ECO-BUS WEEKLY DIGEST October 28-November 3. Most important Economy & Business news by IPN
● MONDAY, October 28
Batch of potatoes from Turkey was denied entry at Leușeni crossing point
A batch of 20 tonnes of potatoes, which were to arrive in Moldova from Turkey, was denied entry by the employees of the inspection post at the Leușeni crossing point. According to a National Agency for Food Safety press release, following the phytosanitary inspection, the inspectors found in the potato tubers the pest Phthorimaea operculella (moth of the potato tubers). ANSA specialists said that the insect could hibernate during all development stages. While stored, it reproduces as long as the tubers provide opportunities for feeding the larvae. A female lays 50-200 eggs on the leaves, uncovered tubers or buds. Depending on the climatic conditions, several generations can develop in the field, while subsequent generations develop in storage areas. Larvae chew galleries in the tubers, which eventually rot.
Agricultural production in nine months amounted to 24,141 million lei in current prices
Total agricultural output in households of all categories during January-September 2019 was of 24,141 million lei in current prices, accounting for just over 103% (in comparable prices) compared to the respective period of 2018. The increase in total agricultural production was determined by the increase of the vegetal production by more than 7%, while the animal production decreased by about 5%, informs the National Bureau of Statistics. Total harvest of cereal crops and grain legume crops in households of all categories constituted 2094 thousand tons, 8.2% more than in the same period of the previous year. Of these, the corn crop made up 731,5 thousand tons, the legumes - 57,2 thousand tons, the wheat -1129,3 thousand tons and the barley - 167.3 thousand tons.
● TUESDAY, October 29
Draft Law of Apprenticeship subject to debate
The draft Law of Apprenticeship, developed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research aims to better equip the labor force in order to meet the needs of the labor market and the economy as a whole. One chapter of the draft law is dedicated to apprenticeship at the workplace, as a training program, while another refers to apprenticeship in a dual educational program through vocational training. The project regulates apprenticeship relations in the workplace as civil law relations. The apprenticeship at the workplace is set up for obtaining qualification, including in the fields that are not stipulated in the Classification of Occupations of the Republic of Moldova.
● WEDNESDAY, October 30
Emergency Law on Balti FEZ declared unconstitutional
The Constitutional Court has declared unconstitutional a Law on the Balti Free Economic Zone (FEZ) adopted by the Filip Government under an emergency procedure in February, as Parliament had been dissolved pending election. The judgment is pronounced following a referral by deputy Igor Munteanu. The Court has concluded that the Government failed to demonstrate that the the exclusion of a 2,238 ha plot of land located in Chisinau from the Balti FEZ amounted to a real emergency. According to the Court, the Government “did not present conclusive arguments regarding the need for this regulation to be adopted under emergency proceedings that it was objectively necessary to immediately enforce the law in question”.
Natalia Gavrilița: "Solidarity budget" provides for an increase in salaries and allowances
Finance Minister Natalia Gavrilița announces that 2020 budget, which the Government has called the "solidarity budget", not only provides for increases in salaries, pensions and allowances, but also envisages more possibilities for the local public authorities. The minister explained, within the framework of "O nas" (About us) program, on Jurnal TV, that the local mayor halls would benefit from a higher percentage of the income tax on both individuals and legal entities. Natalia Gavrilita announces that wages will be increased, in particular for most employees in the budget system. "We will take certain steps so that citizens with limited incomes receive greater support from the state. It concerns increasing the amount of money for the cold period of the year and the aid for the low income pensioners to cover the expenses for electricity,” said the minister.
Natalia Gavrilița: Customs Service must also offer services, not just sanctions
Customs Service (SV) must be run by an honest and courageous person. In addition, the future head of the SV should have his/her institution development vision, must understand how both the state and private sectors work in the economy area. The statement belongs to the Minister of Finance, Natalia Gavriliță, and was made during "O nas" program, Jurnal TV. The final stage of selecting one of the two candidates for the position of SV head should take place on Thursday, October 31. Natalia Gavriliță says that the future leadership of the Customs Service must understand that things should be viewed as a whole and should not focus, for example, only on collecting taxes and fees at the border. "For the country it is important to be protected from smuggling and here the Customs Service has a key role", continued the minister.
