cee legislation tracker: moldova

Status as of 28/04 3pm CET

 

Banking & Finance, Capital Markets

• 20/04: The National Bank of Moldova (NMB) allows (and in fact encourages) commercial banks to manage in a flexible manner the payment obligations for the loans contracted by individuals and companies. Thus, the banks may independently decide whether to extend and/or renegotiate the payment obligations' maturity dates. No support scheme from the Moldovan government is currently in place.
• 06/04: The deadline for publishing the annual reports by public interest companies was postponed to 29 May 2020.
• 25/03: Pending deadlines referring to a series of procedures subject to prior approval of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) (e.g. alienation of shares in certain cases), obligation to notify the NBM, determination of breaches by the NBM, and application of sanctions are suspended and will continue as of 15/05.
• 16/03: No prohibitions are put in place with respect to the activity of banks and non-banking payment service providers which continue to render financial services. Also, no ban is applicable on operations with financial instruments. In practice, certain market participants (e.g. registrars) may refuse the services, while alleging various reasons.

Criminal defence

Procedural law / deadlines

• Pending deadlines are suspended and will continue as of 15/05.
• Prescription periods are suspended until 15/05.

Court hearings

• Apart from by audiovisual means, oral hearings etc. may only be conducted if absolutely necessary until further notice. Currently only urgent penal cases (mainly arrests) take place at the court.

Service of Documents

• Not available, unless electronically possible and/or acceptable.

Corporate and M&A

General meetings

• 06/04: The ordinary (annual) general assemblies of shareholders of joint stock companies are to be held within two months, calculated as of 29 May 2020. The ordinary (annual) general assemblies of shareholders of saving and loan associations (asociațiile de economii si imprumut) are to take place within two months as of termination of the state of emergency.
• 26/03: Instruction on the Quarantine Regime for cities/villages in quarantine was approved. It inter alia regulates the movement of individuals and other limitations inside cities/villages that were placed under quarantine.
• 25/03: Individuals aged 63 or older are prohibited from leaving their houses, except to buy food, and in case of health or urgent matters. For business and labor purposes leaving the houses is permitted only in case such activity cannot be organized from home.
• Any meeting encountering more than 50 persons is forbidden. Therefore, if the number of participants does not exceed 50, or the option is provided by the incorporation documents / convocation decision virtual shareholder and board meetings and other forms of decision-making (e.g. written votes) are allowed.

Disputes (civil)

Procedural law / deadlines

• Pending deadlines are suspended and will continue as of 15/05.
• Prescription periods are suspended until 15/05.

Court hearings

• Apart from by audiovisual means, oral hearings etc. may only be conducted if absolutely necessary until further notice.

Service of Documents

• Not available, unless electronically possible and/or acceptable.

Disputes (public)

Procedural rules /deadlines

• 25/03: An administrative sanction in relation to violation of measures imposed during the state of emergency can be challenged with the competent court within 48 hours from the date the decision on administrative sanction is issued or from the date a copy of the respective decision is duly conveyed. The issued judgment/decision is subject to recourse with the competent court within 24 hours from the date the sanction is applied. The administrative cases are to be judged within maximum 72 hours as of their submission with the court. The omitted procedural terms cannot be reinstated.

Hearings

• Apart from by audiovisual means, oral hearings etc. may be conducted if absolutely necessary until further notice.

Service of Documents

• Electronically possible and acceptable.

EU & Competition

Deadlines

• No amendments were operated to the in-force legislation on competition. The Competition Council's activity is not affected but conducted electronically.

Hearings & Meetings

• All authority and court hearings and meetings are postponed until further notice.
• Currently certain investigations were commenced / are expected to commence (e.g. prices for medical masks, etc.).

Healthcare & Life Sciences & Regulatory

Until 15/05 certain categories of companies from Transnistria are allowed to perform custom clearance procedures of medicines without paying import/export charges, environmental pollution tax, etc. Insolvency & Restructuring

The validity term of permissive acts (such as the sanitary authorization and the health accreditation certificate) issued for medical and pharmaceutical services providers is extended until 15/05.

Insolvency & Restructuring

Support measures

• No SME Support or hardship fund is available yet for companies facing economic challenges.
• Increasing the framework for guarantees for individual companies and increasing the guarantee framework.

Insolvency

• No amendments were operated to the Insolvency legislation.

Insurance

06/04:

• Certain terms in relation to obligation of the insurer to dispose of the shares previously annulled by the National Commission for the Financial Market are suspended and will continue as of 15/05.

