The state-run company “Posta Moldovei” (Moldova’s Post Office) behaves like a monopolist towards periodicals and pursues an abusive tariff policy that endangers the work of publications, representatives of the Association of Independent Press (API) and editors of a number of newspapers and magazines said in a news conference at IPN. They called on the authorities to intervene and eliminate the unreasonable tariffs or to subsidize the periodicals.
API executive director Petru Macovei said that Moldova’s Post Office on September 5 announced that the editors will have to pack the publications for every mail center separately. This thing was earlier done by Moldova’s Post Office based on the tariff charged for the distribution of editions. “From January 1, 2015, Moldova’s Post Office is ready to pack the newspapers itself but for an additional tariff of 0.15 lei per newspaper,” he stated. He explained that the new tariff is exaggerated at a time when the distribution tariffs are among the highest in the region, accounting for 36% of the cost of an edition.
According to Petru Macovei, the API and the editors of the publications are not against the modernization and development of Moldova’s Post Office, but this should not be done at the editors’ expense. The API is for the indirect subsidization of editors. “This means that the current tariffs must be frozen and no other additional or increased tariffs should be charged as they automatically lead to the bankruptcy of editors, especially the small ones. The possible rises or the tariffs invented by Mister Sergey Nastas (director, e.n.) and his team from Moldova’s Post Office should be argued before the Government, while the Government should subsidize these rises,” stated Petru Macovei.
Victor Mosneag, of the newspaper “Ziarul de Garda”, expressed his concern that the new tariff imposed by Moldova’s Post Office may be a move aimed against the independent press of the country. “It’s clear that the newspapers owner by oligarchs, politicians or businessmen will cope with such tariffs, but most of the others will be unable to resist,” he said.
Nicolae Josan, director of the magazine “Acasa” (“At Home”), criticized the new contract proposed by Moldova’s Post Office, saying it is non-professional and full of mistakes. “There are also other violations. For example, they do not pay the money owed to us for years – hundreds of thousands of lei in the case of my editorial office and millions of lei in the case of my colleagues,” he stated, adding that the state should subsidize the press given the importance of its social role.
The commercial director of the economic magazine “Logos Press” Vasile Profir said that Moldova’s Post Office charges exaggerated tariffs even for access to information. “For information about the number of subscriptions concluded at every post office, the editor must pay 600 lei,” he stated.
Radu Stamatin, development director of the group “Moldpresa”, noted that the local public authorities eliminate press selling points every time streets are repaired or other works on the infrastructure are performed. “I would like our state to pronounce: do they need the press or not?” he said.
The editors are determined not to sign the new contract proposed by Moldova’s Post Office. They seek an independent juridical appraisal of the contract and ask the Government to oblige Moldova’s Post Office to deal with the retail of periodicals based on the current contract until a working group that will include several editors draws up a new contract.
