State of emergency II in the Republic of Moldova

The Parliament returns to the state of emergency, for the period April 1 – May 30, 2021, by Decision no. 49/2021, It is succeeded by the decision of the Commission for Exceptional Situations (“CSE”), which by Provision no. 1, in force on April 1, 2021, continues some measures previously imposed by the Extraordinary National Commission on Public Health (“CNSP”), but also imposes new measures, as follows:

I. The special education regime

(i) The educational process will take place at a distance in the localities where the incidence of more than 100 cases of COVID-19 per 100 thousand population in the last 14 days will be attested, except for the early education institutions.

(I) pre-school (0-2 years) and pre-school (2-6 / 7 years) institutions remain open, but also (ii) schools, gymnasiums, high schools and other educational institutions in localities with a lower rate of illnesses.

II. The special regime of movement of persons

(i) It is forbidden for people to move and be in public spaces, within the built-up areas: parks, forests, playgrounds, sports fields, recreational areas.

It remains debatable whether the crossing of the park or land it is prohibited.

Traffic and being in forests, parks or recreational areas outside the localities (out of town) are not prohibited.

(ii) It is forbidden, starting with April 3, 2021, in Chisinau and Balti municipalities, the movement of persons outside the home or household between the hours of 23:00 – 5:00, with the following exceptions:

1. Traveling in a professional interest, including from home / household and work or other activity (entrepreneurial, self-employed, etc.).

2. Travel for medical care that cannot be postponed or made remotely, as well as for the purchase of medicines.

3. Travel outside the localities of persons in transit or traveling whose time interval overlaps with the prohibition period (such as by air, train, coach or other means of passenger transport), and which can be proved by ticket or any other way to pay for the trip.

4. Moving for justified reasons, such as caring for / accompanying the child, assisting the elderly, sick or disabled or the death of a family member.

Concluding:

– The bans do not apply to other localities (until other decisions of the CSE).

– When verifying the reason for moving in a professional interest, the persons are obliged to present one of the following documents: the identity card, the certificate issued by the employer (on paper or electronically), the declaration on their own responsibility in free form (containing the name and surname, date of birth, address of the place of professional activity, duration of travel, date of completion and signature);

– When verifying the reason of traveling in personal interest, the persons are obliged to submit the declaration on their own responsibility in free form (containing name and surname, date of birth, address of home / household, reason for travel, duration of travel, date and time of completion and signature).

Persons who are away from home / residence or other place of residence, are required to hold an identity card or other document confirming the identity of the person (identity card, passport, residence permit, etc.). .

! On April 3, 2021, the municipal authorities disagreeing with the decision of the Commission for Exceptional Situations (CSE) to ban being in parks and playgrounds, decided, by a decision of the Municipal Commission on Public Health, to admit citizens to public spaces – parks or playgrounds in a group of up to three people.

! However, Disposition no. 1, of April 1, 2021 is in force and contradicts to the decision of the Municipal Public Health Commission regarding the admission of citizens to public spaces – parks or playgrounds in a group of up to three people.

III. Special work regime

(i) Public and private units (entities), with the exception of those in the fields of production and provision of services, shall attract to the service with physical presence, for office activity, a number of employees of up to 30% of staff, and for the other employees will be ordered to organize the work remotely.

Production and service units are expressly exempted from remote work.

(ii) In the event that distance work is not possible, the work program will be organized in groups.

The leaders of the units are free to decide the size of the groups, in compliance with the mandatory measures to prevent COVID-19 infection.

(iii) Meetings, professional meetings with the physical presence of persons will be organized with the limitation of the number of participants based on the norm 4 m2 per person of the usable area of the room and will last no more than 60 minutes.

The above limits do not apply to online meetings, but apply to hybrid / mixed meetings.

(iv) The Public Services Agency will provide services on the basis of pre-programming in strict compliance with the mandatory COVID-19 infection prevention measures.

It is advisable to make a prior appointment well in advance, or in practice there are frequent planned (due to repair works, etc.) or unplanned (quarantine) interruptions in the provision of public services.

(v) OCT services, which require travel on the ground for the performance of cadastral works, shall be provided taking into account the strict need.

The need will be determined at the discretion of the cadastral officers, so it is advisable to check in advance the availability of the registration service or otherwise.

(vi) The organization of ceremonies for the registration of the newborn and jubilee marriages, including the celebration of the marriage, shall cease and the marriage shall take place exclusively within the civil status service / multifunctional center and only in the exclusive presence of the bride and groom.

Respectively, it is not allowed and it is sanctionable to move outside the CSO the civil status officer, but also the processions that accompany the marriage ceremonies. However, there is nothing to prevent the celebration of personal events at home, in compliance with the mandatory measures to prevent COVID-19 infection.

(vii) It is forbidden to hold meetings, assemblies, public demonstrations, rallies and other mass actions.

The ESC apparently goes beyond its legal powers when it includes, without legal grounds, meetings in the field of mass actions.

(viii) It is prohibited to discontinue (by disconnecting places of consumption) the provision of public services and / or to apply penalties for non-payment by household consumers of bills for electricity, heat, natural gas, landline telephony or drinking water, unless disconnection aims to avoid endangering people’s lives and health or damaging property.

The ban does not extend to non-household consumers, including producers and wholesale consumers.

(ix) A moratorium is established, until May 30, 2021, on the planned state controls, performed on the spot, by the bodies empowered with control functions under Law no. 131/2012, except for the controls performed by the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSA), the National Agency for Public Health (ANSP), the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) – in the field of state energy supervision and the Inspectorate for Environmental Protection – regarding the forest fund, green spaces, protected natural areas state, geological and aquatic fund.

The moratorium does not apply to controls carried out under other laws: – by the criminal investigation bodies

– by the control bodies in the public audit process

– in the financial field (banking and non-banking)

-in the process of crossing the state border and in the customs field

– by the State Fiscal Service, except for the registration, supervision and reporting of controls in the State Register of controls

– for the identification of cases of illegal development of entrepreneurial activity.

IV. Other measures with an impact on business activity

(i) The holding of general meetings of shareholders (annual and extraordinary), held with the physical presence of shareholders or in mixed form, shall be held in cases where the number of shareholders does not exceed the number of persons set for meetings by the CSE.

The restriction therefore does not apply to general meetings held by correspondence or with the use of telecommunications, according to the provisions of art.49 et seq. of the Law on Joint Stock Companies.

Even if it is not expressly mentioned, the above rules apply by analogy to the general meetings of the associates in the LLC.

(ii) The deadlines for holding the annual general meetings of shareholders and presenting the annual / specialized reports of the professional participants in the capital market and of the issuers are extended by 60 days from the expiration of the state of emergency (May 30, 2021).

According to the law,

– The annual GMS is held no earlier than 1 month and no later than 2 months from the date of submission to the statistical body of the annual financial statements.

– public interest entities submit the financial statements within 120 days from the end of the financial year (until April 30), and other entities – within 150 days (until May 30).

Note: The above information does not represent a legal consultation. Although this information was created with the greatest of care, we nevertheless do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for its content being correct, complete or up to date. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a legal opinion at the e-mail address “office@balaban.md or natalia.balaban@balaban.md