The message of Sebastian Vlădescu to business people:  "Don"t expect a fiscal relief"

• "There will be no fiscal amnesty while I am the minister of Finance", he says in an interview given to BURSA

• CFR Marfă will be privatized by March 2011, and Termoelectrica will be liquidated

• Pensions will be cut by 15%, without exemptions, except for social pensions, while the minimum pension will remain intact

• The full interview will be published in tomorrow"s issue of "BURSA"

"Business people should be happy that we haven"t raised taxes and not expect a fiscal relaxation"- this is the message sent by the Minister of Finance, Sebastian Vlădescu, to the business environment, in an interview given to the BURSA newspaper yesterday, after last week contradictory information by announcing a hike of the VAT and the flat rate tax was inevitable.

The tough measures proposed for cutting public spending, which will result in lower salaries, pensions and unemployment aid and which will affect millions will not be accompanied by tax cuts, at least not when it comes to wage taxes or social security contributions.

However, Sebastian Vlădescu claims that there will be no tax amnesty in Romania for as long as he will be the Minister of Finance. This comes in reply to the suggestion of Dinu Patriciu, who argued that this would bring back 18 billion Euros belonging to Romanian citizens that he claimed were concealed in Swiss banks.

The full interview will be published in tomorrow"s newspaper, including the minister"s answers to our questions: how public spending will be reduced, the possible solutions for streamlining unprofitable companies. The fate for two such companies has been decided: CFR Marfă will be privatized by March 2011, and Termoelectrica will be liquidated.