The illegal labor causes damage of about 4 billion lei to the state budget, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said in the June 7 congress of the National Confederation of Trade Unions. According to him, the development strategy for the next five years must focus on the eradication of this phenomenon, Info-Prim Neo reports. ”The situation is too serious to be explained in figures. The living standards in the country prove this,” Vlad Filat stated, adding that trade unions’ initiatives are beneficial, but they imply investments that not always can be found. As to the proposals formulated in the meetings of the National Commission for Collective Consultations and Negotiations – to impose punishments on the employees who accept to work illegally, without paying taxes to the state – the Premier said that these suggestions are yet to be discussed. The congress is the supreme administration body of the National Confederation of Trade Unions that is convened once in five years. It involves over 300 delegates who represent local trade union bodies and the social partners.