The Association of Advertising Agencies considers that the continuous ignoring of their opinions and proposals for resolving the problems regarding street advertisements in the municipality of Chisinau is inadmissible. Members of the Association sent a letter to Prime Minister Vlad Filat, asking that he entrust a person or a body with the task of checking the legality of the decisions adopted by the local authorities, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on May 17, Association member Victoria Barba said that such a market segment as advertising is not supported and heard by the executive and legislative powers. According to her, advertising is now a serious industry with thousands of workers that attracts investments from abroad and pays taxes of millions of lei into the local and state budgets. “The executive power of Chisinau municipality does not have a constructive dialogue with the advertising businesses and does not want to hear the position of the representatives of this market segment, violating the decision-making process, with the mayor of Chisinau making unethical statements about the economic entities operating in this sector,” said Victoria Barba. She also said that the situation worsened after the mayor on April 18 ordered removing the billboards set up on the segment of Dacia Blvd. between the City’s Gates and the Airport by June 1. “Even if the planned repair or reconstruction of this segment is the main cause for such a decision, the works cannot be performed in such a short period of time. Thus, the billboards should be taken away according to an agreed schedule, without causing significant damage to the advertising companies,” stated Victoria Barba. She stressed that the Association is not against the decisions of the executive power if they are legal and aim to transform the municipality into a European city. “But we are against forced decisions that directly influence an entire sector of the economy – advertising in general and street publicity in particular. We consider that these acts are a totalitarian approach that is not typical of a democratic society,” said Victoria Barba. The letter was signed by 21 economic entities that form part of the Association of Advertising Agencies. The mayor of Chisinau ordered removing the billboards put up illegally on the street section between the City’s Gates and the Airport until June 1. If the billboard owners do not comply, the billboards will be taken away by the City Hall by force.