Investment

Guide
ACI PARTNERS
PART III

Licensing and
authorization
of entrepreneurial
activity

MARCH 2016

LICENSING AND AUTHORIZATION OF ENTEPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY

LICENSING AND AUTHORIZATION OF ENTEPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY

Creating a company and its registration at fiscal, social insurance and

statistics authorities in certain cases is not sufficient for conducting
properly companys activity.
Depending on the type of the business you would like to be engaged in
and its importance for the state and the public a company shall obtain
certain additional documents such as: (i) license, or (ii) other permits.

WHAT IS A LICENSE?
License = an act issued by the licensing authority attesting the right of
the holder to conduct, for a certain period of time, the activity indicated
in the license, in whole or in part, subject to licensing conditions.

Authorities that
issue licenses

The Parliament is generally the authority, which decides what types of

activity shall be subject to licensing.

WHAT BUSINESSES ARE LICENSED IN MOLDOVA?

Licensing Chamber
National Bank of Moldova

Licenses are issued by a few various authorities in Moldova:

National Commission for

Financial Market

LICENSING CHAMBER:

National Agency for

Regulation in Energetics

The Licensing Chamber is one of the public authorities regulating the

business activity. Licences issued by the Licensing Chamber cover various sectors of national economy, 33 of the 50 licensed activities are
within the competence of the Licensing Chamber, and include such
types of business as:

Audiovisual
Coordinating Council
National Regulatory Agency
for Electronic Communications
and Information Technology

Licensed types of activity and their licensing conditions may be viewed

at: www.licentiere.gov.md/pageview.php?l=ro&idc=210&

ACI PARTNERS MARCH 2016

- Audit activity;
- Real estate evaluation, activities with precious metals and pre
cious stones;
- Functioning of pawnshop and gambling activity;
- Import and storage of alcohol;
- Import, storage and wholesale of alcoholic products and / or
imported beer;
- Import of tobacco products;
- Import and / or industrial processing of tobacco;
- Veterinary pharmaceutics and / or veterinary care (except for the
activity of the state veterinary service);
- Import and / or storage, sale of plant protection products and / or
fertilizers;
- Public transportation of passengers by vehicles;
- Construction of buildings and / or civil engineering, installation
and technique municipal networks, reconstructions, consolida

INVESTMENT GUIDE PART III

tions and restorations;

- Pharmaceutical activity;
- Employment of citizens in the country and / or abroad, employ
ment / enrolment of students in educational and cultural
exchange programs which provide gainful employment component employed for a period of time during summer holidays;
- Tourism activity;
- Activity of customs broker;
For the entire list of activities licensed by the Licensing Chamber and
other relevant details please follow the link: www.licentiere.gov.md
NATIONAL BANK OF MOLDOVA:
The National Bank of Moldova (the NBM) is the central bank of Moldova
and the authority that licenses, regulates and supervises the activity of
financial institutions, foreign currency exchange offices and institutions
rendering payment services and issuing electronic money. The NBM
licenses activities of financial nature such as:

Types of licensed
activities

50 licensed

activities

33

are within
the competence
of the Licensing
Chamber

17

are within
the competence
of other institutions

- Banking activity;
- Activity of exchange offices (others than banks);
- Activity of rendering payment services by payment institutions,
companies issuing electronic money and providers of postal
services;
- Activity of issuing electronic money by companies issuing electronic money.
For additional details please follow the link: www.bnm.org
NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR FINANCIAL MARKET:
The National Commission for Financial Market (the NCFM) authorizes
and regulates the activity of participants on financial non-banking
market, and supervises their statutory compliance. Five types of activities are licensed by the NCFM:
- Activity of insurance companies (reinsurers), insurance brokers
and/or of reinsurance;
- Management of private pension funds;
- Activity of savings and loan associations;
- Professional activity on securities market;
- Activity of credit history bureaus;
For additional details please follow the link: www.cnpf.md
NATIONAL AGENCY FOR REGULATION IN ENERGETICS:
The National Agency for Regulation in Energetics (The NARE) implements the state policy of regulation in energy field, ensuring the regulation and monitoring efficient functioning of energy market. As licensing authority the NARE licenses:
-import and wholesale and / or retail of petrol, diesel and / or
liquefied gas stations;
- power generation; electricity transmission and / or activity of cen
ACI PARTNERS MARCH 2016

