Ex-director of Gas Natural Fenosa Silvia Radu and municipal councilor Ruslan Codreanu were named deputy mayors of Chisinau by order of acting mayor Nistor Grozavu on November 6. Nistor Grozavu also issued a statement whereby he announced that he left the post of acting mayor general of Chisinau and delegated his duties as acting mayor to Silvia Radu. The leader of the Liberal Party Mihai Ghimpu commented later, saying we are witnessing the usurpation of power in Chisinau municipality. On November 9, the Socialist MPs submitted a challenge to the Constitutional Court, requesting it to specify if an acting mayor has the right to name the successor as acting mayor. The Socialists also announced their intention to file a lawsuit to demand that the order to name Silvia Radu as acting mayor general of Chisinau municipality should be annulled.
EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström paid a visit to Chisinau during November 6-7, 2017. The European official took stock of the progress and challenges witnessed in the EU-Moldova commercial relationship. While in Chisinau, the EU Commissioner had meetings with President Igor Dodon, Prime Minister Pavel Filip, Deputy Prime Minister Octavian Calmaac, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure, and with Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu. The EU Commissioner for Trade also made a visit to the Chisinau-based company Monicol that exports fruit and walnuts grown in the area. This company exported 95% of the production to the EU duty-free since the Association Agreement took effect.
An IMF team led by Ben Kelmanson visited Chisinau from October 25–November 7 to conduct discussions for the 2017 Article IV consultation and Second Review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangements. The team reached staff-level agreement on policies needed to complete the Second Review under the Program, and had constructive discussions on the 2017 Article IV Consultation. The agreement is subject to approval by IMF Management and Executive Board. Consideration by the Executive Board is tentatively scheduled for late December. The completion of the review will make an additional SDR 15.7 million (about $22 million) available. At the end of its visit, the IMF team noted that economic growth in Moldova returned following the crisis, and is expected to moderate to around 3.5 percent in 2017. The outlook for Moldova is favorable. The 2017 Budget amendment and 2018 Budget appropriately allow for higher public investment and social spending. Fiscal outturns have been solid in 2017, buoyed by strong revenue performance; and while capital spending has faced delays, priority social outlays have been maintained. The IMF says inflation decelerated rapidly, but was above target in September 2017 at 7.6 percent, driven largely by supply side shocks.
Prime Minister Pavel Filip paid an official visit to Israel on November 8-10. With his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, Pavel Filip discussed the necessity of signing an agreement on the social protection of Moldovans who work in Israel and the prospects of developing the economies of the two states through joint projects. Pavel Filip also met with the Vice President of the Knesset Tali Ploskov and a number of Israeli ministers, with representatives of the Moldovan diaspora and of the community of Jews native of Moldova. He took part in the opening of the Moldovan Culture Days in Israel.
President Igor Dodon paid an official visit to the Republic of Armenia on November 9-10. While in Armenia, he had meetings with Armenian high-ranking officials, including the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Chairman of the National Assembly Ara Babloian, and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian. The meeting with his Armenian counteract centered on the commercial-economic cooperation. The Presidents reiterated that the organization and holding of the first meeting of the Moldovan-Armenian interparliamentary commission for commercial-economic cooperation and the possible holding of a Forum of Businessmen of the two states would make a significant contribution in this regard. Igor Dodon also underlined the opportunity of launching a direct flight between the capitals of the two states. He said that this is the first official visit paid by a President of the Republic of Moldova to the Republic of Armenia during the 26 years of independence of Moldova.
The suspended mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca was released from house arrest and was placed under judicial control. Such a decision was taken by the Buiucani branch of the Court of Chisinau municipality on November 10. Dorin Chirtoaca told the press that the decision taken today is strange and late if it is related to the referendum and was generally taken in order to keep up appearances. Normally, the case should be dropped. Pressure to tender his resignation could be exerted on him the coming days. He intends to challenge the decision in the Appeals Court and to demand that the case should be dropped. Dorin Chirtoaca was arrested on charges of passive corruption and influence peddling in the case of pay parking lots in Chisinau on May 25 this year. In two days he was placed under house arrest. He pleads not guilty.
Selection by Sabina Rebeja
