"ZERO" taxation for the minimum wage in the food industry

• ROMPAN requests: "ZERO" taxation for the minimum wage in the food industry; Cheaper electricity

• Aurel Popescu, the president of the Romanian Employers' Association of the Milling, Bakery and Flour Industry Industry - ROMPAN, specifies what were the last steps taken by the employer's management to the authorities in order to counteract the economic effects suffered by the milling and bakery industry during the pandemic

"The conditions in which we carry out our main activity as makers of flour, bread and flour products are quite difficult, and I refer to the Covid 19 pandemic, the abnormal increase in prices for electricity, gas, raw materials, market distortion by large retailers . All these obstacles, which we all encounter, have led us, the operative management of the employer, to intensify our duties as your representatives and to intervene with the state authorities to counteract them", it is stated in address 366, dated July 29, signed by Aurel Popescu, the president of ROMPAN.

Cheaper electricity, minimum wage with "0" taxation

The ROMPAN press release states:
"1. I participated in the MADR in the working groups to finalize measures 4.1 and 4.2, regarding access to European funds for farmers and millers. The measures will be operational after approval by the PNDR Monitoring committee for the years 2021 and 2022.

2. We had 2 meetings with the Minister of Energy on the subject of the increase in the price of electricity and we requested that for the milling-bakery industry we have as suppliers those from Hidroelectrica or NuclearElectrica who sell energy cheaper. In the situation where this is not possible, we requested special financial aid schemes for the milling-bakery sector. State Secretary Dan Dragoș Drăgan informed me that the situation is under analysis by the minister

3. Together with Mr. Sorin Minea, president of the Federation of Food Industry Employers - Romalimenta, on Thursday, July 29, I had a meeting with the Minister of Economy Mr. Claudiu Năsui on the following topics:
– Organization of international fairs and exhibitions
– The minimum wage for employees in the food industry should be with "0" taxation
– Increasing the price of electricity and natural gas"

About the non-taxation of the minimum wage

• "Regarding the non-taxation of the minimum wage, Minister Năsui expressed that the food industry is an option to take this pilot measure as with the reduction of VAT, and let us present a case study. Regarding the increase in the price of energy, the expression was that it is a ministry with clear attributions only for energy, but that it will support the decisions taken by the Ministry of Energy", states ROMPAN.

About fairs and exhibitions

"In the discussions held, presidents Rompan and Romalimenta argued that international fairs and exhibitions must be subsidized by the Ministry of Economy and must have Romanian participation so that we, the food industry, can export processed products. Regarding these fairs, we argued that these events should be organized by specialized companies, and that the associations should do their job of representing the interests of the members and informing these members", it is also stated in the ROMPAN press release.