gas purchased at exorbitant prices will be supplied gradually to the citizens for consumption for these not to feel the exaggerated burden of bills.
Pilot program to set up smart power meters
Smart electricity meters will be installed in public institutions and households to help measure and optimize the real consumption of electrical energy within a pilot program that will be implemented by the Ministry of Energy with support from UNDP Moldova.
Farmers project losses of first group grain crops at over 2nm lei
The Association “Force of Farmers” anticipates that the losses in the case of first group grain crops will come to over 2 billion lei. In a press release, the Association said the calculations were done based on the approximate areas sowed with wheat, barley and rape, the average costs per hectare of crop, the average forecasted harvest and the estimated selling prices.
National Bank opens doors to visitors June 16
The National Bank of Moldova (NBM) announced the Open Doors Day for June 16. Anyone who wants to see the exhibition hall of the central bank and to listen to a short history of the national currency is welcome. The visitors will be able to admire the collections of commemorative and jubilee coins issued by the NBM, the money put into circulation in the country in different periods and samples of currencies of other countries.
Work to modernize Iași Airport in full swing
The construction works for modernizing the Iași Airport are in full swing. The new T4 terminal will be ready by the end of this year, and flights will already be operated from 2024. Passengers from Moldova will also benefit from these better conditions. This was stated by the Airport’s general director, Romeo Vatră, during a talk show on Radio Moldova.
● WEDNESDAY, June 14
Vladimir Bolea: I go to Brussels to persuade EU that we need money for farmers
On June 20, Minister of Agriculture and Food industry Vladimir Bolea will meet in Brussels with European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development to persuade him of the negative impact of the Ukraine war on Moldova’s agricultural sector. The official said that he will ask the European institutions to provide financial assistance for this to be distributed to the farmers affected by the drop in prices and the disruptions in logistics and supply chains as a result of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
Moldova to borrow over €92m from IBRD
The Cabinet ratified the financing agreement with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association for implementing the Moldova Emergency Response, Residence, and Competitiveness Development Policy Operation 2 program that was signed on June 9, 2023. Both the €92.1 million loan and the US$25 million grant will be offered in the form of budget support.
Romanian investors show increased interest in Moldovan market
The Republic of Moldova becomes increasingly attractive to Romanian investors, the executive president of the Association of Romanian Investors in Moldova Dan Nuțiu stated in a news conference in which the Business Barometer in the Republic of Moldova was presented.
Amendments concerning optional pension funds took effect
The State Tax Service said that the amendments to the Fiscal Code, which concern optional nonstate pension funds, came into force. The notion “nonstate pension” used so far was replaced with “optional pension”. The amendments stipulate that optional pension funds are considered the funds that were created and work in accordance with the Law on Optional Pension Funds.
Business Barometer in the Republic of Moldova: Upward trends for all indicators
The Business Barometer in the Republic of Moldova improved considerably in May 2023 compared with the similar poll conducted in December 2022. Even if the war in Ukraine further affects most of the economic sectors in the country, all the indicators of the barometer follow upward trends, the executive director of iData, Mihai Bologan, stated in a news conference titled “Business Barometer in the Republic of Moldova” which was hosted by IPN.
Debates on amendments to Competition Law
The Moldovan legislation does not stipulate the notion “worldwide turnover” and this can lead to the discretionary implementation of the Competition Law. The enterprises must know how the worldwide turnover will be calculated when a violation of the competition norms is international in character, Carolina Pârcălab, manager of ACI Partners, stated in public debates on the bill to amend the Competition Law which were held within the responsible parliamentary commission.
● THURSDAY, June 15
Victor Parlicov: Most difficult period is behind
The most difficult period for the Republic of Moldova from energy viewpoint was passed, said Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov. According to him, the authorities now have the experience necessary to purchase gas from the international market and the right bank of the Nistru is no longer dependent on the gas supplied by Gazprom. Currently, the Government is focusing on gas purchases for the winter period and on the development of energy efficiency programs.
Roberta Metsola: We are delivering another €145m to support Moldova’s reforms
“We are delivering another €145 million to support Moldova’s reforms as the country continues to defy Russian threats,” the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola posted on Twitter.
€40m in grant funding for building state resilience
The Republic of Moldova will benefit from €40 million in grant funding for building the resilience of the state and society. Parliament ratified the financing agreement for the EU4 Resilience and Governance Program with the European Commission, which was signed on May 11, 2023.