LICENSING AND AUTHORIZATION OF ENTEPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY

tral dispatch; distribution of electricity; supply of electricity at

regulated or unregulated tariffs;
- production and / or storage of natural gas; renewable fuel pro
duction; transportation of gas; distribution and / or natural gas
supply at regulated or unregulated tariffs;
- provision of public water and / or sewage services to regions,
districts, cities, towns and where appropriate, to villages;
- production, distribution and / or supply of heat.
For additional details please follow the link: www.anre.md
NATIONAL REGULATORY AGENCY FOR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:
The National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and
Information Technology (ANRCETI) is the central public authority whose
mission is to regulate the activity in electronic communications and
information technology sector, ensure implementation of sector development strategies and supervise statutory compliance of electronic
communications network and/or service providers.
As licensing regulatory the ANRCETI licenses the following activities:
- use of radio frequencies or channels and / or numbering resources for the provision of networks and / or electronic communications services;
- creating, implementing and ensuring the functioning of state
automated information systems, including software.
For additional details please follow the link: www.anrceti.md
AUDIOVISUAL COORDINATING COUNCIL:
The Audiovisual Coordinating Council is the regulatory authority of the
broadcasting market. It licenses:
- broadcasting by terrestrial radio electric means and / or any
other means of telecommunications besides terrestrial radio
ones.
For additional details please follow the link: www.cca.md
The validity term of the
license varies between
5, 3 or 1 year.

As a rule, the license fee

is MDL 3250

3 ACI PARTNERS MARCH 2016

Term of validity: The validity term of the license varies depending on

the type of licensed activity. It may be 5, 3, or 1 year. If the holder of the
license intends to continue the licensed activity beyond the expiry of
the term of the license, a request on extending the term of the license
shall be duly submitted.
Licensing Fee: As a rule, a license fee is MDL 3250 and is paid in whole
upon issuance / extension of a license. For certain categories of licensed
activities the fees and payment conditions are different. You may find
more information on fees following the link: ( www.licentiere.gov.md/public/files/Ghid/Taxele%20pentru%20licente.pdf )

INVESTMENT GUIDE PART III

LICENSING PROCEDURE:
SUBMITTING THE DECLARATION
The first step in obtaining a license is submitting the declaration
on license issuance, to the one stop widow, or via e-licensing
application that may be accessed at: www.servicii.gov.md/AgencyDetails.aspx?aid=2d605b66-5248-4619-8cd8-d2d65f027e6f . The
declaration shall include the following:
a) for companies: name and legal form of organization, its
legal address, state identification number IDNO; for individuals: name and surname, address and personal state identification number;
b) requested type of licensed activity for which license shall be
issued / extended;
c) statement on assumption of responsibility for compliance
to licensing requirements and authenticity of submitted documents.
The following documents shall be attached to the declaration:
a) copy of the registration decision of the company, copy of
identity card for individuals;
b) additional documents, as requested by normative acts
regulating the specific type of requested licensed activity.
Requesting by a state authority of additional documents
other than those listed is prohibited.

