The president of the Metals Employers’ Association Valentin Eșanu said that lately his company has been subjected to a significant number of inspections by the Environmental Inspectorate, the State Labor Protection Inspectorate and the State Tax Service. According to him, the pressure in the form of inspections from public authorities and court decisions unfavorable to the company is caused by an attempt to impose a tax monopoly in the field of collection, processing, marketing and export of ferrous and non-ferrous metal waste.
In a news briefing hosted by IPN, Valentin Eșanu said that control bodies’ inspections have become more and more frequent, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and operational stress for their team. These inspections, which represent an interference by the authorities in the company’s work, contributed to an excessive administrative burden. These actions will affect the companies operating on the market and, in the end, the state budget will also be affected.
“This situation threatens not only the viability of our company and other companies working in the field, but also affects the entire sector cand can affect competition and reduce the diversification of the offers available to consumers. In particular, we would like to draw attention to the fact that the processes of demonopolization, which seemed to be irreversible, are now being reversed. We are already noticing a negative impact on our company,” said the president of the Metals Employers’ Association.
In his opinion, the monopoly that is intended to be established will irreparably affect the collection, processing, marketing and export of ferrous and non-ferrous metal waste, eliminating competition and affecting the fundamental democratic values and principles of the European Union. “This monopoly threatens the principles of freedom of entrepreneurial activity, protection of fair competition and defense of the rights and interests of enterprises and citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” stated Valentin Eșanu.
According to him, urgent measures should be taken before the situation gets out of control. “The correction of tax legislation in the interests of a company or group of affiliated companies goes against the fundamental principles of the EU and the rule of law. This amendment of the tax legislation in favor of a dominant economic agent creates major risks of inequity, distorts competition and undermines confidence in the tax system, negatively affecting the interests of the Republic of Moldova. Bad faith economic agents affiliated to the monopoly company or created by it will be able to use various strategies to manipulate the market and keep revenues below the 60% threshold, thus benefiting from the favorable fiscal regime and avoiding the payment of due taxes. This will leave room for money laundering and tax evasion schemes,” said Valentin Eșanu.
“We note that, for the first time in the history of the Republic of Moldova, companies operating in the field of ferrous and non-ferrous metal waste collection pay about US$82 per tonne of sold metal – a significant contribution to the budget,” said the president of the Metals Employers’ Association. He expressed his concern that the situation when the oligarchic regime, by affiliating the companies that supported that regime, installed a monopoly on the metals market could be reversed.
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