State strikes state-run companies' debts off

The Government has decided to strike off the debts to the state of a number of companies subordinated to the Ministry of Economy and Trade and to the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism.

This decision was introduced in this year’s budget adjustment ordinance and was not publicly announced. The decision was made in the Government session last week. The budget adjustment ordinance was published in the Official Gazette on August 31.

“In addition to the transfers and subsidies granted to various economic operators under the authority or co-ordinated by the Economy and Trade Ministry and by the Ministry of Transports, Constructions and Tourism, the companies in question are not bound to pay, within a ceiling endorsed, their debts to the state budget, to the health care insurance budget and to the unemployment budget for the fiscal exercise of 2003, the accessories of those debts inclusive, except the obligations derived from at source deductions,” Article 33 of the ordinance reads.

The normative act also stipulates that the economic operators to benefit from these provisions, as well as the exemption ceilings, will be set by a Government decision, as soon as the Competition Council is notified. The exact amount of exemptions under this normative act will be set every month by joint order of the Finance minister, of the Economy minister, the Transports minister and of the managers of the public institutions in their position as budget creditors.

The Government had been preparing this decision to strike off the debts of the state-run companies for quite a while. The point here was whether to strike off the debts of the private companies to the State, as well or not.

Latest data show the large companies subordinated to the two ministries to total budgetary debts in excess of 26,000bn ROL (some 710 million euros).