Chisinau, 17 November /MOLDPRES/ - A new draft law on state aid, stipulating criteria and methods for the state to support enterprises, was launched for public debates within an international conference today.

No law on state aid has been enforced in Moldova so far despite the fact that its elaboration was seen in the EU-Moldova Action Plan.

The director of the National Agency for the Protection of Competition, Viorica Carare, said the law is meant to back economic agents, especially now that Moldova is facing the economic crisis. Carare pointed out that the document should not distort the competitive environment. The state must back all entrepreneurs, but support should be given in transparent conditions and should not turn into unfounded advantage for some and disadvantage for others, she added.

Attending the event, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said that the state is to become an active player on the country's economic market and will create equal conditions for all economic agents. Filat noted that all supermarkets and fuel filling stations post the same prices regardless of costs. "This proves that we have no competition in Moldova and the state does not meet its assignment of providing consumers with quality products at real prices," the prime minister said.

According to Filat, the government will take swift actions to assure free competition and protect consumers' interests.

The event, organized by the Moldovan National Agency for the Protection of Competition, was attended by representatives of competition protecting bodies from Romania, Hungary and Austria.