Moldova to access non-reimbursable EU funds for infrastructure projects
The Republic of Moldova will be able to access non-reimbursable EU funds for financing infrastructure projects in the transport, energy and digital sectors. Parliament voted to ratify the agreement on Moldova’s participation in the Connecting Europe Facility with the European Union after giving it a first reading.
Dorin Recean: It is important for digitization to benefit people
It is important for digitization to benefit the people and organizations. Digitalization should produce opportunities and should dramatically reduce the cost of transactions and this means that each experience that can be digital should be digitized. Moldova is now sufficiently mature in the IT sector and in the wine industry to share its experience in both of the fields, Prime Minister Dorin Recean stated in the Moldova Digital Summit.
PPDA calls on Premier Recean to take problem of patent holders under control
The Patty “Dignity and Truth Platform” (PPDA) requests Prime Minister Dorin Recean to take under control the problem of patent holders. The party’s chairman Dinu Plîngău in a news conference said the decision to annul the patent as from July 1 is not opportune and there is a risk that the over 5,000 patent holders and their families will take to the streets.
Exports of goods in four months down 4.8% on 2022
Moldova’s goods exports in the first four month of this year came to US$1.389 billion, down 4.8% compared with the corresponding period last year. Romania was the country of destination for 33% of all exports.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the exports of Moldovan goods in January-April 2023 came to US$942.6 million (about 68% of all exports), a 18.2% decline on the same period of 2022, which influenced the decrease of the total net value of exports by 14.4%.
NFSA initiates inspections at animal dealers
The National Food Safety Agency (NFA) started a series of inspections at animal dealers to determine the origin of animals and how the normative framework on animal health and registration is obeyed, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the institution.
Rental income taxes up over 38% on last year
The taxes collected on the income of persons who lease out real estate in the first five months of this year grew by 38.4% compared with the corresponding period last year to 21.4 million lei, IPN reports, quoting the State Tax Service.
In January-May 2023, there were identified over 1,100 persons who leased out real estate. Also, about 180 persons who lease our real estate were inspected. As a result, there were calculated basic payments to the budget totaling 360,600 lei, delay penalties of 26,000 lei and fines of 13,300 lei.
Fly One returns to ordinary schedule
After cancelling a series of flights the previous days, on Thursday Fly One announced that it returns to the ordinary schedule as the aircraft that broke down were repaired. The air operator said that to improve its services, it extended its fleet with a plane and now runs a total of 12 aircraft.
Banking sector ended 2022 with aggregate profit of 3.648,5bn lei, NBM
The banking sector in 2022 had a good financial behavior and kept solid profitability and solvability positions. At the end of 2022, the total assets of the banking sector came to 131.443,7 billion lei, up almost 11% on 2021. Against the Gross Domestic Product, the bank assets declined amidst the faster growth of the nominal GDP, constituting 48.2%, says the financial stability report for 2022 which was published by the National Bank of Moldova (NBM).
● FRIDAY, June 16
Patent holders say they will stage protests if they are not heard by authorities
The patent holders are dissatisfied with the fact that the authorities do not respond to their requests for dialogue in connection with the reform announced by Minister for Economic Development Dumitru Alaiba by which trade based on patent will be replaced with a simplified fiscal regime – independent activity – on July 1. They said that if this dialog does not take place, the parent holders reserve the right to mount a large-scale protest in the central square of Chisinau.
Farmers to resume protests from June 19
The Farmers’ Force Association says it intends to resume protests from next Monday. Some of the farmers will drive their tractors and trucks to Chisinau, while others will block national roads, according to a decision made by the Association’s Council.
The Association declared in a press release that “regrettably, farmers have once again been misled by the authorities. During the current week, negotiations on the method of payment and the amount of compensation promised by the Government did not take place”.
● SATURDAY, June 17
Sergiu Tofilat: Energocom purchased 600m m3 of gas even if it knew we needed only 480m m3
Unwise decisions were taken and more gas than necessary was bought, said the deputy chairman of the Party of Change Sergiu Tofilat. According to the energy expert, Energocom knew how much the right side of the Nistru consumes in the winter season, but anyway purchased more gas at exorbitant prices. He expects that the free gas for the Transnistrian region will stop coming and preconditions for the country’s reintegration will appear as a result.
Since stripped of licenses, BEM, Banca Socială and Unibank collected over 2.8bn lei
Since the withdrawal of their licenses, in the period between October 2015 and March 31, 2023, Banca de Economii (BEM) Banca Socială and Unibank collected a total of 2,850,887.8 lei.
In November 2014 – October 2015, the National Bank of Moldova offered the three banks emergency loans under state guarantee, in the total amount of 14,121,758.0 lei.