Patentees demand moratorium on patent ban until 2015

Several hundreds of protesters gathered today in front of the Parliament building. Eugen Roscovan, president of the Small Business Association (SBA), explained that the reason of the rally was to support the faction of the Moldova Noastra Alliance Party that was going to propose the Parliament to institute a moratorium until 2015 on the Law no.208, which bans patent holders from performing commercial activities. Roscovan said that the most ardent advocates of the Law no.208 are the Minister of Economy and Trade, Igor Dodon, and presidential advisor Oleg Reidman, who are unwilling to yield any ground, claiming that they are fighting grey economy in this way. The SBA president argued that the patentees and the shadow economy have nothing in common. “If patents are purchased ‘in bulk’, as the Prime Minister alleges, this is solely the blame of the Main Tax Inspectorate, which sells them this way. It is not the patentees who are to blame for the shadow economy; therefore they must remain unwavering and continue fighting until the law is suspended”, Roscovan said. The Chisinau City Hall has refused the patentees an authorisation that would enable them to mount a round-the-clock picketing and pitch a tent in front of the Parliament building until May. The issued authorisation allows the protesters to picket the Parliament until February 15, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The patentees may not be out there protesting on a daily basis, because they would lose the bread and butter they earn at the market. Instead, they will protest on Mondays, when they have fewer customers, or on Thursdays, when the Parliament meets, so that their grievances are heard better, Roscovan specified. So far, the patentees have staged more than 115 protest actions in all the towns of the country.