● MONDAY, March 16
Number of subscribers to pay TV services goes down
The pay TV service providers last year had 273,000 subscribers, a decrease of 4.7% on a year before. Sales on this market segment fell by 3.8% to 162 million lei. According to the ICT regulatory ANRCETI, the number of subscribers to the cable network declined, while the clientele of the IP TV operators increased. However, those with cable TV are thrice higher in number than those connected to IP TV. The data furnished by 89 TV service providers show that 60.8% of the subscribers last year received the TV signal in analogical format, while 39.2% in digital format.
Alexandru Slusari: Rise in VAT will be last drop for farmers
The draft fiscal policy document for 2015 suggests restoring the VAT of 20% on all the agricultural products, except for fruit, vegetables and walnuts, from May 1. Alexandru Slusari, chairman of the Union of Agricultural Producers Associations UniAgroProtect, has told that this change would be the last drop for farmers, who already experience more problems that they can bear. Alexandru Slusari reminded that in the meeting of Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici and farmers last week, Minister of Finance Anatol Arapu said the VAT in agriculture will not be modified. “What the minister of finance said last Friday was either manipulation or he does not know what the ministry he heads does, or it was a crass lie,” he stated.
58 farmers to be refunded 50% of price of purchased equipment
A number of 58 farmers from all over Moldova will be able get back up to 50% of the cost of the purchased equipment owing to the grants program “Sustainable Land Management” of the World Bank’s Moldova Agricultural Competiveness Project (MAC-P). The Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture will disburse a total of 8.9 million lei for the purpose. Olga Sainciuc, coordinator of the grants program, said the 58 farmers bought 84 pieces of equipment. They were selected for being financed within the program’s second call for grans in July – December 2014, out of 81 applicants.
● TUESDAY, March 17
Economic growth in Moldova last year was 4.6%
Moldova in 2014 witnessed an economic growth of 4.6%. The GDP was 111.501 billion lei in current prices, an increase of 4.6% in real terms on 2013. In the fourth quarter of last year, the GDP rose by 4.2% compared with the corresponding period last year and by 0.1% on the third quarter. The gross value added in 2014 increased in almost all the sectors of the national economy. In the manufacturing sector, it grew by 7.7% on a year before, positively influencing (+2.0%) the formation of the GDP. The gross value added in agriculture, hunting, forestry, fishing, fish breeding and industry was by 8.2% and, respectively, 7.2% higher than a year before, in the service sector – by 4.2%, in the construction sector – by 10.6%, in retail and wholesale trade – by 6.1%, while in transport and communications – by 3.4.
● WEDNESDAY, March 18
Trade between Romania and Moldova up almost US$1bn in four years
Trade between Romania and Moldova in 2010-2014 rose by almost US$1 billion, the Embassy of Romania in Chisinau has said. At the end of last year, Moldova was Romania’s second largest export partner in Eastern Europe with a share of 24.8% and its fourth largest import partner with a share of 6.7%. In 2014 the bilateral trade grew by over 16% on 2013. The value of the trade between Romania and Moldova was over US$1.6 billion, with exports totaling over US$1.1 billion and imports – US$500.13 million. The balance of the bilateral transactions was over US$640 million in Romania’s favor.
WB ready to offer US$55m for rehabilitating Moldovan roads
The World Bank is willing to offer Moldova US$55 million for works to develop the local roads starting with this year. Minister of Transport Vasile Botnari discussed the cooperation plan in this respect with the World Bank delegation led by Simon Ellis, team leader for the Transport Sector Program in Moldova. According to a press release of the Ministry of Transport and Road Management, Vasile Botnari said that the first broad program to repair local roads was launched in 2014 and continues this year. Owing to the development partner’s support, the rehabilitation of the local roads will be hastened.
Personal exemptions and exemptions for maintained persons will be higher
The personal exemptions and exemptions for maintained persons will be adjusted to the rate of inflation that was projected to be 6.4% this year. Thus, the personal exemption will be 10,128 lei (9,516 lei in 2014), while the increased personal exemption (for certain categories of taxpayers) will be 15,060 lei, as against 14,148 lei in 2014. The exemption for maintained persons will be 2,254 lei, as opposed to 2,124 lei this year. The tax rates on the incomes of private individuals and individual entrepreneurs will be 7% for incomes lower than 29,640 lei and 18% for incomes higher than this sum.
