● MONDAY, August 20
Regulations on Loan Guarantee Fund for SMEs approved
The Cabinet agreed the regulations concerning the Load Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. The fund is the legal successor of the Fund for the Development of Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses that the Organization for the Development of the Sector of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (ODIMM) used to implement the state policy on assistance for developing the SME sector for facilitating access to financing for enterprises that do not have sufficient security by issuing financial guarantees for financial institutions so as to guarantee loans. The fund will consist of state budget allocations, financial assistance provided by donors and other resources allowed by law.
Mechanism for implementing citizenship by investment program agreed
The mechanism for implementing the citizenship by investment program was approved by the Cabinet. The document specifies the necessary legislative changes and technical processes and the procedures and forms of applying to the program. “There were defined the general requirements and eligibility criteria, the method and conditions of checking their fulfilment, including the good economic and financial reputation, the exact number of documents that need to be filed by applicants,” Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Kiril Gaburici explained. The document also regulates the institution of the Program Implementation Unit and introduces additional duties for the Public Services Agency that will ensure the secretariat of the commission for the provision of citizenship by investment working under the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure.
● TUESDAY, August 21
Conditions for building Chisinau Arena made known
The Cabinet approved the draft public-private partnership contract for the designing and construction of the polyvalent stadium of national interest Chisinau Arena. The contest to choose the private partner was held during May 5 - July 4 this year. Later, the Government negotiated the contractual conditions with the contest winner – the Turkish company “Summa”. Under the contract, the private partner will design and build the polyvalent arena and will equip this and will also build roads, connect the facility to public utilities and will perform other infrastructure activities. The Chisinau Arena will have a capacity of 3,000 to 5,000 seats.
Government forecasts GDP growth of 4% for 2019-2021
The Government forecasts an annual average GDP growth of 4% for the next three years, IPN reports, with reference to the medium-term budgetary framework for 2019-2021 that was approved by the Cabinet. The structure of the GDP will be modified. The share of the gross value added will decrease from 84.6% in 2017 to 83% in 2021, while the share of net taxes on products will increase following the fiscal administration reform. The rise in external demand will be mainly due to the larger private consumption and this will affect the GDP structure per utilization categories. The share of final consumption of domestic households in the GDP will rise from 86% in 2017 to 87% in 2021. The share of gross fixed capital formation will decline from 22% to 21%. The share of net exports will diminish from 28% to 26%. The GDP growth in 2017 was 4.5%.
Sunflower seeds and corn harvests richer than last year
The average harvest of sunflower seeds per hectare is expected to be larger than in 2017, when this was 2.1 tonnes/ha. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, the rain of June-July helped the plants develop three weeks earlier. The harvesting in southern Moldova is recommended in a week, while in the northern districts in two weeks. As regards corn, specialists consider the state of the crops is satisfactory. The grains were formed and the possible rainfalls will not affect these. The corn crop is projected to be larger than last year, when it was 3.7 tonnes/ha. The harvesting of corn this year could start later as the humidity of corn seeds is high. It is expected this will begin at the end of September in the central and southern districts and at the start of October in northern Moldova.
● WEDNESDAY, August 22
Budgetary prospects will be insignificant, while financing options limited
Budget sustainability during the next three years estimated by covering the current costs with incomes (except for grants) will improve and the budget surplus will rise from 0.8% in 2018 to 1.1% in 2021. The document says the budgetary prospects in the given period will be insignificant, while the financing options limited. Starting with 2019, the foreign grants will decrease considerably in volume, mainly owing to the suspension of the EU budget support. In 2017, the capital costs represented about 10% of the budget expenditure. According to the medium-term budgetary framework, a larger volume of public investments is needed in infrastructure and other important areas. In 2019-2021, the capital costs ae expected to increase to approximately 13.7% of the budget expenditure.
