The National Confederation of Employers' Organizations (CNPM) is concerned that the government failed last year to develop mechanisms for fighting unreported employment and cash-in-hand salaries. According to CNPM, the number of taxpayers reduced by over 200,000 last year, and part of them slid into the underground economy.
CNPM president Leonid Cerescu told a news conference at IPN that the employers' situation hasn't improved as they expected. A memorandum proposed by CNPM between the Government and the legal business community couldn't be negotiated, although it could have provided mechanisms for fighting corruption and unfair competition.
Leonid Cerescu also regretted the rise in the rate of the premium for the compulsory health insurance, from 7% to 8% of one's salary (equally split between the employer and the employee). The rise was adopted by the government without consulting its social partners, which is in total disagreement with the business support policy announced by the Government at the beginning of last year, says Cerescu.
CNPM vice president Alexandru Slusari noted that, as the government stood idle, the number of taxpayers dropped last year from 1 million to 760,000, while the number of pensioners continued to increase. At such a pace, Moldova will soon face the alarming situation of having a worker-retiree ratio of 1:1, whereas the minimal norm is 2:1. “The tax burden is rising and it lays on those who practice legal business. This will push them into practicing underground business”, warned Slusari.
Oleg Budza, the president of the National Confederation of Trade Unions, told the same news conference that in 2013 the unions succeeded in obtaining salary and welfare raises for a number of categories. Further, last December the unions launched negotiations with the Government on raising the national minimum salary to 1,700 lei and hopefully this will be achieved by the end of this February. Another important measure promoted by the unions concerns changes in the procedure of calculating pensions for pensioners still in employment.
