Investment plans for at least 100 million euros have been in limbo because of the irresponsible statements of "experts" in the media - Marin Ciobanu.
At a meeting of the Economic Press Club, the administrator of the Balti Free Economic Zone said that incompetent persons who consider themselves experts and make certain statements in the media undermine the investment climate in Moldova. Any negative information, and even more so about the abolition of certain tax regimes for Free Economic Zones (FEZs), becomes a shock for investors, they do not know what to do, they start exploring other markets to move production, or they suspend investments. "The Bautex company in Straseni, after acquiring a workshop for 7 million euros, stopped all processes and made claims to me that we had not told about all the problems in the FEZs. Or, for example, a company from Rezina bought 8 hectares in order to implement a project with a Danish investment of tens of millions of euros. But now these investors are waiting for clarity to understand what to do next. All in all, because of the news in the media and the statements of "experts," we have more than 100 million euros worth of investments in limbo. These experts have caused enormous damage to the country," said Marin Ciobanu. According to him, the Ministry of Economy issued a statement to investors that no tax regimes will be changed, but so far there have been no meetings on this issue at the level of administrators of FEZs. Marin Ciobanu said that for investors today, even the war in neighboring Ukraine is not the main factor of instability, but the lack of guarantees that the tax regimes provided to the FEZs will be maintained. Speaking about the lost profit of the state because of tax privileges granted in FEZs, Marin Ciobanu said that these privileges are often the only competitive advantage of Moldova in the fight for investments, especially in the automotive sector. "Without the provision of tax incentives, many of the investments that enabled the high performance of FEZs (jobs, wages, taxes, industrial production and exports), as well as the many benefits arising from the economic multiplier of these indicators, would not have materialized. In addition, in the EU countries, the free zones, and there are more than a hundred of them, are provided with broader tax incentives. For example, in the Baltic States FEZs residents do not pay income tax for the first 10 years of operation. Residents of Polish FEZs are even exempt from social payments. And this is in the European Union. But Moldova is not yet a member or even a candidate for EU membership," Ciobanu said. This week, the Ministry of Economy said that all benefits, regimes and guarantees for foreign investors, despite the crisis situation, are still in force, and the ministry is working to improve the legal framework to preserve the conditions of FEZs. // 24.03.2022 - InfoMarket