Only planned state checks on economic agents starting January 1
From January 1, 2020, state checks on the activity of entrepreneurs will be planned and carried out exclusively through the State Registry of Controls. The subject was debated at the National Council for Dispute Settlement, where the Secretary General of the Government, Andrei Spînu stated that "state checks should not be a stumbling block for entrepreneurs and neither a source of encouragement for corruption." According to a Government press release, quoted by IPN, almost 70% of the number of state checks carried out in 2018 were unannounced and only 30% - planned. "The dissatisfaction of the people with the control bodies is very high, and their confidence in the state institutions is extremely low. Things cannot continue like this, "said the Secretary General of the Government. Andrei Spînu demanded that from next year the checks be conducted in an organized way, with the purpose of informing and not sanctioning. Also, all actions should be included in the State Registry of Checks.
Ungheni-Chișinău-Odessa highway project must be declared national priority
The group of non-governmental organizations that has committed to promote the construction of the Ungheni-Chișinău-Odessa highway, as an extension of the Romanian Târgu Mureș-Iași-Ungheni highway, calls on the Moldovan government to declare the project a national priority. In an IPN press conference, representatives of the NGOs said that financial sources for carrying out the feasibility study are available and that the state must commit itself to manage the funds. The director of the Institute for Project Development and Expertise, Iurie Calestru, said that, over the course of a year since the group was created, the project was brought to the attention of Moldovan authorities, who supported it and declared that they are willing to contribute. The project was also discussed in Bucharest, Kiev, at the European Parliament, at the European Commission and at the European Investment Bank headquarters. All entities expressed their support for the construction of the highway.
● THURSDAY, October 31
BNM: Inflationary pressures will continue until the end of year
The base rate applied to the main short-term monetary policy operations will be maintained at the current level of 7.5 percent annually. A unanimous decision in this regard was made by the executive committee of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) on Wednesday, October 30. Interest rates on overnight loans and deposits will remain unchanged - 10.5 and 4.5 percent annually. Additionally, the committee decided to keep compulsory reserves norms at current levels of 42.5 percent and 17.0 percent respectively for the calculation basis. The National Bank said that the forecast on inflation remains accurate, while inflationary pressures will continue until the end of the current year. These will be mainly determined by the aggregate demand, the increase in the unit labour cost and the seasonal effect. The situation will reverse in the first quarter of 2020, when inflation will start to decline.
German experts carried out a thousand missions in Moldova
The 1000th mission of the German volunteer experts from the Senior Expert Service (SES) was marked on Wednesday, October 20, in Chișinău. Since 1993, the SES experts mostly offered expertise to Small and Medium Enterprises, to vocational training institutions and local public administrations. The services of experts in the medical field, wood and metal processing, agriculture, food and textile industries were requested the most. The German Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Angela Ganninger, said that the SES is not only a long-term project, but also an element of trust and value for the cooperation between the German Federal Republic and the Republic of Moldova. "In all these years of cooperation, the experts contributed to the economic and social development of the country and helped to deepen the bilateral relations", said Angela Ganninger.
Security recommendations for payment card use
In order to prevent fraud, payment card holders are advised to activate transaction limit options. In the event of loss, theft or other suspicious situations, the cardholder should immediately inform the bank and request the card to be locked. Payment card support services are provided non-stop. Additionally, it is recommended to activate the SMS-notification service whereby the cardholder is immediately informed regarding transactions. The National Bank of Moldova issued these recommendations in order to increase payment card security. The BNM recommends that the PIN, CVV2/CVC2/CID code or any other password related to the payment card be kept secret. If the person cannot memorize it and writes it down, the code must be kept safe, separate from the payment card. The PIN should be entered in a discreet manner when making payments at POS terminals or withdrawing cash from bank ATMs in order to avoid fraudulent reproduction and use by third parties.
Draft law on procurement in the field of utilities, subjected to public consultations
The draft law on procurement in the energy, water, transport and postal services areas, developed by the Ministry of Finance, is subjected to public debates. Minister Natalia Gavrilița specifies that the draft transposes a European directive regulating purchases in the utilities area. "We specifically regulate utility purchases because these sectors are natural monopolies, and are not within the purview of the competition law like other sectors," said Natalia Gavrilița, during a round of debates. The provisions of the respective draft law will apply to the sectoral procurement contracts with an estimated value, excluding the value added tax, that is equal to or greater than eight thousand lei - for products and services contracts, as well as solution competitions, two millions of lei - for works contracts and one million lei - for procurement contracts for social services and other specific services. Procurement contracts with an estimated value that does not exceed the mentioned thresholds are regulated by the Government. The scope of this law does not include services of general interest, having no economic specifics.
