The method of financing the Road Fund will be changed from 2010, under a bill approved by the Government, Info-Prim Neo reports. The road infrastructure in Moldova is now in a serious condition. An adequate financing mechanism for maintaining and repairing the roads is now acutely needed. The practice of forming the Road Fund from state budget allocations turned out to be inefficient. Thus, the method of financing the Road Fund, which is defined in the road infrastructure strategy for 2008-2017, should be modified by transferring the payments made by the road users in the form of excise duties on gasoline and diesel oil, which are included in their prices, directly to a special account. Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure Anatol Salaru said the direct transfer of the excise duties on fuel to the Road Fund will increase the capacity for financing the repair and maintenance of roads. He said that the money paid by the road users did not always reach the Road Fund. It was often used by the Ministry of Finance to cover the gaps and emergencies. Salaru also said that the small budget and the multitude of problems related to public financing will not allow fully implementing the new method of financing the Road Fund next year and allocating at least 80% of the excise duties on gasoline and diesel oil to this fund, as stipulated in the mentioned strategy. As a result of debates, it was agreed that 50% of the excise duties will be transferred to the Road Fund in 2010, 65% in 2011, and 80% in 2012. The Government also approved amendments to the program on the distribution of the Road Fund for 2009 following its augmentation by 10 million lei by modifying the state budget law for 2009. The Road Fund in 2009 will be 241.35 million lei. Of this sum, 152.23 million lei will be used to carry out works on the national roads, while 89.12 million lei for works on the local roads.