Mobiasbanca inaugurates training center for employees
The current and future employees of Mobiasbanca – Groupe Société Générale and students of some of the education institutions will be able to enrich their knowledge through a series of activities at a training center that was opened by the bank on March 18. In the opening ceremony, the bank’s president Ridha Tekaia said this center represents a branch school that will enable to transmit knowledge and skills to employees so as to increase their professionalism and the level of satisfying clients’ needs. The development of the human resources is a priority for the bank’s administration and the opening of the center represents an important step in this direction.
● THURSDAY, March 19
Transnistria’s trade through Ukraine down almost three times
The value of goods exported and imported by the Transnistrian region through Ukraine’s territory decreased practically three times, the self-proclaimed foreign ministry of the region has said. According to the Transnistrian authorities, the value of Transnistria’s exports through Ukraine in February fell by US$1.166 million on the same month last year, while imports – by US$18.517 million to US$5.484 million. Trade in January-February this year declined to US$15.239 million, as against US$40.874 million in the corresponding period last year.
Ilan Shor makes statements about BEM
The former chairman of the Administration Board of Banca de Economii (BEM), businessman Ilan Shor, who is investigated within the criminal case concerning this bank, told a news conference that last April, when he took over the bank, 47% of the released loans were bad ones. By the time he completed his duties in November 2014, the percentage of bad loans was reduced to 20%. There were applied no schemes to steal money, as some politicians assert. Ilan Shor provided explanations about the 10 billion lei injected by the central bank into Banca Sociala. “It is normal for money to be placed in a bank. Any financial institution performs such operations. On the one hand, the banks gather money giving interest on it. On the other hand, they lend money at a higher interest rate. The banks also invest money in other financial institutions, including from abroad. This is called deposit or interbank funding,” he stated.
Over 250 Moldovan wines and cognacs exhibited at “ProWein 2015”
More than 250 wines and cognacs made by 29 Moldovan producers were displayed on a common stand at the exhibition “ProWein 2015” that was held in Dusseldorf on March 15-17. Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Ion Sula told a news conference that the participation in this event generates very important results in the short and long terms. The exhibit allows selling wine not only as raw material, but also as a finished product with value added and as a renowned product recognized internationally. A lot of work must be yet done to strengthen the image of the country brand “Wine of Moldova” as this will make the Moldovan wine products known in the world and in demand on foreign markets. Dumitru Munteanu, director of the National Office of Vine and Wine, said our products made themselves noticed among the exhibits displayed by about 5,000 producers from 50 countries. The representatives of the participating wineries had almost 60 business meetings.
Electric power charges expected to rise by over 50%
Red Union Fenosa and Gas Natural Fenosa Furnizare Energie asked that the electricity charges should be increased by over 50%, owing mainly to the fluctuations on the currency market. If their request is approved by the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), the end-users will pay 2.58 lei/kWh on average. The subject was discussed in public debates staged by the Agency on March 19. Gas Natural Fenosa Moldova president Silvia Radu said they accumulated debts of over 1.472 billion lei, 90% of which following the depreciation of the leu over the last three years. “Besides the deviations from the investment plan, as regards the maintenance of networks and the fact that the tariffs haven’t been reviewed over the last three years, a new component appeared, which influences a lot our society, namely the depreciation of the leu, which caused damages of over 1 billion lei. This money should be recovered,” said the company’s president.
● FRIDAY, March 20
More efficient mechanisms are needed to manage Moldovan colors
Moldova needs an authority that will be empowered to register ships and to supervise the area, said Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure Vasile Botnari. According to him, there are registered ships that do not meet the technical requirements owing to their wear and tear and ships involved in different activities that run counter to the international treaties in this field. “As the creation of the Naval Agency, which would also deal with the technical certification of ships, is delayed, changes are needed to the procedure for registering ships so as to provide more efficient instruments for managing the colors,” stated Vasile Botnari.
Economic entities fined over 80,000 lei
Tax inspectors imposed fines of 82,000 lei on a number of economic entities operating in Criuleni for not issuing sales slips or for having a surplus of cash in the cash register. Some of the companies refused to present the documents needed for carrying out a fiscal inspection. Two economic entities unjustifiably increased the profit margin on socially important goods, while another two companies didn’t include the daily records in the accounting documents.
