● MONDAY, January 16
Week starts with rise in fuel prices
New rises in fuel prices are expected this week. A liter of gasoline on Tuesday will cost 23.94 lei, up 0.13 lei, while a liter of gasoline COR 95 will be sold for 24.20 lei, up 0.17 lei.
Copyright owners as from January 1 will not collect compensatory payments, Copyright
As from January 1, 2023, copyright owners and singers of the Republic of Moldova cannot benefit from compensatory payments from the import of equipment now that the new law on copyright and related rights took effect. The authorities established a list of the equipment on the import of which compensatory payments are collected, but these cannot be collected even for the positions included in the list owing to the outdated customs codes that are no longer used, said representatives of the national association “Copyright”.
● TUESDAY, January 17
Law on copyright is nonfunctional. Artists accuse AGEPI of triggering bankruptcy of sector
The law on copyright and related rights is nonfunctional, said copyright owners. According to them, the law adopted by Parliament last year contributes to the failure of the sector and something like this is unacceptable in a state that obtained the EU candidate status. According to copyright owners, the law darted by the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) caused a legal vacuum that that does nothing but encourages piracy.
Ministry of Agriculture announces priorities for 2023
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry sets its priorities for 2023. The institution aims to maximally use the foreign funds provided in the pre-accession period and to facilitate farmers’ access to budget funding. Minister Vladimir Bolea presented the Government’s action plan for 2023 in public consultations that involved the main agricultural nongovernmental organizations. “In 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry aims to adopt a number of policies to adjust the national legal framework to the European one and to facilitate the famers’ access to budget or external funding,” noted the official.
Year 2022 was primarily lost for animal-breeding sector, Force of Farmers
2022 was predominantly a lost year for the animal-breeding sector. The sector was concomitancy affected by multiple crises. The prices of inputs and energy resources rose exorbitantly. There was a shortage of fodder and building materials. The interest rates on loans trebled, but the prices of agricultural products were very low, sad representatives of the Association “Force of Farmers”. These called on the authorities to swiftly take a series of measures to support the animal-breeding sector.
Central bank announces banking supervision priorities for 2023
The National Bank of Moldova this year will continue supervising with prudence the work of licensed banks so as to maintain them well capitalized and stable given that the national banking system closed the year with good financial results and the banks kept all the prudential indicators above the regulated limits. The NBM’s priorities for 2023 include the maintaining of an adequate level of liquidly, identification and appropriate management of the credit risk and risks in the prevention and combating of money laundering and terrorism financing, application of internal stress testing, assessment and dealing with weaknesses related to payment systems and payment services, and others.
● WEDNESDAY, January 18
Head of National Association of Milk Producers: We are dependent on imports
Approximately 90% of the milk that is the raw material used to make dairy products in the Republic of Moldova is bought from private individuals, while the authorized farms provide a reduced quantity of milk, said the head of the National Association of Milk Producers “Lapte” Carolina Linte. According to her, before the war Ukraine supplied Moldova with the largest quantity of dairy products, but now the products from Ukraine are replaced with those from Romania.
Traders give news conference together with MP
After they met with the minister of economy a week ago, a group of patent holders on Wednesday gave a news conference alongside an opposition MP. They said they repeatedly called on the government to be heard, but all in vain. They called upon the Prime Minister and the minister of economy not to hurry to promote laws to the citizens’ detriment.
First container of apples from 2022 harvest has been delivered to India
The first container of Moldovan apples from the 2022 harvest has been shipped to India, and four others will reach their destination by the end of January. The container crossed over 7,500 km by sea and reached its destination in 40 days. “The export of five containers of apples to India was supported by the economic diplomacy efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, combined with those of the National Food Safety Agency, which provided the necessary assistance so that India’s existing phytosanitary requirements could be met”, the Government said in a press release.
H&M could come to Moldova, minister
H&M stores could appear in Moldova. This was discussed by Moldovan Minister of Economy Dumitru Alaiba and Pernilla Halldin, head of public affairs at the H&M Group, on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Private sector will be able to raise funds through crowdfunding
The private sector will be able to access financing alternatives to banking through crowdfunding tools, under a bill approved by the Government Wednesday.
● THURSDAY, January 19
Turnover of “Moldova’s Railways” twice larger last year
The state-run enterprise “Moldova’s Railways” in 2022 managed to achieve good economic, operating and investment results. The volume of transported freight totaled 1.232 billion tonne/km, up about 84% on 2021. The turnover was almost 1.3 billion lei, which is twice more than a year before. The data were presented by the enterprise’s director Oleg Tofilat.
Companies with turnovers of up to 18 million lei will submit a single annual report
Moldovan companies with a turnover that does not exceed 18 million lei will be required to submit only one annual report. The initiative to simplify the way of reporting to a single annual document was announced today by the Minister of Economy Dumitru Alaiba.
● FRIDAY, January 20
Vyacheslav Moldovan: NAER prohibits export of electricity, while Energocom does not purchase from local market
The National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) stopped the export of electrical energy in order to make sure the country is supplied with power. At the same time, Energocom does not buy electricity from local producers, said Vyacheslav Moldovan, the representative of a local company that produces electrical energy from renewable sources. According to the entrepreneur, the authorities prefer large contracts with MGRES or Romania to the detriment of local companies. However, the state does not offer small producers the possibility of selling energy outside the country.
● SATURDAY, January 21
Moldova, Turkey aim to boost trade to US$ 1bn
Moldova and Turkey intend to increase the bilateral commercial exchanges to US$1 billion. There is place for boosting exports of Moldovan agricultural products, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea stated in a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey Vahit Kirişci.
Imports into Moldova of citric fruits, mineral water, baked goods, wheat flour, yeast, peanuts, walnuts, fresh and dried grapes and other dried fruit have grown over the past few years. On the other hand, Moldova constantly exports to Turkey sunflower oil and seeds, corn and wheat. It also resumed the export of fresh apples, apricots, onion and garlic, it is said in a press release.
Details about modification of energy vulnerability category
The authorities extended the access ceiling for the medium and low energy vulnerability categories. The consumers whose ratio of energy costs to global monthly incomes is higher than or equal to 15%, but lower than 35% are added to the average energy vulnerability category, while those for whom this ratio is lower than 15% – in the low energy vulnerability category. Earlier, the coefficient of access to the average category was higher than or equal to 20%, but lower than 35%, while for the low category – higher than or equal to 10%, but lower than 20%.
Before New Year, Moldovans borrowed less money than last year
The released new loans last December were 4.378,3 billion lei, a decrease of almost 7% on Decmeber 2021. The loans repayment in two to five years remained the most popular ones, representing 47.1% of the provided loans.
Agricultural subsidy payment process underway
The Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA) started to pay agricultural subsidies based on applications received in 2022. So far this year the AIPA authorized the payment of 32.5 million lei in subsidies to agricultural producers through the post-investment subsidization mechanism. The 2023 National Agriculture and Rural Development Fund totals 1.5 billion lei.
