OREANDA-NEWS. November 20, 2009. The government will pay debts worth one billion lei to economic agents inherited from the former cabinet, Finance Minister Veaceslav Negruta has told journalists.

Negruta said that the legacy exceeding one billion lei, taken over from the former government, represents non-honoured payments for capital investments, return of the value-added tax (VAT), subsidies in agriculture through VAT return schemes. We are to unblock the situation in late 2009, according to the amendments operated to the budget law for this year, Negruta specified.

Thus, the Cabinet of Ministers on 18 November approved a 200-million-lei increase in subsidies for agriculture, which will allow reimbursing the VAT in agriculture. As concerns other reimbursements, especially in smaller sums, we have settled the situation, and money is returned gradually, the minister said. At the same time, Negruta specified that the state budget has no debts to salaries, pensions or other social payments.