● TUESDAY, December 4
Bartłomiej Zdaniuk: Poland imports largest part of Moldovan wine
Poland importers the largest part of the Moldovan wine. It offers real support to Moldovan producers, invests in Moldova’s economy and is ready to continue with the project concerning preferential lending in agriculture in the Republic of Moldova, Poland’s Ambassador in Chisinau Bartłomiej Zdaniuk was quoted by IPN as saying in the talk show “People’s Council” on 10TV channel.“Poland is the country that buys the largest part of the wine made in the Republic of Moldova and we are yet far from saturating the Polish market. Our market can be developed further and the exports of the people from the Republic of Moldova can be higher,” stated Bartłomiej Zdaniuk. According to him, those who want to export goods to the EU should meet particular conditions concerning certification and quality.The ambassador also said that Poland each year initiates a number of projects to support businesspeople from the Republic of Moldova, especially small entrepreneurs working in agriculture, who manage to develop their firms and to reach another production level. The ambassador noted that Poland made an important investment in Moldova’s sugar industry. A Polish state-run company purchased a sugar combine based in Edineț district. To modernize the combine, the Polish state spent about €20 million. According to Bartłomiej Zdaniuk, Poland is ready to continue with the project to lend to farmers in Moldova. The project refers to the €100 million preferential loan that Poland was ready to provide for developing agriculture in Moldova. It was approved in 2012, but was implemented to a small extent only.
Parliament’s Secretariat compiled financial reports without distortions, audit
The Court of Auditors hasn’t identities distortions in the financial reports of the Parliament’s Secretariat. The audit report on the financial situations on December 31, 2017 was presented in the Court of Auditors’ plenary meeting of December 4. The incomes of the Parliament’s Secretariat in 2017 came to 132.3 million lei. The incomes were correctly indicated in the financial reports. As to the managed property, whose value was assessed at 152.9 million lei, the audit team established that all the assets were registered in accordance with the existing regulations.
Moldova invited to second China International Import Expo
The Moldovan wine did a qualitative jump on the Chinese market that in 2017 became the main platform for selling bottled wine by the value of exports from the Republic of Moldova and the second market by the traded volume, representatives of China’s Embassy in Chisinau stated on December 3 in an event held to present the results of the first China International Import Expo that took place in Shanghai during November 5 - 10, 2018. The exhibition was conceived as a platform for facilitating the entry of goods from all over the world into the Chinese market as this contributes to the development of the world economy. This is the first exhibition of the kind in the world staged on the initiative and with the effort of the state, said Ambassador Zhang Yinghong. The exhibition will be mounted annually on an area of 300,000 square meters. This year the event involved over 3,600 companies that represented 172 countries and international commercial organizations. There were concluded transactions to the value of US$57.83 billion. According to the Chinese diplomat, the China International Import Expo became the largest commercial exhibition in the world at its first edition already.
THURSDAY, December 6
Moldova - China Chamber of Commerce and Industry launched
The Moldova - China Chamber of Commerce and Industry was launched in Chisinau almost two months after 18 Moldovan companies announced their intention to found such an association. The Chamber’s president-elect Boris Foca said the organization will be a platform that will ensure better interaction between businesspeople from the two countries. The goal is to increase Chinese companies’ investments in the national economy and also trade. Boris Foca noted the Republic of Moldova and China established economic relations many years ago, but the necessity of founding a Chamber of Commerce and Industry appeared as a result of the augmentation of the commercial exchanges and the development of the economic and commercial relations between the two countries. According to Boris Foca, establishing a cooperation dialogue with the Government so that the association is included in the mixed commissions is the immediate objective of the Moldova - China Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Designating by a representative of the Chamber in northern and southern Moldova so as to establish partnerships of cooperation between the given regions is another goal of the Chamber. The organization received notification of acceptance of becoming a member of the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce that consists of 150 chambers of commerce representing 77 countries.
Fruit prices are low not due to rich harvest, but rather to inability to cope, minister
The horticultural sector is an important one in the Republic of Moldova. During the past few years, the sector has followed a positive trend and the rich harvests are a confirmation of this. However, the rich harvests are not always a reason for joy for farmers. This year the rich harvests negatively affected mainly the small producers who didn’t have sufficient capacities to invest in the postharvest and processing industry and in entering markets, Minister of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Nicolae Ciubuc stated in the national conference “Fruit Business in the Republic of Moldova”. According to the minister, the small purchase prices of fresh fruit are due not to the rich harvest, but rather to the companies’ inability to cope with the production volume, which has been on the rise. The storage facilities and packing houses do not have sufficient capacities either. Investment is needed in the post-harvest infrastructure, development of processing capacities, augmentation of productivity and extension of multiannual plantations. Regrettably, the foreign investors do not hurry to invest in the agricultural sector owing to the risks and difficult working conditions and to the barriers at policy level. “The total value in agriculture represents 1% of all the investments in Moldova,” stated the minister. There are over 95,000 hectares of apple, plum, peach, apricot, cherry and sour cherry orchards in Moldova.
Inconsistencies identified in financial reports of National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice, to achieve the main objectives and to ensure its operational activity, in 2017 was allocated 26.5 million lei, 26.3 million lei of which from the state budget. An audit mission performed at the institution showed the Institute, according to the accounting situation on 31.12.2017, didn’t have the area of 0.3798 ha adjoining the administrative building, to the value of 7.6 million lei, indicated in the accounting records. Also, the costs for designing the website weren’t registered appropriately and 60,000 lei weren’t included in the financial reports as a result. The reported effective costs and salary debts on 01.01.2017 were diminished by 273,800 lei. The auditors also established that the costs associated with health insurance premiums calculated to the scholarships of unattached students were raised by 179,200 lei.
