On the last day on which trade based on patent is possible, patent holders came again to the Government Building where they had discussions with the authorities. They demanded to institute a moratorium on the legal provisions that ban patent as from July 1, but no compromise was reached in the discussions. Patent holders said that as no solutions were identified, they will mount again protests from next Monday. The representatives of the state, for their part, said that this is a normal transition for which financial support will be provided, IPN reports.

Alexandru Viashnevski, patent holder from Rezina, said the government does not focus on those who commit massive tax evasion, but shifts blame on patent holders. They demanded to institute a moratorium on the law that bans trade based on patent and to constitute a working group that will study this issue from all angles, and to also bring things in order where massive smuggling exists as this is not organized by patent holders.

“I want to call on all the parliamentary and extraparliamentary parties to become involved. We will wait for you on July 3, at 10am, in front of the Government Building. We will stage a protest against the elimination of patents and will then march to the Parliament Building where we will ask for a moratorium on this irrational, inappropriate law. Later, we will march to the ombudsperson to whom we have made requests for over half a year, but haven’t yet obtained a reaction,” said Elonora Țurcanu-Herghelegiu, patent holder.

Olga Chapki, local and town councilor who holds a patent, said that even before going to the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dumitru Alaiba, Minister of Economic Development and Digitization, they were sure that the official will not give up. But he must realize that he didn’t take the place of the people. The authorities do not care what the people eat and about the fact that the young people leave the country in search of higher paying jobs.

Dumitru Alaiba came later before the press and said that the patent holders were invited to one more discussion to clarify all the ambiguous aspects. For half a year, the authorities have explained in detail the process and identified solutions. They proposed an alternative – switchover to independent activity – and offer subsidies for the cash register. “Regrettably, several leading representatives of patent holders preferred to stir things up and they even shouted. I regret a lot their decision to politicize this issue. We see that an already unconstitutional party decided to use this fear of the people and to turn it into an ephemeral political benefit,” stated Dumitru Alaiba.

As from July 1, trade based on patent will be banned. The persons who retail at kiosks, stalls and through pushcarts need to switch over to independent activity. They must have a cash register and will pay a tax of 1% of their incomes. The state will offer them by at most 10,000 lei to buy a cash register.

As many as 4,800 holders of patents for retail trade were registered with the State Tax Service on December 31, 2022.