Activity of the Government on October 1–15, 2007

Appointments. Reshuffles

The Government has appointed:

Oleg Rotaru as chief of the Political Coordination Directorate of the Government’s Apparatus. Rotaru is also deputy chairman of the Government’s Apparatus;
Andrei Sumleanschi and Andrei Pogurschi as deputy interior ministers;
Mihail Harabadjiu as chief of the Civil Protection and Emergency Service of the Interior Ministry;

Decisions

Decision on activity of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce in 2006 and in the first half of 2007. The document certifies the fulfilment of some tasks: the implementation and monitoring of strategic documents; the improvement of business environment; the entrepreneurship regulation reform; the cooperation with international financial organisations; job openings, etc. The shortcomings include among others:

The vulnerability towards foreign factors;
The insufficient diversification of exports;
The poor development of small and medium businesses;
The insufficiently attractive investment environment;
The low quality of draft legislative and normative acts tabled to the Government.

Decision accepting the cession of rights and obligations. The Government allows the Redeco L.T.D. Company to cede all the rights and commitments resulting from the July 6, 1995 cession agreement on research and exploitation of the crude oil and gas deposits of Moldova to the Valiexchimp S.R.L. Company. The rights and commitments of Valiexchimp S.R.L. do not include the prospecting and exploitation of crude oil and gas resources in Moldova. At the same time, a governmental commission in charge with monitoring the takeover of the rights and commitments resulting from the concession agreement is being created.

Decisions approving some draft laws:

Concerning currency regulation. The document establishes the regulatory principles in the area, the rights and obligations of residents and non-residents, as well as the tasks of competent control bodies.
Concerning social assistance. The main goal of the law is to provide social assistance to families with very low real earnings. The size of assistance will be established on basis of patrimony of the beneficiary, number of family members, health, difference between guaranteed minimum monthly earning of the family and its overall income. This method will be tested for a couple of years and the assistance will be distributed meantime accordingly to the existing mechanism.
Concerning the transplant of human organs, textures and cells. It aims to regulate the transplant of organs in compliance with international standards and prices. Very little surgeon’s operations will be made on account of health insurance because such medical services are very expensive.
Concerning modification of some legal acts. The law aims to introduce a harsher responsibility for non-execution of judgments and groundless delaying of examination of lawsuits. Another innovation stipulates the possibility to verbally appeal during lawsuits directly.

Decisions on allocation of funds:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration is allocated 129,000 lei from the reserve fund for the 15^th anniversary of Moldova’s membership to the United Nations;
The editorial staff of the social-cultural magazine Moldova is allocated 314,000 lei from the reserve fund “to pay off crediting debts”;
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry is allocated 12 million lei from a special account to purchase seeds for autumn crops. The ministry will organise the public acquisition of seeds and their distribution for free to agricultural producers selected “on basis of well-chosen and transparent criteria”;
The Information and Security Service is allocated 1.26 million lei to organise and hold a sitting of the CIS council of security and intelligence heads.

Sittings. Decisions. Statements

300,000 new jobs and a 300-dollar salary

The executive has heard a report by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce regarding the implementation of the Government decision # 1332 from 22.11.2006 on opening of 300,000 new jobs by 2009 and rise of the medium monthly salary on economy up to the equivalent of 300 U.S. dollars. According to the report, the medium salary in certain branches (air transportation, post, energy, tobacco industry) has already reached the planned level and workers from other sectors will have the planned earnings by the end of 2008. At the same time, budgetary workers could earn a medium salary of 300 dollars by mid-2009. Jobs open in a high pace, as 46,600 jobs opened in the first half of 2007, which is more than 66 percent of the plan for this year. In comparison with 2006, the indicator has grown 3.8-fold, with jobs opening in industry, trade, building, transportation and telecommunication sectors. At present, approximately 30,000 jobseekers are formally registered, while 35,000 jobs are available.

