The patent holders will take to the streets on October 20. The protest will be first mounted in front of the Government Building. Afterward, the protesters will go on a march to the Parliament Building, president of the Small Business Association Eugen Roscovanu stated in a news conference at IPN. He said the situation of patent holders becomes increasingly difficult owing to bureaucracy and they thus decided to protest.

“The economy is stagnant, while the national bureaucrats compete against each other in creating barriers to businesspeople and new constraints. They permanently invent strange bills and Government decisions in a move to make the existence of small businesses more difficult. Thus, the number of small enterprises decreases, revenues from sales decline and the number of new jobs created at small and medium-sized enterprises diminishes. The foreign and home trade indexes decrease, while the government produces triumphalist reports,” stated Eugen Roscovanu.

He added that the economic crisis in the country deepens, while the regulations that should promote the development of small businesses do not stimulate this sector. This fact made the business people to take to the streets.

Director of the Small Business Association’s branch in northern Moldova Grigore Marciuc said the working group that was to be constituted by the government to discuss the problems of patent holders, with the involvement of representatives of small businesses, has done nothing yet. The small traders were invited to no meeting of this group. The patent holders from the northern districts are ready to protest as soon as possible because it is impossible to work in the conditions proposed by the authorities.

Local councilor in Stefan Voda Olga Cheapki, patent holder, said the government, which she called deaf and mute, does nothing but pretend to be doing reforms. The patent holders agreed to have their way of activity modified from 2017, but asked for an alternative, but the alternative proposed by the government, which is shifting from patent to enterprise, does not ensure a job and social grantees. “As you did nothing to create new jobs, you should not remove the patent. Do not touch it. We ask to be listened to and heard. I call on all the patent holders to combine forces and take to the streets to demand rights,” she stated.

Eleonora Turcanu-Herghelegiu, director of the southern branch of the Small Business Association, said there are entrepreneurs who earn more than 300,000 lei a month, but these represent 5-10% in district centers, unlike Chisinau and Balti, where this figure is much higher. The woman called on the authorities to take into account these differences when formulating policies in the field.

Local adviser in Rezina Alexandru Veshnieski, patent holder, said that 20% of the SMEs went bankrupt during the past year and the state of affairs in the national economy is far from being good. “We do not want to be the exchange card in someone’s games. We do not want to do politics. We ask one thing from the government – to find a method of solving the problem of those who work based on patent,” he stated.

The patent holders concluded that if the situation does not improve, a large part of the national entrepreneurs will move to the underground economy or will emigrate.