Intellectual Property

N/A

Labour & Employment

• No amendments were operated to the in-force labor legislation, employers being encouraged alternatively to: implement remote work, adjust to flexible work schedules, establish part-time work, implement stationing or technical unemployment, provide annual paid or the unpaid leave. No guarantees are being put in place.
• A subvention mechanism is instituted for the undertakings registering technical unemployment or stationing, consisting in total or partial restitution, at request of undertaking and following a tax audit, of the taxes and contributions previously wired by such undertakings. The subvention refers to the employees employed until 1 March 2020 and in respect of which technical unemployment or stationing was registered. The amount of the subvention will not exceed 100% (60% for technical unemployment / stationing from own initiative) of the amount of income tax and mandatory state social insurance contributions owed by the employer and of the individual state social insurance contributions and mandatory state health insurance contributions owed by the employer and by the employee related to the employee's salary for the month of February 2020 (per working day). The sub-vention is granted by the State Fiscal Service within 5 business days following the request and the tax audit.
• The minimum amount of the payment for unemployment (ajutor de somaj) was increased to app. MDL 2,775 per month (i.e. approx. EUR 135), which is the value of the current minimum monthly salary.

Employment Contracts

• Suspension is triggered only in case of quarantine.
• Certain legal provisions on legal guarantees to employees (e.g. prohibition to dismiss while employee on holiday, interdiction to dismiss without syndicate's prior approval; prohibition to illegally transfer, obligation to re-employ in case of illegal dismissal, obligation to compensate material and/or moral damages, etc.) are suspended until 15/05. Currently further explanations are expected from the Moldovan authorities in this respect, as these limitations are formulated in an unclear way.
• The week between 30 March and 3 April 2020 is declared as (paid) holidays for the public sector (authorities and institutions); an exemption exists for medical, national defense and security institutions.
• The periods between 30 March 2020 – 3 April 2020, and 7 April– 17 April, and 21 April - 24 April, and 27 April – 30 April 2020 were declared as holiday and paid vacation for the public sector (budgetary authorities and institutions), except for medical institutions and those from the national defense and security areas. This period will have to be recuperated later on.

Real Estate & Construction

N/A

Tax & Duties

Income tax and duties

• The filing of local tax reports (dari de seama fiscale aferente taxelor locale) and payment for local taxes (taxe locale) shall be performed later, i.e. by 25/07.
• The declaration and payment of income tax, real estate tax, land tax and local taxes due by entrepreneurs which average annual number of employees during the entire fiscal period does not exceed 3 units, that are not registered as VAT payers and the declaration of income tax from operational activity by the economic agents of SME sector, shall be performed later, i.e. by 25/04.
• The payment of income tax from entrepreneurial activity in installments for the first quarter of 2020 shall be performed later, i.e. 25/06.
• The declaration and payment of income tax for FY2019 by individuals shall be performed later, i.e. 29/05.

Fiscal controls

• Tax controls are suspended until 1/06.
• The deadline for examining cases on tax violations or subsequent appeals is extended until 29/05.
• The term for submission of the disagreement acts to fiscal control documents is extended until 29/05 and for appeals until 15/06.
• For FY 2019, certain categories of companies are exempted from the mandatory audits of financial statements.

Telecom & Data Protection

Telecoms

• Obligations to telecoms providers to take care for mass alert via SMS upon governmental order.
• Obligations to forbid (at the decision / order of the Information and Security Service) the transmission in an electronic communications network or the storage of content containing false information on the COVID-19 pandemic evolution, protection and preventive measures.

Data Protection

• The applicable laws to facilitate health data / disease reporting data to competent health and state authorities have not been revised. No explanatory opinion has been published by the Data Protection Authority in this regard.

Other

10/04:

• The validity term of the individuals' entrepreneurial permits (patente de intreprinzator) is suspended until 15/05.
• The financial support for socially vulnerable individuals was increased.

07/04:

• The validity term of ECMT permits for the technical control of motor vehicles and trailers which expired as of 12 March 2020, is automatically extended until 30 June 2020. Also, as of 3 April 2020 the ECMT certificates which expire during the carriage of goods are prolonged until the completion of the transportation assignment.
• The preferential certificates on the origin of goods submitted in copies (both in hard copies and electronical), or certified by digital signature have the same legal force as the originals. However, the originals are to be submitted by importers within 30 calendar days as of the date when state of emergency ends.

31/03:

• The Bureau for Migration and Asylum suspended its activity of receiving applications on granting/extending/issuing residence permits to foreigners, except for strict emergencies. The already issued residence permits which expire during the state of emergency are prolonged with 60 days.
• As of 1 April until 15 May 2020, Moldovan citizens and foreigners holding residence permits in Moldova, who cross the state border to enter Moldova, must hold a valid medical insurance or procure one.
• The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection incorporated and sets up a new Public Medical Institution "Covid-19 Center Chisinau".

26/03:

• Permissive acts issued to companies by the Civil Aeronautic Authority which validity expires during the state of emergency are prolonged until 15 May.
• Attorneys, notaries and bailiffs are obliged to continue their professional activity until 15 May 2020.
• Certain customs offices may have 24-hour working shifts, followed by 72 hours of rest.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration is coordinating the evacuation of the Moldovan citizens from abroad with charter flights.

 

Kindly note that the summaries on this page are for information purposes only and do not take into account the specifics of a certain situation. The information is not designed to substitute and cannot substitute legal advice tailored to your needs. It is made available strictly on a non-reliance basis. Also, some of the addressed topics might be subject to short-term changes.