Employers’ associations oppose 2013 budget policy

The National Confederation of Employers (CNPM), alongside other producers’ associations, spoke out against the draft law regarding several amendments to the budgetary-fiscal and customs policy acts for 2013, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Government approved the bill on June 21, forwarding it for examination to the Parliament. According to the National Association of Farmers “UniAgroProtect”, the Moldovan Sugar Beet Farmers Association and the Moldovan Sugar Producers’ Association, the Ministry of Finances proposed to increase the temporary work incapacity spell paid by the employer from 3 to 5 days, to raise the VAT on sugar and agricultural production from 8% to 20%. None of these proposals were discussed with the business community. Head of the National Federation of Agriculture and Food Industry Employers Alexandru Slusari said that increasing the VAT on sugar would cause a rise in prices, and would increase demand for smuggled Ukrainian sugar on the Moldovan market. This would lead to the growth of the underground economy and corruption. “Employers’ associations express their disagreement with the proposal to apply the standard VAT level for agricultural products. According to experts and representatives of the farming sector, increasing the VAT on agricultural products up to 20%, but then temporarily returning 12% to the farmers will increase the budgetary deficit and create conditions for the flourishing of corruption. Moreover, increasing the VAT by 2.5 times will cause the farmers to redirect their funds so that there will be no more capital left for agriculture and the branch will degrade”, stated Alexandru Slusari. Leonid Cerescu, head of the National Confederation of Employers’ in Moldova, stated that the adoption of normative and legislative acts without transparency and argumentation is inadmissible. “We bring to your attention that these amendments will amplify the negative effects of customs and budgetary-fiscal policies applied in 2012 by reducing the productivity of certain fields and forcing companies into underground economy. CNPM demands the author of the bill to give up the clauses concerning the standard VAT for sugar and the increase in the number of temporary incapacity days paid for by employers”, stressed Leonid Cerescu. Employers’ associations are especially unhappy with the fact that such allegedly destructive measures for agriculture were taken behind the scenes, in spite of open and frequent protests from the Government’s social dialogue partners. The employers consider this a demonstrative dismissal of the opinion of the VAT-paying majority that created tens of thousands of jobs.