Gagauzia’s budget is overfulfilled, but situation remains difficult

The collections into the budget of the territorial-administrative unit of Gagauzia over January-June this year exceeded the projections by 2.7 million lei, Bashkan (Governor) Mihail Formuzal said at news conference on July 13. Even so, the effects of the global recession began to be felt in the autonomous unit as well. Well-planned policies are needed in order to stabilize the situation, including permission to export unbottled wine to the Russian Federation, the Governor said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “The Ministry of Finance has not transferred yet 8.7 million lei to the budget of Gagauzia. Despite this, all the mayors’ offices in the autonomous unit have received the money planned for them in the local budget. Compared with the first half of 2008, the collections into Gagauzia’s budget from own revenues are by 3.19 million lei larger,” Formuzal said. The Bashkan also said that if the overdue 8.7 million lei is not transferred from the state budget, the Gagauz administration will not be able to pay salaries to the budget-paid employees and repay the loans it took out. The autonomous unit’s debts on July 1 totaled 9.585 million lei, plus a loan of 20 million lei. “The economic crisis is felt in Gagauzia. The commission set up in 2008 tries to take measures to alleviate the effects of the crisis. We are also affected by the impossibility of exporting unbottled wine to Russia. We hope this problem will be solved. Otherwise, the wine factories will not sign contracts with the winegrowers, who, for their part, will not be able to sell the grapes,” the Governor said.