● MONDAY, March 12

National and local public roads to be repaired this year

The Cabinet agreed the program concerning the use of the road fund for repairing national public roads for 2018 and the street, local and communal public road periodic repair program. Thus, the works to renovate national public roads will be financed with road fund money, while the local and communal public roads and streets with state budget funds. According to Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Kiril Gaburici, over 972 million lei will be used this year to repair national public roads, in accordance with the road fund distribution program. A sum of 1.6 billion lei was earmarked for implementing the street, local and communal public road periodic repair program.

● TUESDAY, March 13

Moldova continues to be poorest country in Europe, economist

The Republic of Moldova remains the poorest state in Europe, with a modest economic growth that generates insufficient jobs. As a result, the population leaves the country, stated the programs director at the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul” Viorel Chivriga. In the program “15 minutes of economic realism” produced in partnership with Radio Free Europe, Viorel Chivriga said that even if the poverty rate has decreased since 2000 amid the rise in the remittance-driven consumption, a large part of the population continues to face poverty. The employment rate is low among all the categories of people. The combined tendencies of low fertility and increased emigration will generate a forecast decline in the population, while the number of elderly people will increase considerably.

Tax returns can be submitted by May 2

The deadline for presenting tax returns for 2017 for private individuals this year is April 30, in accordance with the changes made to the Tax Code. Given the nonworking days in the period, the tax returns will be accepted until May 2 inclusive. The deadline for legal entities and private individuals that practice entrepreneurial activities is March 26. Olga Golban, division head at the State Tax Service, told a news conference that everyone can submit tax returns, but the procedure is mandatory for the tax payers who get salaries at two or more jobs or get a salary and also another income that is taxed at the source of payment and also for those who earn other revenues than salaries larger than 31 140 lei. The incomes from dividends, royalties, gaming and from promotional campaigns do not need to be declared.

Rural young entrepreneurs can apply for grants of up to 180,000 lei

The Moldovan young people who want to start a business in rural areas could receive grant assistance through the program “START for Young People: sustainable business at home”. A relevant Government decision was drafted by the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure in cooperation with the Organization for the Development of the Sector of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and was proposed for public debates. To be eligible, the young people should be aged between 18 and 35, be citizens of Moldova and should manage a newly registered enterprise. The requested financial support cannot be larger than 180,000 lei or 80% of the total cost of the project. The beneficiary company will make an own contribution of minimum 20% of the value of the investment project. The program will last for two years, since the grant assistance is fully transferred.

IMF mission to visit Moldova

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Ben Kelmanson will visit Chisinau during March 15-27, 2018. The mission will hold discussions with the authorities in the context of the third review of Moldova’s IMF-supported program under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the IMF Office in Moldova. The mission will take stock of recent economic developments and progress in the authorities’ program implementation, update and assess the macroeconomic outlook, and discuss with the authorities their macroeconomic policies in the period ahead. 

● WEDNESDAY, March 14

12% of roads in Moldova are in very bad state

Some 12% of the roads in Moldova are in a very bad state. The authorities now manage contracts to rehabilitate road infrastructure to the total value of about €200 million. The total length of the public roads on January 1 this year was of 10,684 km. The data were presented in hearings staged by the Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance. Secretary of State in charge of constructions and road infrastructure Anatol Usatyi said that over 1 million lei was invested in the repair and building of roads from the Road Fund last year. There were installed over 900 road signs, repaired more than 55 km of public roads and built six new bridges.

New regulations to be adopted for scientific-technological parks

The Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure suggested a new draft law on scientific-technological parks and innovation incubators for public consultations. Amendments are needed because some of the provisions of the current law are ambiguous and affect the process of creating such entities. Also, the institutional central administration reform changed the role of the institutions responsible for the creation and functioning of scientific-technological parks and innovation incubators. The document proposed for consultations authorizes not only clusters to create scientific-technological parks and innovation incubators, but also the central and local public authorities, associations created by association agreement and higher education institutions. The decisions will be approved by the Government. These entities will work for not less than ten years.

Moldova to purchase electricity at higher prices this year

The joint stock company “Energocom” has won the tender contest and signed new contracts for the supply of power to Moldova, valid for the period between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, with the Cuchurgan Power Plant and Ukraine’s DTEK “Pavlogradugoli”. Under the new contracts, 70% of the power needed by Moldova will be bought from the Cuchurgan Power Plant, while 30% from the Ukrainian company. The proportion was set depending on the difference in the prices offered by the two bidders and in order to ensure the country’s power security.

● THURSDAY, March 15

Over 130 businesses exhibit products at “Moldagrotech “

More than 130 companies from a number of countries displayed their products at the international specialized exhibition “Moldagrotech”. Agricultural machines and equipment, irrigation technologies and equipment for the animal-breeding sector, wine industry and other sectors, fertilizers, pesticides and other products can be found at the exhibitions center “Moldexpo” until March 17. The exhibit involves companies from Moldova, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine. Among the novelties in the field presented at the exhibition are the drone for agriculture, industrial paints, inoffensive fodder, plastic containers for fruit and four new hybrids from the Porumbeni Institute of Phitotechny.

