The Chisinau City Hall said the decisions taken in the February 11 meeting of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC), including to dismiss the head of the Centru district and to reprimand another two functionaries, are illegal, IPN reports.

In a press release, the Chisinau City Hall says the decisions are illegal because the CMC does not have powers to name and dismiss functionaries. Under the law, the district heads and managers of municipal enterprises are hired and fired by the mayor general of Chisinau municipality. Consequently, the head of Centru district Oleg Poiata will continue to work.

The municipality also said that the CMC’s decisions are tendentious as they were adopted before the completion of the internal inquiry into the January 9 gas cylinder explosion. The City Hall will state its view on the case when the inquiry initiated by Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca is finished.

Oleg Poiata was discharged from the post of head of Centru district of Chisinau by the votes of 27 councilors of the CMC on February 11. The General Trade Division’s head Marcel Zambitski and the acting director of the Central Market Veaceslav Balan were reprimanded. The decisions were taken following hearings on the gas cylinder blast that occurred in a café located near the Central Market on January 9.