“We must protect our jobs,” said the union leader, adding that, in September, unionists will take to the streets in protest over tax evasion.
Speaking at the same conference, Romulus Dascalu, president of the organization of employers in the spirits industry GARANT, accused Romanian tax authority ANAF and the Department Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) of conniving at tax evasion in the spirits industry. Dascalu said organized crime prosecutors are investigating for years firms illegally operating on the spirits market but failed to conclude any of these investigations.
He said he notified the National Anticorruption Department and sued the Romanian state for supporting tax evasion.
Dascalu said there are firms operating in the spirits sector that cumulated debts of EUR250 million to the state budget and are not “disturbed” by authorities. He said the Financial Guard is turning a blind eye to the whole situation.
The spirits market fell from an average 8.5 litters per capita in 2008 to 6 liters per capita in 2009 and 5 liters per capita in 2010, according to Dascalu.