● THURSDAY, August 23
Less wine expected to be produced this year
A volume of 15 to 17 million decaliters of wine are to be produced from the 2018 grape harvest. This is less than last year, when there were produced 18 million decaliters of wine. The forecasts were made by the director of the National Office of Vine and Wine Gheorghe Arpentin in a national conference on August 23. According to Gheorghe Arpentin, wineries’ stores on July 31, 2018 consisted of 15 million decaliters of wine. Since the previous harvest, Moldova exported 14.3 million decaliters of wine, up 3% compared with the previous crop. The incomes came to 2.3 billion lei, an increase of 5.5% on 2016. As regards the export markets, Gheorghe Arpentin said wine exports to Poland represented 15%, to Romania and the Czech Republic by 13%, to the Russian Federation 12%, to China 10% and to other states less than 10%.
Central bank lifts intensive supervision regime instituted at Victoriabank
The Executive Board of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) lifted the intensive supervision regime for Victoriabank. According to the Bank, the decision was taken after it was established that the bank is able to ensure transparency of its shareholders, following the acquisition of 72.19 percent of the bank’s share capital by the VB Investment Holding B.V., a company owned by Banca Transilvania of Romania in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On January 16, 2018 and April 26, 2018, the bank sold shareholdings of 39.2 percent and 5.42 percent at auctions held on the regulated market of the Moldova Stock Exchange. Therefore, Banca Transilvania, the largest banking group in Romania, became Victoriabank’s investor in partnership with the EBRD. Currently, Banca Transilvania and the EBRD jointly hold a share of 72.19 percent in the share capital of Victoriabank.
● FRIDAY, August 24
€500 banknotes could be further exchanged at currency exchange facilities
The €500 banknote will retain its value and could be further exchanged at currency exchange facilities in Moldova, the National Bank of Moldova has said. The clarifications comes in connection with local press reports about the decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) to discontinue production and issuance of the €500 banknote by the end of this year. The €500 banknote will remain legal tender and will retain its value after 2018. Therefore, it will continue to be used as a means of payment and can be freely exchanged at the currency exchange facilities in Moldova, including of commercial banks, for an unlimited period of time. The ECB’s decision was taken two years ago amid concerns that this banknote could facilitate illicit activities. At the same time, the ECB plans to introduce €100 and €200 banknotes of the Europa series around the end of 2018. Banknotes of other denominations – from €5 to €200 – will remain in place.
Working group to improve situation in taxi services sector
A working group was constituted to take measures to improve the situation in the taxi services sector and to ensure the people are provided with high-quality services. In the first meeting of the working group, it was decided that the taxi company managers will be instructed to register all their cabs so that these work legally. According to the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, the working group highlighted a problem related to the access to cash registers – the importation and registration of these. Minister Kiril Gaburici requested the Ministry of Finance to ensure the tax companies’ access to cash registers. The minister reminded that the companies that provide online services as of October 1 will be obliged to work according to the same rules - to have cash registers and to issue receipts.
Apple harvest projected to reach ten-year record high
The Moldovan producers in 2018 will obtain the largest apple harvest in the past ten years. The Moldova Fruct Association forecasts that this will total over 505,000 tonnes.The Association’s executive director Iurie Fală said the apple harvest in Moldova will be of a high quality, except for particular regions in northern Moldova that were affected by hail. Large apple harvests are also expected in the EU member states. Europe this year will gather over 12 million tonnes of apples, an increase of 13% compared with the average for the past three years. As to the Russian market, the ruble is projected to depreciate following the imposed sanctions and the purchasing power will decrease. Therefore, the price of apples will not be high.
● SUNDAY, August 26
Contractor that will build Chișinău-Ungheni gas pipeline to take place in September
The tender contest to choose the contractor that will build the Chișinău-Ungheni gas pipeline will be held in the first half of September. The Romanian company Transgaz announced it fulfilled all the suspensive conditions stipulated in the contract for the sale-purchase of the Moldovan company Vestmoldtransgaz. Thus, a protocol to this effect will be signed during the first week of September and the 180.2 million lei from the transaction to sell Vestmoldtransgaz will be collected. Transgaz is to finalize the construction of the Ungheni – Chișinău gas pipeline by investing over €90 million for the purpose. The contract to privatize Vestmoldtransgaz by the Romanian company Transgaz was signed on March 28 this year. The Ungheni-Chișinău gas pipeline will be 120 km long and could annually transport about 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Romania to Moldova.
