The Government does not want to promote the demands of the employers to improve the business environment as an electoral year is coming and these changes can be used to manipulate the public opinion, consider representatives of the National Employers Confederation of Moldova (CNPM), which is staging a forum to demand pursuing policies aimed at creating favorable conditions for developing the country’s economy.

The Confederation’s chairman  Leonid Cerescu has told IPN that the businesspeople’s situation in the last 3-4 years hasn’t improved. Moreover, the pressure and constraints on them increased. There are many platforms for communication between the businesses and the authorities, but the dialogue is not efficient. The businesspeople’s proposals are not taken into account.

“We now pay for five days of temporary incapacity for work. This is double taxation as we also pay contributions to the social fund. We carried out an independent study to obtain answers from economic entities. There were identified 16 constraints that hinder the normal activity of employers. We agreed to organize a business forum to make the constraints known, to share our opinions and to formulate policies that can help overcome the existing situation,” said Leonid Cerescu.

He added that when the companies cannot cope with the burden and constraints, they have three solutions – to stop work, to reduce the number of employees and to move to the underground economy. The state, the salary earners and the employers are all affected.

Vlad Caminschi, head of the CNPM Internal and External Relations Division, said the state fund for temporary incapacity for work was about 600 million lei, but half of this sum was later transferred to the employers, after the number of days for temporary work incapacity paid by the employer was increased.

“Next year they plan to increase the contributions to the mandatory health insurance fund by 05%. The constraints for entrepreneurs increase and it is a very dangerous trend for everyone,” he stated, adding that when they consult the ministries, the agencies and other institutions managed by the Government, there are no shortcomings, but they appear when decisions are taken.

Vlad Caminschi said the authorities’ actions may be stimulated by the economic crisis whose repercussions are still felt, but the Government should say it openly that its main goal is to collect money into the state budget at any cost. However, there is a certain dose of sincerity on the part of the Government as it says that an electoral year is coming and it cannot propose policies that may affect the election results.