● MONDAY, March 17
Over one third of applications for licenses are submitted electronically
Some 35% of the applications for issuing or extending licenses last year were presented in electronic format, through the e-Licensing service launched at the end of 2012. In January – February 2014, the number of companies that used the e-Licensing service rose to 50 and, respectively, 60%. The information was presented in a program on Radio Moldova by the director of the Licensing Chamber Valentin Guznac. “The economic entity does not need to come to the Licensing Chamber with the documents written by hand or printed on paper to waste time and money. The documents can be submitted electronically. When a decision is taken, the applicants are invited to take their licenses. The necessity of coming in contact with employees of the Licensing Chamber disappears,” stated Valentin Guznac. According to him, the implementation of the e-Licensing service enabled to reduce the average period for processing the documents needed for obtaining a license from 3.12 working days in 2012 to 2.94 in 2013.
Sales of fixed-line telephone services continue to decrease
Sales on the fixed-line phone services market in 2013 declined the fifth consecutive year despite the slight rise in the number of subscribers. According to the statistics of the national ICT regulator ANRCETI, the sales fell by over 45 million lei (3.9%) on 2012, even if the customer base grew by over 15,000 (+1.3%) to 1.2 million. The rise in the number of subscribers was due exclusively to the 24 alternative providers that connected over 23,000 new customers to their networks. The customer base of SA “Moldtelecom” rose by over 8,000. At the end of 2013, SA “Moldtelecom” had over 1 million subscribers (91.3% of the total number).
Economic growth in Moldova last year was 8.9%
The Gross Domestic Product in 2013 increased by 8.9% on 2012 to almost 100 billion lei ( 99.87bn lei). The gross value added in the manufacturing sector increased by 22.1% on 2012, in agriculture, hunting, forestry, fishing and fish-breeding – by 41.0%, in industry - by 7.4% on 2012, in the service sector – by 4%.The final consumption was by 5.2% higher on a year before, owing mainly to the 6.5% rise in the final consumption of households.
● TUESDAY, March 18
Commission on economy, budget and finance to propose dismissing Dragutanu
The Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance will ask the Standing Bureau to include the dismissal of Dorin Dragutanu from the post of governor of the National Bank of Moldova in the legislature’s agenda. The proposal was submitted by Socialist MP Igor Dodon and was supported by eight members of the commission, which is a majority. Igor Dodon said the governor is to blame for the difficult situation on the currency market, which is characterized by the dramatic depreciation of the Moldovan lei. Liberal-Democratic MP Simion Furdui said the situation on the currency market is indeed worrisome. He expressed his indignation at the fact that the governor avoids the hearings.
● WEDNESDAY, March 19
Insufficiency of storage facilities makes farmers sell production cheap
The insufficiency of storage and drying facilities forces the farmers to sell their agricultural products as soon as possible, immediately after the harvest, instead of waiting for a better price on the market. In a roundtable meeting staged by the Competition Council, the participants conferred on the provision of sunflower seed storage and transportation services. Producers and representatives of exporters said the infrastructure is old and it is difficult to find units of transport in the periods when sales are high. Chairman of the Union of Agricultural Producers Associations UniAgroProtect Alexandru Slusari said that during two weeks after last year’s harvest, a processing company profited from its dominant position on the market. It thus contributed to a reduction in the purchase prices of sunflower seeds, to levels lower than in the region – in Ukraine and Romania. As a result, the agricultural producers sustained losses. The representative of the mentioned processing company Jhashi Vaja said the relevant conclusions were drawn and the prices now returned to the regional levels.
Imports of oil products last year up over 10%
Last year Moldova imported over 600,000 tonnes of oil products, an increase of 10.9% compared with 2012, shows a report by the National Agency for Energy Regulation. The imports of diesel fuel came to 409,000 tonnes, of gasoline to 160,000 tonnes, while of liquefied petroleum gas to 72,000 tonnes. The gasoline was imported mainly from Romania (72.4%), Austria (13.3%), and Bulgaria (7.1%). 60.5% of the diesel fuel was imported from Romania, 17.2% from Russia, while 10.5% from Belarus. The largest part of the liquefied petroleum gas was imported from Kazakhstan (45.3%), Russia (38.5%) and Belarus (8.6%). The annual average import price of gasoline was US$1,030 per tonne, of diesel fuel – US$985 per tonne, while of liquefied petroleum gas US$752 per tonne.
Moldova’s rail services sustain losses because of situation in Ukraine
The rail services of Moldova last month sustained losses of 30% compared with the corresponding period last year owing to the difficult situation in Ukraine. Deputy Minister of Transport Vladimir Cebotari has told that all the transport services of Moldova were affected because of the uncertain situation in the region, but the rail services were the worst-hit.
Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline likely to become functional by June
Until this June, the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline should become functional, Romanian President Traian Basescu said in a news conference held jointly with his Moldovan counterpart Nicolae Timofti in Iasi. “The first stage of the project to build the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline will be soon completed. The analysis made by the two governments shows that the gas pipeline will start work by June, given that the works to cross the Prut started on the Romanian bank. We are confident that the works on Moldova’s territory will be finished by June,“ said Traian Basescu.
Administrators of three free economic zones confirmed in posts
The Government confirmed in their posts three administrators of free economic zones (FEZ). These are Natalia Epuras (FEZ Ungheni), Marin Ciobanu (FEZ Balti), and Gheorghe Cervin (FEZ Valcanes), IPN reports. Prime Minister Iurie Leanca wished them success in attracting new resident companies and informed that the European Commission will soon launch a special fund to support the foreign investments in Moldova.
FAO will have representative office in Moldova
A representative office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will be opened in Moldova. In the Government’s meeting, Minister of Agriculture Vasile Bumacov said the opening of the FAO office will contribute to strengthening and extending the partnership and cooperation relations with this organization. “The representative office will facilitate the management of the FAO activities to inform, consult, promote the development and modernization of the agricultural sector and implement assistance projects,” said the minister. Under the agreement, an area of about 60 square meters will be allocated for setting up the FAO representative office in Moldova. The institution’s head office is based at 162 Stefan cel Mare Blvd.
● THURSDAY, March 20
Government adjusts budgetary-fiscal policy for this year
The excise duty on large capacity vehicles (2,500, 3,000cc engines) will be increased from €2 to €3 per cubic centimeter. Minister of Finance Anatol Arapu said that some of the provisions of the fiscal policy were reviewed after they were declared unconstitutional. Parliament is to abrogate the norm providing that private individuals can transfer up to 2% of the tax on their income salary to noncommercial organizations and religious institutions to support them. In accordance with the decision of the Constitutional Court, there were proposed a series of changes to the local taxes and duties. In order to ensure a favorable climate for the European integration process, the economic entities that do not have connection with the budget system of Moldova will be exempted from paying customs duties and environmental taxes. Deputy Prime Minister Eugen Carpov said this provision is a positive signal for the Transnistrian business community.
Government approves medium-term state debt management program
The Ministry of Finance’s priorities related to the management of the state debt were defined in the medium-term state debt management program for 2014-2016 that was approved by the Government. The state debt in the period will be paid mainly from foreign resources. The foreign state loans from such multilateral institutions as the World Bank and the European Commission will represent 93.8%. The net internal financing will follow a generally descending trend, the main instruments being the state securities issued on the primary market by auction. The state debt’s share in the GDP by the end of 2016 will decrease by 0.6% compared with the end of 2013, to 23.5%.
Factors that ‘swelled’ economic growth last year will not keep, expert
The last year’s economic growth of almost 9% is not durable, even if it’s the highest ever recorded in Moldova, considers the executive director of the think tank “Expert-Grup” Adrian Lupusor. Analyzing the structure of the GDP growth, the expert said the main factors that ‘catalyzed’ the increase in 2013 will not keep in 2014. According to Adrian Lupusor, about half of this growth was due to the 41% rise in the gross value added in agriculture. But this progress wasn’t based on structural improvements in this sector. It was fueled by the compensatory growth after the drought of 2012. It is evident that agriculture in 2014 will make much more modest progress, given the high comparison base and the perpetuation of the structural deficiencies in the sector. The expert stated that another factor that ‘swelled’ the economic growth last year was the controlled deprecation of the national currency against the dollar and the euro. This brought an additional contribution of 1-1.5 percentage points to the GDP growth of 8.9% in 2013. Thus, the short-term positive effects of the depreciation of the Moldovan leu will disappear in 2014.
● FRIDAY, March 21
Gas Natural Fenosa asks adjusting electric power charges
Gas Natural Fenosa, named judicially ICS RED Union Fenosa SA, sent a letter to the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), asking adjusting the charges for the distribution and supply of electricity. According to a communiqué of the Agency, the license holders have the right to annually make approaches and request adjusting the tariffs. Until now, only ICS RED Union Fenosa, made such a request, arguing that the exchange rate of the national currency modified and the distribution and supply costs must be updated.
● SATURDAY, March 22
Regional development fund will support primarily industrial parks
The creation of industrial parks, especially the infrastructure for them, will be financed with money from the regional development fund first and foremost. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said that at the initial phase of development, these projects need the authorities. The official stated that the development of production infrastructure will take place simultaneously with the construction of networks of roads, water supply and sewerage systems, and natural gas supply systems. These projects are primarily financed by the regional development fund.
Pubic property to be consolidated
The state, as an owner, will be able to consolidate the stockholdings in state-run companies or companies of national interest by purchasing holdings from private individuals or legal entities or by exchanging goods, including shares that can be privatized. Publicly owned shareholdings that are often not in demand will be privatized through the Moldova Stock Exchange. The diversification of the privatization methods by exchanging these shares for other holdings owned by private individuals or legal entities will unblock the process of privatizing publicly owned shares. The administration of public property will be improved, while ownership over particular companies will be strengthened. These aspects were repeatedly highlighted by officials of the Ministry of Economy, which manages the Public Property Agency.
Chisinau hosts Moldovan-Polish business forum
A Moldovan-Polish business forum will take place in Chisinau on March 28. The event is organized by the Moldovan Investment and Export Promotion Organization (MIEPO) in partnership with the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ). Representatives of about 70 companies from different sectors of the Polish economy will take part in the forum. According to a communiqué from MIEPO, the decision to hold the Moldovan-Polish forum points to the Polish business people’s interest in the investment potential of Moldova. “I encourage the national companies to profit this occasion so as to also extend their businesses on the Polish remarket,” said MIEPO executive director Dona Scola. It is expected that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will attend the event and will also have meetings with Moldovan officials.
Old buildings account for 45% of energy consumption
A large part of the buildings in Moldova were constructed 20-60 years ago and have poor thermal characteristics. These buildings account for 45% of the final energy consumption, the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction says in a communiqué. The energy intensity in Moldova exceeds the intensity in the European countries almost three times. About 75% of the energy in buildings is used for heating.
