The Road Fund risks losing about 380 million lei, said experts of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, who analyzed the bill to amend and supplement the 2015 state budget law. Under the bill, the amounts collected into the Road Fund from excise duties on oil products will represent 46.05%, down from 80% now, IPN reports.
These excise duties and the road taxes are now among the main sources fuelling the Road Fund. “When the planned amendments are adopted, the country’s people will be more seriously affected by the poor quality of the roads that will be maintained with fewer funds, while the Government will risk losing the financing obtained from international financial organizations. The augmentation of the incomes of the Road Fund and the maintaining of the contribution of the excise duties at the level of 80% represent Moldova’s commitments assumed towards the international financial institutions through all the agreements for financing the rehabilitation of roads,” said the Institute’s expert Sergiu Tofilat.
Another change resides in the elimination of the requirements that the balance of the special funds directed for other purposes should be paid back by the end of the budget year. According to the experts, this amendment can set a dangerous precedent as there won’t be certainty that the taxes paid by particular groups of people will be used according to the initial purpose. “If we speak about the Road Fund, this means that the incomes from the taxes paid by drivers could be used by the authorities for different purposes such as social services and salaries. The state will thus fail to achieve the objective of increasing the Road Fund to 1.499 million lei in 2015 and to 1.650 million lei in 2016,” said expert Eugen Giletski.
The analytical note was produced within the Institute for European Policies and Reforms’ project to work out public policies together with the people, which is supported by the European Endowment for Democracy.
