The National Trade Union Confederation (CNSM) requested the government to urgently take measures to diminish the impact of the rise in rates and prices of energy resources. In a statement, trade unions say they are concerned about the situation in the energy sector and the demands of natural gas and electricity suppliers to raise the rates and prices again, IPN reports.

“The intentions to practically double the price of electricity and to raise 1.5 times the national gas rate will disastrously affect the living conditions of the population and will seriously hit the business entities whose activities depend on the use of large amounts of energy resources. These rises will have the avalanche effect and will lead to increases in the prices of all the goods and services. We also draw attention to the daily rises in fuel prices that also lead to price rises in all the areas,” said CNSM.

Trade unions note that even if the minimum guaranteed salary in the real sector was raised to 3,500 lei, while the minimum monthly salary in the public sector is 3,100 lei as from January 1, 2022, these raises will be eroded by the panned increases in prices and rates.

The Confederation demands to subsidize the differences in prices and rates following the increases for all the population, to increase the state support for residential consumers who use energy resources and to subsidize companies that produce or provide essential goods and services.

CNSM asks the government to consider the possibility of raising salaries in 2022 so as not to allow the purchasing power of the population to decrease and to introduce price ceilings for goods and services used daily.

The purchase price of the natural gas supplied by Gazprom in January is US$646 per 1,000 cubic meters and the gas rate for end users is expected to be raised to 14.6 lei, up from the current rate of 11.08 lei with VAT included, according to Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu.