MOLDOVAN BUSINESS LAW: April 2010

An important issue that Moldovan companies (or their foreign partners) should take into consideration when carrying out international transactions is the existence of a number of rather strict rules on the repatriation of export proceeds, goods and services received as a result of foreign transactions. This issue is governed by the Law No. 1466-XIII of 29 January 1998 "On the regulation of the repatriation of money, goods and services received as a result of foreign transactions".

The Law stipulates the obligation of companies registered in Moldova:

to ensure the receipt of export proceeds or the return of advance payments for non-delivered import to their accounts in the banks in the Republic of Moldova;
to fulfil the import of goods and services after the performance of import payments; and
to repatriate the proceeds or the assets received as a result of other foreign transactions.

The general terms within wich the repatriation should be performed are stipulated as follows:

in case of sales contracts, barter and export commission sales contracts - within the terms stipulated by the contracts, but not more than 1 year from the date of the goods dispatch or the date of the payment for goods or services (18 months for contracts of purchasing vine and fruit planting stock).
for processing contracts - within 60 calendar days from the day of finishing the technological cycle indicated in the contract.
for leasing contracts - within the terms established according to the contract but not less than once a year.

The repatriation is controlled by the fiscal and customs authorities.

The penalty for not complying with the rules on repatriation is 0.1 % of non-repatriated sums (costs) for every day of delay, but not more than the respective sum of money or the cost of goods or services that are due to be repatriated.

Labels: Foreign transactions, Repatriation

Under the general rules of commercial activities existing in Moldova any company may carry out any type of activity even if it is not stated in its bylaws, unless a particular type of activity requires licencing according to the law. The Law on Regulating Entrepreneurial Activity Through Licencing (no. 451-XV of July 30, 2001) provides a comprehensive list of all the commercial activities that require getting one. The conditions for every certain activity as well as the procedures of licence issuance and the amount of licence fees may vary.

Bellow you can find the list of the activities that require getting a licence:

auditing;
real estate valuation and/or goods expertise;
commodity exchanges activities;
operations with precious metals and precious stones; pawnshops activities;
gambling activities: organizing and carrying out lotteries, casinos operation, operation of slot machines with cash winnings, betting on sports events;
import and wholesaling of imported ethyl alcohol, alcoholic beverages and beer;
production and/or storage and wholesale trade of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic beverages and beer;
import and wholesale trade of tobacco products; import and industrial processing of tobacco and/or wholesale trade of fermented tobacco;
designing of fruit and berry crops and vineyards plantations, production and/or sale of seeds, seedlings and seeds materials;
production, storage and sale of pedigree biological materials (animals, seeds, embryos, ova, roes and fish larvae, birds eggs and silk worm eggs) intended for reproduction;
veterinary and pharmaceutical activities and/or veterinary care (except for activities carried out by the State Veterinary Service);
import and/or selling of fitosanitary remedies and means of improving soil fertility;
passengers transportation by public motor transport, international carriage of goods by road;
designing all types of buildings, urban planning, engineering structures and networks, reconstruction and restoration works;
construction of buildings and/or engineering constructions, engineering structures and networks, reconstructions, consolidation, restorations;
mining operations and/or production and bottling of mineral and natural drinking water;
drilling works (except for technological research in construction);
topographic and geodesic activities;
the collection, storage, processing, selling and export of scrap and wastes of ferrous and nonferrous metals, used batteries, including those in processed form;
nuclear and radiological activity with the use of radioactive sources of the categories I-III;
import and/or manufacture, warehousing and wholesale trade of toxic chemical substances and materials, as well as products and other household chemical products; manufacturing, import and/or export, re-export of substances that deplete the ozone layer, as well as equipment and products containing such substance;
manufacture and destruction of seals;
private detective or security activity;
installation and/or adjustment, maintenance of automated systems for fire detection and extinguishing, smoke protection systems for buildings and fire warning systems;
import and/or export, trade in arms and ammunition, repair of service and staff, sports and/or hunting, training, award, collection and self-defense weapons;
import, storage and/or use of explosives (including pyrotechnics); conducting blasting operations;
import, export, development, manufacture and sale of cryptographic and technical means of protection of information, special equipment for secret gathering of information, providing services in the field of cryptographic and technical protection of information (except for the activities carried out by public authorities vested with such powers under the law);
pharmaceutical activitis, including the ones with the use of narcotic and/or psychotropic drugs, carried out by pharmaceutical companies and/or institutions, import and/or production of perfumery and cosmetics;
manufacture, selling of, maintenance, repair and verification of medical equipment and optics;
health care and medical assistance provided by private health institutions;
the activities in the field of genetics, microbiology and the activities included in the risk groups III and IV carried out with the use of genetically modified organisms;
employment-related activities withinthe country and/or abroad;
tourism activities;
activity of private educational institutions of all levels, stages and forms of education; additional (extra-curricular) education and/or adult education, except for the education funded by the national public budget;
activity on storage of grain with the issuance of warehouse certificates for grain;
duty free shops activities, including for the provision of the diplomatic corps;
the activities of customs brokers;
the operation of banking institutions and money exchange offices;
insurance and reinsurance activities; asset management of non-state pension funds;
the activities of savings and loan associations;
professional activities in the securities market;
the activities of credit agencies;
import and wholesale and/or retail trade of petrol, diesel-fuel and/or liquefied gas at petrol stations;
production of electric energy; transmission and/or central dispatching of electric energy; distribution of electricity, the supply of electric energy at regulated or unregulated tariffs;
production and/or storage of natural gas; transmission of natural gas; distribution and/or supplies of natural gas at regulated or unregulated tariffs;
use of radio frequencies or radio channels and/or numbering resources in order to supply networks and/or services of telecommunications;
development, maintenance and implementation of software products, information equipment and systems of national significance;
design, development, implementation of automated information systems and resources of national importance (the creation of databases, their operation and providing services for the provision of information), as well as the services to ensure their functionality;
broadcasting program complexes through the ground radio electronic equipment and/or thorugh the communication means other than ground electronic equipment.