● FRIDAY, November 1
Position of Customs Service director remains vacant
The position of director of the Customs Service remains vacant. Neither of the two candidates that made the final phase of the competition met the selection committee’s standards. The announcement was made after a public interview assessment process that took place on Thursday, October 31. The Ministry of Finance said in a press release that both Iurie Gorea and Natalia Calenic obtained average scores lower than 7.5 at the interview. Given the results, all candidates failed to meet the selection criteria and so the competition process will have to start all over again.
Brînzan: The introduction of export permit quotas for Russia was requested by Moldova
The Minister of Economy and Infrastructure, Vadim Brînzan, argues that the quotas of the Russian Federation's export permits for the Moldovan producers were established at the insistence of the Moldovan side. According to him, these quotas were introduced in 2015, during the rule of the Democratic Party. The minister explained that at the time a black market was created where until recently permits were sold to farmers for up to five thousand euros. Until 2015, there was a liberalized export regime and both the Moldovan and Russian sides had no limits on the goods export permits. Vadim Brînzan says that this is a well-organized scheme which brought in huge amounts of money. "In order to take the goods from the hill from us, apples for instance, and export them to the Russian Federation, you must hire a transport company. Earlier this company could go to Russia freely, as no permit was required. Since 2015, these limits have been set, permit quotas, which are actually stamped papers we receive from the Russian Federation. This year, they gave us 15 thousand permits, while we gave them 10 thousand”, explained the minister.
Russia will provide 500 permits for Moldovan goods transit through Ukraine
The Russian Federation is to urgently grant 500 additional permits for the transit through Ukraine of Moldovan goods intended for export to Russia. This has been announced by President Igor Dodon, who notes that such an agreement came as a result of a telephone conversation with the special representative of the Russian President for the development of trade and economic relations with Moldova, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Kozak. "It is an urgent measure meant to unblock the exceptional situation in which our exporters have recently found themselves. But there is an urgent need for negotiations at the level of the line ministries, in order to ensure the export of Moldovan products to the Russian Federation without hindrance until the end of this year,” the head of state said in a message on Facebook.
LPA revenues to increase by over 595 million lei
The revenues of LPA (local public administration) will increase next year, mentioned the Minister of Finance, Natalia Gavrilița, presenting the approval of the Government on a draft to amend the Law on public finances, submitted by MP Petru Frunze. The MP proposes to increase the revenues of LPA through a new redistribution of taxes on the incomes of natural persons and legal entities, as well as establishing the transfer of the tax on natural persons, according to their place of residence. "It is necessary to strengthen the financial autonomy of LPA, but we must start from the existing budget space, the real space. Therefore, we came up with the proposal to accept, at the first stage, the quotas for the breakdown of the tax on natural persons in a 100% proportion for the LPAs of the first and second levels, and for cities and municipalities – in a proportion of 50% (currently 35 % - ed. n.), "said Natalia Gavrilița.
Minister of Economy ensured winter energy security
The Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure has taken all necessary measures to ensure the energy security of the Republic of Moldova during the winter. During public hearings organized by the Parliament's Committee for economy, budget and finance, the Minister of Economy, Vadim Brînzan, said that the institution he manages is prepared for the cold season of the year. Calin Negura, department head within the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure, said that in terms of the synchronous, common interconnection of energy systems in Moldova and Ukraine, the long-term objective is to join the Union of Transmission System Operators in Europe, a process which was launched in 2006. „At this stage, together with Ukraine, we are in the stage of implementing a catalog of necessary technical measures that will make interconnection possible. According to our estimates, the process could take another 10 years", said Calin Negara.
● SUNDAY, November 3
Minister of Finance having discussions with entrepreneurs
The measures taken, as well as measures to be implemented in order to address the requests and proposals of the business environment, were discussed by the Minister of Finance, Natalia Gavrilița, with members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova. At the meeting, the consolidated proposals for the development of objectives regarding the tax and customs policy for 2020 were discussed, and the objectives of tax and customs policy for 2020-2022 were presented by the Ministry of Finance. Natalia Gavrilița mentioned that, while drawing up the budget for 2020, a series of public consultations was held. "The competitiveness of our domestic economy is a priority item on our agenda. During the consultations we decided that we should come up with a medium term policy document. We withdrew from the Parliament the proposal for the Moldova 2030 Strategy and we analyze it to see what is our approach, it should include measures that have high multiplication indicators, as well as steps to support the local producers”, the minister noted.
