Patent holders stage new protest

Patent holders from across Moldova are today once again out in the street opposing the Law No.208 which bans patent-based entrepreneurship activity in several areas of the economy. This is the fifth protest meeting at national level. Some other 90 protests have been held in different localities across the country throughout this year, said Eugen Roscovan, the president of the Small Business Association (SBA). According to him, the Law No.208 deprives of the right to work roughly 40,000 persons who are unable to get another job because there are very few employment opportunities and because most of these people are of older age. In addition, Roscovan argues that this law starves the public coffers of hundreds of millions of lei and generates criminality and shadow economy. “It is an inhumane and antisocial piece of legislation”, the SBA chairman said. Moldova is Europe’s poorest country, with the lowest purchasing power, yet, the most appalling thing is that trading in cheap goods has been outlawed, Roscovan added. The patentees that gathered today in the Square of the Opera House have requested the annulment or at least the institution of a moratorium on the respective law. According to the organisers, today’s rally has brought together some five thousand protesters. The police reported one thousand.