All fields in the Republic of Moldova involve off-shore schemes. Due to these practices, the state budget collects less revenue than it should. The opinion was expressed by the political and economic commentator Victor Ciobanu at the Jurnal TV program "Ora expertizei".
"Therefore, this bill should be greatly expanded. Concessions and privatization are important, public procurement already is a good area of interest, however, I would like to go further. (...) I can tell you that all our oilmen are using off-shore schemes, while ANRE can only examine the price at the border. We talked about it for years", said Victor Ciobanu.
Former head of the Public Service Agency, Igor Grigoriev, said that the bill is good and brings Moldova's legal framework in line with European legislation. Igor Grigoriev said that he would expand the bill by adding regulations regarding financing of political parties and media financing. "We must not forget that a source of financing for political parties were and still are off-shore accounts. We forgot about it", said the former head of the ASP. In his opinion, beside off-shore sources, the issue is aggravated by fictive companies that exist for a day in order to launder money. "The cash flow is subsequently returned to a bona fide company in Moldova, which is associated with an off-shore company, then the money is transferred to off-shores. Such a scheme is in use at "Metalferos", says Igor Grigoriev.
Vladimir Bolea, PAS MP, ACUM bloc, argues that the Law on deoffshorization establishes restrictions on participation in privatization procedures, public-private partnerships, public procurement and concessions for legal persons founded by subjects from jurisdictions that do not meet international transparency standards. "In regard to privatization in Moldova, especially in the banking sector, we do not know who the shareholders are in most of the banks. Because this concerns the financial security of the state, it is extremely important for us citizens to know what it this is about”, said the MP.
Last week, Parliament voted in first reading amendments to several pieces of legislation (the so-called deoffshorization law), which come to protect the public sector from security risks from local and international criminal groups.
