Plan of measures announced by Gov't seems made to save banks, multinationals, not SMEs or population (transporters)

The plan of measures announced by the Government seems to be made to save banks or multinationals, certainly not Romanian companies, especially SMEs, or the population, the Confederation of Authorized Operators and Transporters of Romania (COTAR) representatives said, in a release, sent, on Monday, to AGERPRES.

"The Government of Romania doesn't seem to understand what is happening, and the measures announced up to now do not manage to save Romania. Firm decisions with immediate applicability were not taken, the need to eliminate bureaucracy was not taken into account, some good measures were announced, but which will not be possibly applied, due to the chaos existing in the system. Moreover, the plan of measures seems to be made to save banks and multinationals, certainly not Romanian companies, especially the SMEs, or the population. Is anybody thinking that if the small and medium enterprises shut down, it's over with the entire economy? The state employees and pensioners will receive nothing, because we're shuttering, the multinationals will take their money abroad, as they have for years, and the only payers of dues were companies with Romanian private capital. In the last week we noted, with stupor, how the oil multinationals are making a profit: even though the price per barrel dropped by 50 pct, at our pumps the same decrease can't be found. If the price of oil would've gone up, the next day they all would have increased the price at the pump," a release of the transporters, sent, on Monday, to AGERPRES shows.

In the same context, COTAR claims that the "minister of Finance announces the capping of prices for food and medicine, but does not say that the cap should be made on the prices three weeks ago, when a box of 50 surgical masks cost 40 lei, and now it is selling for 300 lei in pharmacies."

"Freight transports, passenger transports through regulated trips, regulated special trips or occasional, international passenger transport, driving schools, centers for professional training, car repair shops, taxi transports, they're all in damage control mode. Moreover, some of them have closed up activity at a national level. All these activities brought over 10 pct of Romania's GDP. Their closure also means tens of thousands of persons unemployed, it means the state will not earn money, but will have to pay unemployment benefits. Instead of creating the perfect framework for destroying the economy, the Government would better identify urgently solutions to keep alive the people and businesses that fuel the state budget. A financial aid given now is more efficient than total loss," the transporters add.

The organization which represents the interests of transporters recalls a series of examples of measures applied by other European countries, as well as those at the level of the European Commission.

"We need urgent measures and we ask the Government to consult us, in order to find the best methods not to bury Romania, in this crisis which is not only in the economy. We could borrow the model of Germany, of Hungary, of Czechia and the other countries which are already applying support measures for the population and for companies," the release mentions.AGERPRES