Fuel prices might include a Road Fund Tax

Each liter of gasoline and diesel oil sold at gas stations will include a tax of 0.15 and respectively 0.10 Lei for the upkeep of the Road Fund. The Parliament approved in first reading on Thursday, July 20 a draft law on this issue. According to the bill, the tax for the commercialization of those two products excepting the diesel oil purchased wholesale for the agricultural area will be cashed by the carburant sellers at the gas stations. The authors of the draft law consider that this provision will direct annually about 52 million lei to the Road Fund. The MP Iurie Bolboceanu said that introducing this tax is not justified and will increase the price for petrol and diesel oil which is already high, and the MP of “Moldova Noastra” Alliance, Alexandru Oleinic states that these provisions put to advantage some categories of persons who have a better economic situation. The Minister of Finance Mihai Pop said that this tax will have bigger effects on the economic agents that purchase big volumes of petroleum products and respectively use more road routes. As well, after all the money will be transferred to the Road Fund, the roads will be more qualitative, the minister states. This amendment was made within a draft law that includes amendment proposals for 71 laws, which are a result of the Government’s Activity Program for 2005-2009 “Modernizing the Country – People’s wellbeing”, the Objectives of the budgetary-fiscal reform and medium term fiscal administration (2007-2009), as well as according to the Concept of the fiscal reform approved by the Parliament. The draft law was approved due to the vote of communist MPs.