TYPES OF
PERMITS

authorization

Documents shall be filed in original or copies, including electronic

copies, within presenting the originals for verification purposes.
ISSUING THE DECISION
Licensing authority shall pass a decision on issuing / extending
the license or rejecting the declaration within 5 business days as
of the date of its registration.
Information submitted to the licensing authority shall be accurate and
up-to-date. Upon issuance of a license, the license holder shall comply
with all pertinent licensing conditions. Otherwise, the license may be
declared invalid, suspended or withdrawn. If you would like to find out
more about license suspension or withdrawal please follow the link:
www.lex.justice.md/document_rom.php?id=88344A82:9250E886
WHAT IS AN ENABLING ACT (PERMIT)?
Enabling Act (Permit) = is a document by which the issuing authority
confirms certain facts and / or empowers the applicant with certain
rights and obligations related to conducting and / or termination of
business activity or actions adjacent to this activity.
Types of permits: authorization, permit, certificate, approval, notification, coordination, patent, qualification certificate etc.

permit
certificate
approval
notification
coordination
patent
qualification
certificate
ACI PARTNERS MARCH 2016

LICENSING AND AUTHORIZATION OF ENTEPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY

Permits could be of (i)

general nature, that is authorising a certain
type of activity, for example: industrial fishing, authorization for international transportation services; and (ii) special character, that is referring
to a specific aspect of undertaken activity, an action or person, such as:
authorization for import of telecommunication equipment, permit for
construction within free economic area etc.
Unless regulated by a special law, permits can be requested and / or
applied for only if the requested type is included in the Permits Nomenclature, which may be viewed in Romanian at: www.lex.justice.md/index.php?action=view&view=doc&lang=1&id=305510.
Permits can be issued by issuing authorities: i.e. local and central
public authorities, subordinated institutions, and legal entities rendering services of public interest. The list of issuing authorities and permits
issued by each authority is provided in the Permits Nomenclature that
may be accessed following the above-mentioned link.
Further we are presenting you description of the most widely spread
permits requested by entrepreneurs. The list is not exhaustive, therefore, before engaging in any business please check with your lawyer
what are the permits necessary to undertake your specific activity.
Functioning Authorization: is the authorization issued by local public
authorities, to engage in commercial activity. In this regard, Trade and
Food Departments of City Hall and District Executive Committees issue
permits authorizing the placement of business units. You may find
more information on issuing of functioning authorizations in Chisinau
municipality following the link: www.chisinau.md/doc.php?l=ro&idc=511&id=1163
Sanitary Operation Authorization: the activity of sale / services premises that may have an impact on public health shall undergo sanitary
operation authorization. This is undertaken on request of the entrepreneur by public health supervision services and may involve carrying out
an on the spot assessment of existing conditions. You may find more
information on the procedure of sanitary operation authorization
following the link: www.lex.justice.md/md/331169/
Hygienic Certificate: certain types of products and services may be
placed on the market only after their sanitary authorization. Sanitary
regulations provide for the categories and types of products / services
subject to sanitary authorization. For additional details please follow:
www.lex.justice.md/md/331169/
Authorization of Outdoor Advertising: if you intend to install a
billboard or display the name of the company by inscriptions and
images on buildings, you should apply for the Authorization of Outdoor
Advertising. The authorization procedure requires obtaining of several
documents including the certification of billboard project, authorization of billboard placing, etc. You may find more information on placing of outdoor advertising in Chisinau municipality following the link:
www.chisinau.md/doc.php?l=ro&idc=511&id=11575
Building Authorization: if you intend to undertake building activity,
5 ACI PARTNERS MARCH 2016

INVESTMENT GUIDE PART III

renovate and/or modify an existing construction, you might be required

to obtain special permits that would allow you to develop the project
documentation (zoning certificate) and which would authorize the execution of construction works on the site. The certification and authorization procedure implies submitting of a request to a specialized architecture and zoning departments of local public authorities and presenting of a set of requested documents. For more information, please
follow the link: www.lex.justice.md/md/335823.

AUTHOR

Marina Zanoga
Lawyer
T +373 22 27 93 23
E mzanoga@aci.md

Disclaimer:
The information contained herein is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be
construed as legal advice on any matter. ACI Partners shall not accept any responsibility for any
damages which might arise from taking a decision based on the details and information contained
herein, which has been presented, exclusively, for general information purposes only.
2006-2016 ACI Partners. All rights reserved

Contacts:
Bd. tefan cel Mare 65
Chiinu, Moldova
Tel: +373 22 27 93 23
Fax: +373 22 27 93 37
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