Although, development and modernization of the Republic of Moldova has constantly been on the agenda of the public authorities, civil society and the international community, there has been limited progress in initiating public debates on trends and policies affecting welfare in a long run perspective. The State of Country Report 2007 contains a series of analytical studies that offer some solutions to the problems specific to the process of policy making and policy planning in the Republic of Moldova. The main goal of this collective intellectual effort is to provide those that have the power to decide on key policy issues with an analytical instrument that would facilitate the process of understanding the main social and economic trends and evaluate the available alternatives at their disposal to achieve a specific goal. Because of the combination of a sectorial approach with a global view of the process and perspectives of Moldova's development, this report is unique in its genre. Moreover, the survey conducted within the framework of the report sheds light on citizens' pessimistic view on the current state of affairs. In order to overcome this socially sub-optimal equilibrium, the authors point out to a series of challenges and opportunities which should be taken into account by the current and future generations of policy makers.        

După ce în septembrie rata de creştere lunară a producţiei industriale a constituit 1,5%, în octombrie a fost înregistrată o scădere a producţiei de 10%. Această scădere esenţială a fost determinată în primul rând de scăderea cu 50% a producţiei de zahăr, ca urmare a dificultăţilor în aprovizionarea cu materie primă. Totodată, recesiunea a continuat într-o serie de alte ramuri importante, precum prelucrarea tutunului, producţia băuturilor alcoolice, fabricarea articolelor de îmbrăcăminte, fabricarea de maşini şi echipamente. 

The most important legal documents, adopted during October-November are as follows: regulation for land consolidation, regulation and complimentary documents concerning the System for Animal Identification and Monitoring as well as Methodology for calculating the tariffs for passenger and luggage transportation. According to the first document, all land transactions that are conducted without public procurement bids, are not considered to be the object of land consolidation, which is a discriminatory approach. 

There were few significant events registered in September concerning the evolution of the legal framework. The new law for preventing and fighting money laundering and financing terrorism stipulates that several reporting bodies should monitor attentively occurring transactions and inform corresponding authorities about suspicious economic partners. According to the new Energy Strategy privatization in this area will continue, while the law for state property administration and public property denationalization does not include energy facilities on the list of property subject to privatization. 

In August, the main evolutions of the regulatory framework were the adoption of Law on Savings and Credit Associations (SCA), Law on limited liability companies, and the Law on auditing. The first law liberalizes the framework for functioning of the Savings and Credit Associations. As a result, these associations could be constituted not only by citizens, but by juridical entities too, while their territorial borders of functioning will become less rigid. Regarding the new Law on limited liability companies, the Parliament did not changed the minimal threshold of 5400 lei for the normative capital. 

In July the regulatory framework was marked by several key evolutions. The publication of study “The costs of developing business 2007” pointed out a progress in simplification of company registration procedure, but also a stagnation in authorizing and licensing of activities. At the same time, the Government adopted a controversial decision to create a working group for monitoring the “strategic” foreign investments. Persisting in creation of different working groups, the Government delays the really important reforms, to begin with the regulatory reform. For this reason, the Parliament had to postpone the enactment of the Law on Basic Principles Regulating Entrepreneurial Activity for several months. 

Developments concerning Regulatory Framework in June were rather intensive, as a number of important legislative and normative acts were passed. The most important evolution refers to the amendments undertaken to the Law on Budget, through which the revenues and expenditures were supplemented with additional 620 million lei each. There were also adopted legislative amendments inducing the set up of a new institution – the National Commission of Financial Market – which will supervise the non-banking segment of the market. 

The Regulatory Framework witnessed in May a number of interesting evolutions. The most amazing was the promulgation of the set of laws on fiscal amnesty, capital legalization and the reform of income tax system for companies. The Government has approved the Regulation on granting guarantees and compensations to employees combining work and education. The governmental intentions are rather clear and welcome, but the Regulation providing for compulsory granting of such guarantees and compensations for all economic units notwithstanding their ownership type and legal organization form could be actually ignored by the private companies. 

In April the business regulatory framework was marked by a series of laws, legislative projects and initiatives. The triple presidential initiative on the economy liberalization dominated the public debates throughout April eclipsing other important evolutions. The Constitutional Court declared as constitutional the provisions of the Regulation on the auto transportation of passengers and goods, stipulating to remove from use all re-equipped vans transporting passengers until the end of 2007. These provisions were contested by a Member of Parliament. It is difficult to imagine how the regulation will be applied, but any hasty interventions could generate severe social and economic consequences. 

After a fall of almost 10% in January 2007, in February the sector shrank with other 17%. The situation in the agriculture worsened. The spring agricultural works in the viticulture sector are late because of the uncertainties in the winemaking sector and the unpaid loans of the wine producers. At the same time, the authorities continue to follow false political objectives, such as land consolidation, and refuse to dialog openly and argumentatively about the policies of agriculture subvention. These and a number of other interesting economic developments are analyzed in this 18th edition of the Business and Economy Review.