Representatives of the Liberal Party on May 16 laid flowers at the Commemorative Stone in the Great National Assembly Square, commemorating thus the 207th anniversary of the signing of the Russian-Turkish treaty of 1812 as a result of which a part of the territory of historical Moldova, which was later called Bessarabia, was annexed to the Tsarist Empire. The Liberals said that this way they want to transmit the message that they do not forget and continue to struggle for justice and for correcting what happened 207 years ago as this is the main cause for all the hardships experienced today.
Moldova’s Permanent Mission to the OSCE drew the participating states’ attention to the fact that Russia inadequately makes reference to the 1992 agreement on the principles of peaceful settlement of the Transnistrian conflict within the annual exchange of military information. Ambassador Victor Osipov said the text of the document contains no mention that could be interpreted as acceptance of the foreign military presence. Moldova makes a clear difference between the Russian military contingent of the peacekeeping mission working in the Security Zone and the military forces and munitions staying illegally on its territory.
So far, 2.285 billion lei of the total 13.34 billion lei bailout offered by the National Bank of Moldova to mitigate the consequences of the 2014 bank fraud has been recovered. This was announced by NBM governor Octavian Armașu at a press conference. When asked about multiple requests to declassify the so-called Second Kroll Report, Octavian Armașu said he was surprised by the insistence of such requests, considering that the NBM had more than once announced that it didn’t have the document anymore after prosecutors took it as evidence back in March 2018.
Money transfers from abroad, after decreasing considerably at the end of 2018, inverted the trend and in March 2019 rose to US$ 102 million. Transfers in Russian rubles and dollars in the first quarter of this year declined by 46.1% and 18.8%, respectively, compared with the corresponding period last year. Transfers in euros in the period rose by 11.1%. Other National Bank of Moldova data show the value of newly released loans in the period rose by 43.8%.
The Party of Socialists is requesting that social guarantees be introduced to offset “uncontrolled and unjustified” spikes in prices. The Socialists said in a press release they are outraged by the failure of the government and independent regulatory agencies to respond to the sharp rise in some consumer prices. “Profiting from political uncertainty, speculators of all kinds have started preying on the most vulnerable groups of people in our country”.
In six months since its launch, twenty-three applications have been submitted and one passport has been offered under the Citizenship for Investment Program. The Public Service Agency does not provide details about the applicants, only characterizing them as “willing to obtain a Moldovan passport in order to harness the investment opportunities offered by the Moldovan economy”.
ACUM seeks the abrogation of the law that allows opening duty-free gas stations. Jurist Sergiu Litvinenco reminded that the law adopted in the summer of 2018 enables to sell oil products at border crossing points without paying excise duties and VAT. According to him, the law was passed non-transparently. The informative note to the bill proposed by ACUM says the document runs counter to the Constitution as any law or amendment that reduces the budget revenues can be adopted with the Government’s consent. In the case of this law, the Government was against. It is noted that according to the European Customs Cooperation Council, duty-free stores can work only at airports and ports and aboard planes involved in international traffic.
The global food waste that is witnessed in Moldova as well comes to over 1.3 billion tonnes a year. According to FAO Assistant Presentative in Moldova Tudor Robu, to diminish food waste in the production – sale process, the harvesting and keeping practices should be improved. The cold storage facilities can be a solution.
Former minister of transport and road infrastructure Iurie Kirinchuk was sentenced to three years and six months in jail by the Chisinau Appeals Court. The verdict is implementable, but can be challenged in the Supreme Court of Justice.
Government policies in the field of employment should be redesigned to make the labor market more accessible in the context of the aging population and with a view to the “jobs of the future”. In recent years the Moldovan authorities have worked with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to develop policies for improving employment perspectives. One such piece of legislation is the 2017-2021 National Strategy for Promoting Employment. With the advancement of technology – says Silvia Radu, Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection – new regulation is needed to “allow everybody to find a job he or she desires”. She added that it’s important to digitalize the workforce, with a focus on developing analytical skills.
Derails on IPN!