Combating illegal migration, trafficking and smuggling

The prime minister has chaired a working sitting on struggle against illegal migration, human trafficking and smuggling of commodities and currency. He admitted that the measures taken in these fields are insufficient to reach the assumed objectives, in spite of certain positive results. In order to combat these phenomena, Vasile Tarlev instructed the competent authorities to urgently promote the draft legislative and normative acts needed to improve the existing normative framework, and to work out and implement some realistic mechanisms for their further execution. The Interior Ministry will take the measures needed to boost the activity of the national committee against human trafficking and the competent governmental institutions will intensify the cooperation with civil society and mass media, in order to promote information, education and training campaigns. Also, preventive and practical measures will be taken among functionaries whose work is connected to migration and struggle against human trafficking, so that to find and sanction the corrupt persons. The Interior Ministry, the Information and Security Service, the Centre for the Struggle Against Economic Crimes and Corruption, customs and border guard services will have to intensify their activity in order to discover and combat smuggling schemes and ways.

Attention toward CPA Reform

The premier has chaired a sitting of the governmental commission for Central Public Administration Reform, which heard a report on implementation of the reform by the Ministry of Health and studied priority reform-related actions for 2008. Commission members drew the conclusion that the Ministry of Health has taken most of actions stipulated by reform strategy. In order to fortify the activity, subordinated institutions could open to ensure the implementation of policies on technical-material base of medical-sanitary facilities and on sanitary management. Vasile Tarlev noted that the Ministry of Health is now the first central public administration institution which has started elaborating such a plan to optimise its structure. Commission members examined a draft action plan on implementation of the CPA Reform Strategy and supported most of the proposed measures, so that the document will be additionally discussed with all participating institutions and delivered for approval by the end of this year.

Development of transportation infrastructure

A working sitting has studied transportation infrastructure development projects in Moldova and the assessment envisaged the building and repairing of national roads the next years. It decided to focus on modernisation and repairing of the high traffic road sectors Chisinau-Balti, Chisinau-Hincesti-Cimislia-Comrat, Causeni-Stefan-Voda, Orhei-Rezina in 2008. The premier urged competent bodies to finalise the action plan on construction of the highway Giurgiulesti-Criva. At the same time, it was stressed the importance of ensuring the traffic infrastructure, including the renovation of wait pavilions at bus stations, information of roads, planting of nut trees on the brink of routes.

MFAEI collegial council

A sitting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration collegial council has studied the present situation and perspectives to settle the Transdnistrian conflict. Participants also examined the work of Moldovan diplomatic missions, topics of political dialogue within European institutions on bilateral and multilateral dimensions. The importance of promoting a dynamic commercial-economic cooperation in order to widely ensure the foreign markets for Moldovan goods was particularly stressed. Diplomatic missions are expected to pay a greater attention to implementation of the strategy on attracting investments and promoting exports. In order to implement the basic tasks of the diplomatic missions, diplomats indicated the need of enhancing their responsibilities and improving the communication mechanism between missions and MFAEI.

Enhanced concern with using international assistance

According to a communication of the governmental press service, the executive is taking conjugated actions to efficiently use the foreign assistance worth 1.2 billion dollars declared within the Advisory Group of Donors for Moldova on December 12, 2006. A permanent process of use of the declared assistance and attraction of new sources for social-economic development of Moldova has started after that date. Approximately 800 million dollars are contracted for ongoing projects on sectors of major importance: education, development of private sector, infrastructure development, healthcare, development of agriculture, etc. The fields of assistance have been established for majority of funds identified jointly with all partners. The proper start of the projects is conditioned with standard pre-launching procedures such as finalisation of reference terms and other draft documents, negotiation process, approval of donor’s financing for projects, etc. According to the communication, the National Commission for Foreign Assistance created under the Government Decision # 322 from March 28, 2006, which includes members of Government, local public administration and civil society, is in charge with all decisions on use of foreign assistance and monitoring of ongoing projects.

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