Moldova will prohibit the transfer of profitable state-owned enterprises to concessions and will not consider financing a private partner from the income from the management of this state asset as an investment.
This is envisaged by amendments approved by the government to some normative acts concerning aspects of public-private partnership and state property management. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization Dumitru Alaiba noted that it's about eliminating a number of legislative and regulatory gaps related to public-private partnerships, since it was these shortcomings that led to omissions and abuses in national legislation, as well as errors in its application. Over the years, the interests of the state have been damaged by the conclusion of public-private partnership agreements, such as the Chisinau airport concession agreement and the contract for the modernization of the network of bus stations. Dumitru Alaiba stressed that the changes currently being made to the legislation on public-private partnership exclude the possibility of transferring profitable state-owned enterprises to concessions. They clarify the mechanism for financing public-private partnerships, including provisions stipulating that investments are financed entirely from financial resources provided by a private partner, and investments financed from income related to the management of state assets cannot be recognized as investments from private partner's own funds. Other changes relate to the forms of public-private partnership of the content of the contract, the initiation and transparency of the contract award process, the content of the feasibility study, monitoring the implementation of relevant projects, etc. As Dumitru Alaiba emphasized, the proposed changes are part of Moldova's obligations to development partners, including commitment to reforms related to the process of European integration, as well as part of the government's de-oligarchization actions. // 12.04.2023 — InfoMarket.
