Member of Moldovan parliament Radu Marian from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) said on Tuesday he submitted amendments to the tax law to cut the budget of the autonomous region of Gagauzia in the country's south
CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2023) Member of Moldovan parliament Radu Marian from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) said on Tuesday he submitted amendments to the tax law to cut the budget of the autonomous region of Gagauzia in the country's south.
In May, Yevgenia Gutsul of Moldova's opposition Sor party was elected head of Gagauzia. In June, following a long conflict between the pro-Western PAS and the pro-Russian Sor, the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled to recognize the opposition part as unconstitutional, while the ruling party vowed to probe the election results in Gagauzia. Gutsul is supposed to be sworn in on Wednesday.
"The situation is that the country's central budget received 640 million leus ($35.4 million) less than supposed from the return of VAT from the autonomous region's budget allocations. This amount has accumulated over five years. In light of this, we are amending the tax code, after which the autonomous region will have to save 500 million leus ($27.6 million) over the next five years. This way, the money will be used throughout the country and not in only one region," Marian told a briefing at the parliament.
Gagauzia, where most people speak Russian as well as Gagauz, a Turkic language, declared independence from Soviet Moldova in 1990 but was integrated into the newly-established Republic of Moldova in 1994. The Gagauz people are Orthodox Christians of Turkic origin.
