Activity of the President on November 17–30, 2007

Decrees

Svetlana Caitaz, judge of the Supreme Court of Justice, was awarded the Civil Merit medal;
Gheorghe Rusnac was appointed Moldovan ambassador to Italy.

Sittings. Decisions. Statements

Functioning of the Competition Agency

The chief of state has attended a broadened sitting of the Administrative Council of the National Agency for the Protection of Competition, which made the totals of activity of this institution for nine months after being created. Vladimir Voronin noted that Moldova is implementing European standards in all fields of society life, including economy, and the country cannot be an EU member without competitive commodities and services. According to Voronin, the Moldovan economy may become competitive including with the condition to develop the competition on domestic market and the real competition must become an efficient macroeconomic mechanism, really influence the inflation and employment. The president noted that the state leadership, Government have combated the sabotage of clans and they finally created a structure to develop the competition and improve the control on respect for the rules of the game on the commodity and service market, but the agency must not become a police body.

Supreme Security Council sitting

Vladimir Voronin has chaired a sitting of the Supreme Security Council, which studied issues related to information security of Moldova and measures to ensure it. According to the chief of state, the process of building the information society implies certain risks for information security and national security of the country. On this occasion, it was noted that the information security in Moldova is insufficiently ensured:

The adoption of the state information security concept is delayed;
A methodological and practical coordination of systems of public administration authorities is absent;
Databases of public authorities are not adjusted to effective requirements and they are not interconnected;
Public administration bodies insufficiently use information technologies;
Information technologies are not used enough;
Electronic communication systems, legal and normative databases, websites of authorities are episodically and secondarily visited.

The Government will speed up the elaboration of the information security concept; will ensure the standardisation of special electronic databases of public authorities, and their reciprocal integration under conditions of information security. Also, the sitting welcomed the intensified development of information networks, the efficient integration and securing of databases of public authorities, the granting of methodological and practical assistance to public authorities to implement and use modern information technologies.

Implementation of regulatory reform

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has reported the implementation of the law on revision and optimisation of the normative framework regulating the entrepreneurship (the so-called Guillotine I) and the law on basic entrepreneurship regulatory principles (Guillotine II). It noted that more than 1,000 normative acts regulating the entrepreneurship have been revised and optimised at the first stage of implementation of the regulatory reform (2004–2006), and half of them have been abrogated. More than 80 laws on entrepreneurship have been modified at the second stage of the reform to enhance the direct action of laws, prevent contradictions, annul double provisions and ensure their uniformity. The chief of state ordered the state commission in charge with regulating the entrepreneurship to continue its work and backed an idea to work out a new law on licensing, which would bring a single approach of the state policy regulating the licensing of entrepreneurship. The draft law would clearly and transparently stipulate the licensing criteria; the authority in charge with issuing licences; the categories of licence holders; the control on respect for legislation on licensing; the licensed activities. Also, the new legal act would legalise the “one-stop-shop” principle, which is not stipulated by law at present.

Speeding the elaboration of the National Development Plan

Mr. Voronin has chaired a sitting of the National Committee for the Elaboration of the National Development Plan (NDP) for 2008–2011. According to a report on elaboration of this document, the structure of the document includes the National Development Plan Strategy and the Action Plan on Implementation of NDP. The plan is based on five strategic priorities of Moldova: a) consolidation of a modern democratic state based on the supremacy of the law; b) settlement of the Transnistrian conflict and reintegration of the country; c) enhanced competitiveness of national economy; d) development of human resources, employment and promotion of social inclusion; e) regional development. The sitting underlined the opportunity of modifying the final draft by including recent presidential initiatives on strengthening of confidence between the two banks of the Dniester River. The draft NDP will be shortly delivered to the Government as a legal initiative in order to be approved.

Execution of the “Satul Moldovenesc” National Programme

A meeting convoked by chief of state has made the totals of actions stipulated by the Satul Moldovenesc (Moldovan Village) National Programme for this year and stressed new tasks aimed to optimise the accomplishment of goals.

It was noted regarding the gasification area that the objectives concerning the building of natural gas distribution networks and gasification of rural establishments have been accomplished (807 localities have been connected to gas pipes since 2002, 6 districts have been wholly connected, 7 districts were connected 60–90 percent, 6 districts 40–60 percent, and 14 administrative territorial units up to 40 percent). These achievements intensify the implementation paces of the National Gasification Programme, and the chief of state instructed competent authorities to accelerate the gasification process in villages, so that 19 districts of the country to be supplied natural gas by the end of 2008.

As regards the implementation of the drinkable water providing and sewerage programme, it was noted that the Government and local public authorities should accelerate this process. Inter-district water pipes shall be put into operation at a maximum capacity, some localities shall be connected to central water pipes, branch pipes shall be constructed, sewerage systems and residual water filtering stations shall be renovated.

