Eugeniu Osmokescu
Parliament approved in the first reading the amendments to the legislation, which enshrine new rules for investors and residents of the port.
The 2005 law provided for a 99-year lease, until 2104. The new draft reduces the term to 45 years, until 2075.
“The lease term was 99 years, we are setting it until 2075. Why not until 2104? This is based on the negotiations that have been carried out. Moreover, we used the government resolution that sets the formulas for granting the right of superficies through the State Property Agency only for a period of up to 49 years. We had the opportunity to negotiate and we set the lease term to 2075 with the right of superficies for the facilities, of course. Not 2104!”, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization Eugeniu Osmochescu.
Another innovation. Previously, the rent was $1,000 per year. The new project sets the payment at market value, but not less than about 500,000 lei per year.
Previously, land within the port territory was public property, but some plots had mortgage encumbrances from commercial banks. The new draft stipulates that the port lands are public property of the state and their circulation in the civil order is prohibited.
The new draft also provides for taxation of profits of port residents under the general regime.
Previously, the legislation on competition and regulation of natural monopolies was not applied on the port territory. The new draft provides for the application of the legislation of the Republic of Moldova on competition and state support.
It should be noted that the current legislation does not regulate all aspects of port operation, such as the term of activity, legal regime of lands, payment for the right of superficies etc.
According to the data presented, since the establishment of the port, $137.3 million has been invested, of which $57.2 million was invested by Danube Logistics SRL, which is the general investor. There are 74 companies operating on the territory of the port, providing more than 800 jobs.
Former President Vladimir Voronin told how the port was created and what difficulties Moldova faced back then:
“We are talking about 420 meters. We brought up a map of the Iasi-Kishinev operation in 1944, because we could not precisely define the borders of the port and the borders between Moldova and Ukraine. According to this map, we found that we had 1,230 meters of access to the Danube. And also – we were lucky, God helped us: the Prut River overflows in this very place, and we started to unfold all these constructions necessary for the activity of our port along the Prut River”.
Vladimir Voronin proposed to unite the Free International Port “Giurgiulesti” with the state port.
“I see that the Romanians are trying to get control over this port through the EBRD and other mechanisms. We should unite these two ports, based on international norms and our national interests of Moldova, and then the port will function normally,” Voronin said.
Osmochescu thanked the former president for his forward-looking vision:
“I see that you have a clear vision of development for the next 50-60 years, and moreover, you have confirmed that the port has been developing. We need to improve its efficiency and develop it further.”