New branch of Mobiasbancă opened on Uzinelor St in Chisinau
A new branch of Mobiasbancă-Groupe Société Générale” was inaugurated on December 6. This is situated at 24 Uzinelor St in Chisinau and was created by merging the branch “Calea Basarabiei” and the agency “Efes”. It will provide services both for private individuals and for legal entities. The event to open branch No. 34 involved managers of the bank and clients. Nina Doagă, director of branch No. 34, underlined the importance of providing services and banking products of a high quality. The branch’s professional team is ready to respond to all the questions and demands of clients that number almost 2,000, both private individuals and legal entities. The two entities that were merged provided services for private individuals and legal entities separately and this caused particular discomfort to the customers. The subsidiary of Groupe Société Générale, BC „Mobiasbancă – Groupe Société Générale” SA, is the fourth largest commercial bank in Moldova, which serves over 130,000 active clients workings in the SME and retail sectors. According to the situation on December 31, 2017, last year Moldova’s baking sector generated a cumulative profit of 1.48 billion lei. The profit reported by Mobiasbancă Groupe Société Générale for last year was 270.5 million lei.
First budget-funded employees will get higher salaries for December
As a result of the implementation of the new salary law, no budget-funded employee will receive a lower salary than the current one. The salaries will rise or will remain at the current level. Of the about 200,000 employees covered by the given law, 150,000 will have higher pays, the secretary general of state at the Ministry of Finance Ion Chicu. The official said higher salaries will be paid in January for December. The salaries of healthcare and education sector employees, who now have the lowest pays, will rise by 25%. Based on the new law, the pay gap between different categories of salary earners will decrease from 1:33 to 1:15. A sum of 14. 9 billion lei will be allocated next year for raising the salaries of public sector employees.
● FRIDAY, December 7
Telephone line for persons who have questions over salary law
Specialists of the budget-funded institutions and authorities who have questions as to the implementation of the law on the unitary salary system in the budgetary sector can call the phone number 0 8000 15 25 of the Call Center of the Center of Information Technology in Finance. The calls are free and can be made from any landline or mobile phone, from Monday through Friday, between 8am and 5pm. Call Center records callers’ requests and passes them on to specialists of responsible subdivisions of the Ministry of Finance, who will later answer the questions of those interested and will explain the new method of calculating salaries in the budgetary sector. The law on the unitary salary system in the budgetary sector that took effect on December 1, 2018 instituted a common pay grade for all the budget-funded institutions and authorities.
Sales of fixed broadband Internet access services up 6.5%
The broadband Internet access services market in the first nine months of this year expanded. Sales on this market grew by 6.5% compared with the corresponding period last year to 975.9 million lei. The number of subscribers rose by 3.9% to over 608,100. According to the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology, the rise in sales is due to the increase in the number of subscribers to high-speed fixed Internet. In nine months, the number of subscribers connected to the Internet based on optical fiber technology increased by 8.1% to over 378,000 subscribers, which is 62.2% of the total number of subscribers. Some 53.1% of the subscribers to fixed Internet access services benefit from Internet access and data transfer speeds ranging between 30 and 100 Mbps, 8.9% – of over 100 Mbps, 32.6% of 10 to 30 Mbps, 2% – of 2 to 10 Mbps, while 3.4% – of up to 2 Mbps.
President Dodon urged not to promulgate changes to law on insurance
President Igor Dodon is requested not to promulgate the amendments to the law on insurance that were adopted by Parliament on November 29. The call was made by lawyer Viorel Chetruşcă, who said he has the mandate of over 50 insurance brokerage firms. In a news conference at IPN on December 7, the lawyer said one of the amendments provides for the augmentation of the share capital when starting a business and activity in the area of insurance brokerage from 100,000 to 400,000 lei. This money could not be used in activity as now. At the same time, when signing particular insurance policies and contracts, the brokers will be unable to collect honorariums and could not be remunerated. According to Viorel Chetruşcă, if the amendments take effect, more than 50 insurance brokerage firms of the over 60 working on this market will have to stop work. “We requested the President not to promulgate the law.
TIR-EPD module restarted
The TIR-EPD module in the automated information system for customs data “ASYCUDA World” was restarted on December 7, after a five-year pause. The module is used by the Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova for electronic pre-declarations. Moldova was the first country in the community area that used TIR-EPD, from 2009 until 2013, but had to suspend it because of technical difficulties. The preliminary declaration by the free web application TIR-EPD enables customs officers to carry out a preliminary analysis of risks and to reduce the risks of fraud at customs posts and allows transport operators to improve labor efficiency and to save time and money. According to the administrator of the International Auto Transport Agency (IATA) Dumitru Albulesa, besides direct numerous advantages for Moldovan carriers, the service will also benefit carriers from other states that transport to Moldova or transit the country. There are about 100,000 such routes a year. IRU TIR EPD (Electronic pre-declaration) is a free of charge web application for submitting electronic pre-declaration and entry/exit summary declaration that became obligatory for transport operations to/from EU. The application is available in 18 languages in 32 countries.
