The Association of Independent Press (API) signals with concern that the state-run enterprise Moldova’s Post Office continues to impose arbitrary newspaper distribution conditions, based on subscription or retailing. In a statement that is quoted by IPN, the API requests the authorities to intervene and oblige Moldova’s Post Office not to abuse its dominant position on the dispatching market and to eliminate the abusive contractual conditions concerning the distribution of periodicals.
The API informs the authorities that Moldova’s Post Office requests the editorial offices to sign contracts for the distribution of periodicals for 2019 that contain abusive and unilateral clauses. Thus, the contract stipulates that the publications should offer the distributor space on the first page so as to place the enterprise’s advertisements. If this space is not used, the enterprise can ask for additional space in the next issues of the magazine or newspaper, these being services that should be provided by the editorial offices free of charge.
Also, Moldova’s Post Office reserves the right to modify the profit margin when retailing periodicals, even if this margin is rather high, of 36% of the selling price. By another abusive clause, Moldova’s Post Office reserves the right to refuse to distribute publications if the return represents over 50% of the quantity delivered to be sold during three consecutive months. According to the API, the editors are obliged to pay additional tariffs for packing publications or to pack by themselves the issues for each postal center of the country even if the packing of publications earlier formed part of the distribution tariffs.
The editors warn the Ministry of Finance and the State Tax Service of Moldova that Moldova’s Post Office obliges the editorial offices not to indicate the subscription price of newspapers and magazines in the delivery invoices, only the part of this price that represent the costs of e editorial offices. The costs are thus diminished and this act could be interpreted as an attempt of tax evasion.
