Moldovan PM discusses with local public authorities from south-eastern district

Chisinau, 21 December /MOLDPRES/ - The measures undertaken by the government for the development of settlements, the projects underway, as well as the investments planned in 2023 today were discussed by Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita and the local public authorities of the south-eastern Stefan Voda district. Attending the meeting was also Finance Minister Dumitru Budianschi, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.    

In the beginning of the meeting, the PM thanked the mayors from the district for the good management of the refugees’ crisis, as the region is in the immediate neighbourhood of the border with Ukraine.  

„The Stefan Voda district was on guard at the border and helped hundreds of families find shelter in Moldova. Just on the second day after the unleashing of the war in Ukraine, I went to Palanca, where I saw how united we, the Moldovans, can be. I thank all residents of Stefan Voda, who were the first who opened their homes to receive  refugees, for hospitability and solidarity,’’ the prime minister said.    

Natalia Gavrilita unveiled the cabinet’s efforts to back the population and economic agents on the crisis period, through the fiscal policy and the budget for 2023. In particular, the sides discussed the decision to establish the 0 quota on the non-distributed income, the reimbursement of the value added tax (VAT), switched to account for the companies which issue electronic invoices and other policies meant to maintain the investments and jobs. The participants in the meeting also discussed the increase in the minimum salary, salaries from the public sector, the programme of compensations for the payment of invoices, as well as the challenges faced by the local authorities in financing these increases locally. In the context, the sides discussed solutions to increase the own incomes and strengthen the administrative capacities, including remove the ceilings for the local taxes and voluntary amalgamation.      

At the same time, Natalia Gavrilita appreciated the authorities’ initiative to actively participate in the European Village National Programme, which reached 16 out of 23 settlements from the region. The PM urged the mayors to focus their efforts to implement energy efficiency and digitalization projects, so that the quality and innovation of the public services reach any settlement of Moldova.   

„We will continue working together and I even urge you to focus on important things for our citizens, so that, in five years, we record a significant progress in the energy, economic and social sectors. The government, along with our development partners, is with you, so that we together achieve our foremost goal – the European integration,’’ the prime minister stressed.  

The dialogue with representatives of the local public authorities was also focused on the difficulties faced locally and the problems the authorities most often come across are: the bad state of the access roads between settlements, lack of the street illumination and massive delimitation of lands.   

Photo: Government