Marian Lupu seeks solutions for decreasing prices of products and services

Acting President Marian Lupu Wednesday gathered all the state agency directors and other decisions makers in an ad-hoc meeting, where he instructed them to submit proposals for regulating the prices of the products and services that have grown dearer since the start of this year, Info-Prim Neo reports. ”It seems to me that things go in the wrong direction. Steps were taken in the past to regulate the prices. There were launched a number of initiatives, which did not produce the expected results. Unfortunately, statements are made, but nothing is done. The state institutions do not have a systemic approach to the issue,” Marian Lupu told the managers of the National Agency for Energy Regulation, the National Agency for Competition Protection, the central bank and other institutions. The Speaker referred especially to the medications market. He said the prices of the drugs that are purchased seldom decreased, but of those that are bought often remained the same. Marian Lupu stressed that the prices of the services provided by public intuitions are too high. He gave as example the prices of certificates and passports that are often higher than the average salary per economy. He also said that the Tax Inspectorate carries out a lot of inspections yearly and this fact affects the budget and contributes indirectly to the rise in tariffs. According to Marian Lupu, over 40,000 fiscal inspections were performed in 2010 at the about 10,000 companies operating in Moldova. These figures represent costs and these costs are included in prices, Lupu said. Marian Lupu ordered that the officials formulate proposals how to regulate the prices and how to establish cooperation relations with the Parliament by the end of this week.