Small business shows stable growth, officials say. Entrepreneurs disagree

The small business sector from the Republic of Moldova reflects melioration and a stable growth, as a result of some measures directed to the improvement of the business environment, declared the head of the Small and Medium Business Development Management, Iulia Iabaji at a briefing regarding the Exhibition “Small Business -2006”. At the same time, the representatives of the small business have another point of view. ”Starting with 2004 – the area became profitable. 30% of the small and medium enterprises finished the year with benefits, 35% had null results, other 35 % registered losses and the cumulative results are positive. Until now these results were negative”, mentioned Iulia Iabaji. According to the quoted source another argument in the favour of the small business development is the growth tendency, starting with the last year, of the solicitations for fiscal facilities. “Usually the economic units appeal to the possibility of getting a 5 years tax vacation when they register big incomes. In 2005 nearly 2600 economic units and in this year 2000 enterprises sent up petitions for fiscal liberation. In the previous years only 70 economic units filed similar petitions and that demonstrates the positive tendencies of the present business activity. The small and medium enterprises development strategy for 2006-2008 and the Law regarding the support of small and medium enterprises approved recently by the Government as projects will ensure the lasting development of the small enterprises, states Iulia Iabaji. “The strategic objective of these documents constitutes the creation of favourable long-term conditions for this area and for a stable economic development”. In the Republic of Moldova 130 thousand small and medium enterprises are registered of which only 30 thousand offer permanent statistic reports. The same way work nearly 500 thousand farms which at the moment are not included in this category, but after the Parliament approves the new law, these farms will be included in the small business area. The small business holds good positions with approximate 30 % of the business turnover. In fact, says Iulia Iabaji, “it is higher and this situation appears because the previous law treated incorrectly the problem. If the income of an enterprise exceeds 10 million lei, despite the fact it has a small number of employees; the enterprise is moved to the category of big enterprises”. On the other hand the representatives of the small business consider that in the Republic of Moldova the interests of the big producers are protected, but the small enterprises are disadvantaged. The most recent disapproval of the small enterprises is regarding the introduction from April 26 of the automatic informational system in the drugstores. According to them “this is an inefficient action that will lead to the bankruptcy of the small drugstores”. Previously, the president of the Small Business Association, Eugen Roscovan declared he is against the initiative of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce to liquidate the Business licence until 2009, because “it affects the small comerciants and their work places, creates conditions for monopoly and unfair concurrence. The small business area in the Republic of Moldova constitutes nearly 92 % from the total number of enterprises