Experts call on NAER to hold one more public meeting before approving gas tariffs

Energy experts accuse the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) of not ensuring transparency in the process of approving the natural gas tariffs. They said the public debate staged by the Agency on March 7 was a formal one. The experts there could not put questions and obtain answers about the costs included in the tariff. As a result, the tariffs expected to be approved in the March 16 meeting could go against people’s interests. In a news conference, Victor Parlicov, former NAER director, said that after the Agency launched the process of reviewing the natural gas tariffs in January, the energy experts formulated questions to the Agency, the Ministry of Economy and the Government, related to the costs included in the tariff. The NAER informed the experts that they will receive a response by March 31, but this is inacceptable as the new tariffs are to be announced on March 16.

Pavel Filip: Positive developments were witnessed since last IMF mission

The International Monetary Fund mission that came to Moldova will assess fiscal aspects, the medium-term expenditure estimate, the 2018 budget and the macroeconomic forecasts as well as the developments in the financial-banking and energy sectors. The subject was discussed by the head of the IMF mission Ben Kelmanson and Prime Minister Pavel Filip in a meeting. According to the Government’s press service, Ben Kelmanson welcomed the developments witnessed by the Government in the recent period and encouraged the authorities to keep up the speed of achieving results.

Construction of Chisinau – Straseni – Calarasi water pipeline to start this yearend

The building of the Chisinau – Straseni – Calarasi water pipeline will begin at the end of this year. The announcement was made in the first meeting of the working group that was held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment on March 15. According to the Ministry, the meeting involved representatives of the local public authorities of Chisinau, Straseni and Calarasi. These said the fact that the owners of the land located along the route of the pipeline didn’t register the property could be a challenge.

● FRIDAY, March 16

Moldova’s economy grew by 4.5% in 2017

Moldova’s economy in 2017 grew by 4.5% compared with 2016, the Gross Domestic Product exceeding 150 billion lei. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, different economic activities contributed to the GDP growth, in particular retail and wholesale trade, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, transport and storage, accommodation and public alimentation services, which contributed 1.3 parentage points to the GDP growth. The economic growth was also determined by the positive developments in agriculture, industry, information and communication technology, and the building sector.

Natural gas tariffs decreased by 20.3% on average

The National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) approved the new natural gas tariffs for end-users. The tariffs were decreased by 20.3% on average, to 4,420 lei per thousand cubic meter of gas (without VAT of 8%). The tariff for a volume of up to 30 cubic meters of gas consumed by household users will be 4,705 lei per thousand cubic meters of gas, down from the current tariff of 5,892 lei, without VAT. The tariff for a larger volume of consumed gas will be 4,895 lei, as opposed to the current tariff of 6,138 lei per thousand cubic meters of gas, without VAT.

Criteria for mandatory audit at state-owned and municipal enterprises agreed

The MPs passed in the first and second readings a bill that lays out the criteria for performing the mandatory audit at state-owned and municipal enterprises. One of the authors, Democratic MP Marcel Raducan said that now the audit of financial situations is mandatory for 66 state-owned enterprises of the working 188. When the proposed changes and supplements take effect, 23 state-owned and 19 municipal enterprises will fall under the remit of these provisions.

● SATURDAY, March 17

Over 4,000 tonnes of walnut kernel exported so far this year

Moldova between January 1 and March 15, 2018 exported over 4,000 tonnes of walnut kernel to the value of over 520 million lei, up 26% compared with the corresponding period last year. Over 90 tonnes of walnut kernel were seized as corpus delicti within criminal cases. The data were presented by the Customs Service’s vice director Grigore Ionitsov in the Government Hour within the March 16 sitting of Parliament after Socialist MP Oleg Lipskii put a question about the blocking of the export of walnut kernel. According to customs statistics, 20-25 companies export walnut kernel at present. Grigore Ionitsov said none of these companies had their activity blocked. Only a particular transaction was refused following the identification of irregularities. The companies that were refused a transaction in the immediate period applied again for the preferential certificate of origin for the export of goods. All the companies that obey the national legislation and international norms abided by Moldova face no export restrictions.

Italy interested in promoting opportunities offered by Moldova to investors

Italy is interested in actively promoting the opportunities offered by the Republic of Moldova to investors, Italy’s Ambassador in Chisinau Valeria Biagiotti stated in a meeting with Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Kiril Gaburici. Valeria Biagiotti invited Kiril Gaburici to take part in the annual Moldovan-Italian economic forum that will be held in Chisinau this autumn. The forum represents a platform for facilitating the attraction of potential investors and for promoting sustainable partnerships at international level. For his part, Kiril Gaburici noted that the commercial-economic relations between Moldova and Italy are in the ascendant and Italy is one of the most important commercial partners of Moldova. The interlocutors agreed to identify solutions so that the investors benefit from a favorable investment climate.