Ex-President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon said the government should take out loans to compensate all the citizens and business entities for the higher natural gas tariffs. He came with gloomy forecasts that the tariff will be twice higher and will lead to a rise in the tariffs and prices of all the products and services, IPN reports.

The former President noted that given the prices on the international gas market, the rise in tariffs for end users in Moldova is inevitable and the tariff can rise to 14 lei per cubic meter of gas.

“Our calculations show that the tariff will be twice higher than the current now of 4.30 lei. The tariff that will be approved in the nearest future will be at least 8 lei and at most 13-14 lei. The purchasing power of the citizens is reduced following the rise in the prices of many products. That’s why this is a very high tariff for the citizens, which will lead to an increase in the prices of many products and services. To diminish the negative effects for the population, a compensation mechanism must be urgently approved. The Government should cover this rise for everyone – the population and business entities,” Igor Dodon stated in the talk show “Prime Time” on PrimeTV channel.

Even if he earlier criticized the government’s intentions to borrow money from outside, now Igor Dodon tells the authorities to profit from the good relations with the European community and to take out loans to compensate all the citizens for the higher tariffs.

“There are several compensation elements: either foreign loans or allocations from the budget for compensating a part of the rise. The VAT rate of 8% for gas in the Republic of Moldova can be annulled. This will produce an additional sum of 300 million lei that can be used to compensate the citizens. The amounts collected into the budget this year are rather large and this is due to the correct policies pursued last year. The VAT rate should be annulled and this can be easily done, through Parliament,” stated the ex-President.

Igor Dodon noted that if the government had been Socialist, this would have extended the old contract for the purchase of gas, which expired on September 30, and the price of gas would have been US$210 – 220 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.