Actions taken in agriculture sector aimed to consolidate farm land and implement national programmes in this area. As of January 1, 2007, 211 agricultural cooperatives were working in Moldova, and another 18 cooperatives opened in 2007. There are 177 technological and machine stations at present. As many as 123 processing enterprises have been renovated in 2005–07, with 382 procurement facilities operating in villages. Vladimir Voronin indicated the need of encouraging the opening of crop processing enterprises, recommending the Government to work out a draft law to award facilities to investors who would open modern crop processing enterprises in rural areas, accordingly to European requirements and standards. The president also stressed the need of intensifying the introduction of ecological agriculture, instructing the competent ministry to take more decisive measures in this respect.

As regards accomplishments in education sector, the number of kindergartens has increased from 1,100 up to 1,356 in the past three years, being endowed with teaching materials, artistic literature and toys. Pre-university institutions were endowed with equipment for all subjects for the first time in the past 20 years. All high schools in Moldova are connected to the Internet and have modern computer classrooms, and another 50 high schools have been endowed with educational software for 4 subjects. Voronin underlined the need of identifying sources in order to renovate kindergartens and pre-university institutions, cultural facilities and libraries in rural areas.

The territorial transportation infrastructure shall develop. Given the deficit of funds for capital repairing of local roads, it was proposed to involve the Ministry of Transportation and Road Management in renovating a road metal segment by washing away, levelling and rolling it. A decision on further actions will depend on results of this pilot project.

The results of the cooperative infrastructure development have been appreciated: 578 trade public food facilities have been modernised in 2005–07, 26 acquisition units and 179 branches completed the crop procurement network, and the service volume of consumer cooperation has increased.

The Government was instructed at the end of the sitting to study the pace of implementation of the Satul Moldovenesc National Programme including in every ministry, so that to take concrete measures and execute the document.

“Discussions with President” Broadcast

The chief of state has approached problems of interior and foreign policy during a traditional TV broadcast aired by NIT:

He invited political opponents to comment on the new draft PCRM Programme published in a 500,000-copy circulation, in order to study it by March 1, 2008;
Pensions will not grow in the near future because there is a big problem to collect means from farmers to the social fund — only 7 percent of collections come from farmers while 93 percent of pensions are paid to citizens from the state budget. The chief of state revealed that a one-percent rise of pensions costs about 80 million lei a year and the Government is in charge with guaranteeing and indexing pensions on time, accordingly to the law;
The president was sceptical with the future of the major coalition in the Chisinau Municipal Council and partnership between the Democratic Party and the Social-Liberal Party, saying that no coalition in Moldova has resolved anything until now and the democrats have nothing in common with the social-liberals;
The state budget of Moldova has grown 6.7-fold in the past seven years and it will be the equivalent to eight budgets of 2001 by the end of next year;
He rejected the accusations of the opposition that more transfers for communist local authorities have been foreseen when the 2008 state budget law was elaborated. Voronin noted that all estimates met the norms and it would be a mistake to deprive of resources in 2008 the districts where the PCRM was short of several mandates to win. The Government was not instructed against these districts because “such moves would run counter communists”;
Invoking the example of the new district elections in Rezina, the chief of state was sure that the communists would win new elections in Chisinau;
Opposition parties win elections by lying and bribing electors;
It was expected that divergences in the Moldova-Romania relations would be remedied after Romania’s accession to the EU, but it is not so. For this reason, Moldovan authorities will approach these relations at the EU level, not at a bilateral level. Voronin accused Romania of voting against trade preferences for Moldova in the European Parliament and noted that Romania’s actions would synchronise with those of Tiraspol, as Romania raises the language issue, seeks the revision of the World War II results and Helsinki Treaty when the Transnistria settlement negotiations should restart.

The most controversial statement delivered during the broadcast envisaged the functioning of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and a recent decision by the Romanian Orthodox Church Synod to open three dioceses within the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church. According to the chief of state, Moldovan authorities could withdraw from the ECHR judgment on registration of the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church in Moldova, if the decision on opening of three new dioceses is not suspended. Voronin fears that this decision of the Romanian Patriarchate targets against the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova, against Moldovan nation.

Legal experts and opposition politicians^[1] commented the president’s statements on withdrawal from the ECHR decision, describing them as biased and aberrant and warning that such actions could exclude Moldova from the Council of Europe and this would close its European integration way.

↑ Statements by representatives of the Lawyers for Human Rights Organisation, lawyers to the ECHR (Press releases by Info-Prim Neo news agency; Timpul newspaper, 01.12.2007)

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