The president of the National Confederation of Trade Unions is one of the highest-paid civil servants in Moldova. Last year, he earned a yearly salary of about 211,000 lei or a monthly salary of 17,566 lei, about ninefold higher compared with the average salary per economy, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to official documents, in 2007 Leonid Manea received an average monthly salary of 16,066 lei as president of the Confederation of Trade Unions and as president of the Confederation “Solidaritate” as well as 18,000 lei from the holding company “Moldsindbalneotur”, which is a subdivision of the same trade unions and which pays him money for chairing the Board of this organization. For comparison, the Head of Parliament Marian Lupu last year earned a yearly salary of 182,748 lei or a monthly salary of 15,229 lei. This is by about 2,500 lei less than the incomes earned by Deputy Speaker Maria Postoico, who declared that she and her husband received 105,865 lei as salary in 2007, not even half of Leonid Manea’s income. The tendency to increase and diversify the incomes becomes more prominent in time. In 2005, Leonid Manea earned a salary of 7,216 lei a month as president of the Confederation “Solidaritate”. In 2006, as leader of the same trade union organization, he got a monthly salary of 7,527 lei. Same year, he earned 93,150 lei for “services of type B” as it is written in the documents. It is said that this money was paid by the trade unions for renting the personal car of the natural person Leonid Manea for transporting the trade union leader Leonid Manea. Also in 2006, Manea received remuneration of 3,040 lei from the hotel complex “Turist”, which is also a subdivision of the trade unions. So, in 2006 Manea earned incomes of about 201,000 lei, by 16,750 lei a month on average. In the same year, Moldova’s President had a monthly salary of 9,600 lei, the Head of Parliament and the Prime Minister – of about 9,000 lei. The salaries of Leonid Manea’s deputies also rose significantly. In 2007, Mihai Hancu provided services for the Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova, where he acted as deputy of Petru Chiriac, and for the Confederation “Solidaritate”. When the two organizations merged into the National Confederation of Trade Union in June 2007, Hancu became the deputy of Manea. He also received 18,000 lei from “Moldsindbalneotur”. Overall, Hancu earned about 142,000 lei yearly or about 12,000 lei a month in 2007, twice as much as in 2006. The salary of the deputy Oleg Budza also increased. In 2006, he earned about 124,000 lei (about 10,000 lei a month), while in 2007 – about 154,000 lei (12,830 lei a month). In 2007, Budza had three jobs – at Moldsindbalneotur, Sindicons and Constructorul Sanatorium. In 2006, Budza worked in five places, all trade union organizations. The budget of the Confederation of Trade Unions for this year provides for incomes of 11.222 million lei, including about 3 million lei membership dues, 2.500 million lei resources collected from the economic entities of the Confederation, 500,000 lei from the activity of the enterprises and organizations working in the trade union system, 2.800 million lei incomes from rental, etc. The expenditure includes 2.350 million lei for paying salaries to the employees of the Confederation’s apparatus and members of the Executive Bureau, 380,000 lei for providing assistance to the trade union members from all over the country, 100,000 lei for awarding the staff of the trade unions, 125,000 lei for organizational activities, 250,000 lei for improving the capabilities of the personnel, 150,000 lei for cultural activities, physical education and sports, and 5.210 million lei for maintaining the furniture. Altogether, at least 8 million lei of the 11 million lei are spent administratively. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average monthly salary of a worker in 2007 was 2,063 lei. The salary in the budgetary sphere was 1,625 lei, while in the real sector – 2,292 lei. The average salary in education was 1,495 lei, while in healthcare –1,927 lei. The highest salaries were paid in the financial-banking sector – 5,279 lei. The rate of inflation in 2007 was 13.1%. According to the figures for June 2007, the National Confederation of Trade Unions has a membership of 72,000. Last time the trade unions rallied to protest against the low salaries on February 22, 2007.