Energy experts dispute the results of the contest to fill the vacancy of director of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER), staged by the Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance. These said that before the contest they filed a petition to amend the regulations concerning the selection of the NAER director, but received no answer from the commission. The statements were made in a news conference entitled “Serious violations in the contest to select NAER director” held at IPN.
“The contest should have shown to the development partners – the IMF, EU Delegation and Secretariat of the Energy Community that the de-politicization of the activity in the energy sector ultimately started in Moldova,” stated one of the candidates Victor Parlicov.
Expert Sergiu Tofilat said those who assessed the candidates do not have the necessary knowledge in the energy sector. Moreover, the regulations approved by the commission contain aspects that run counter to the legislation on energy, while the requirement that the candidates must have ten years’ experience is abusive. Another aspect invoked by the expert is the scoring scale and criteria used in the assessment. “There are things that are not connected with the NAER’s activity,” he stated. Among the irrelevant criteria, he also mentioned knowledge of the Romanian and English languages, macroeconomics knowledge or communication abilities. For communication skills, the highest score was of 10 points out of 100 that a member of the parliamentary commission could give.
Sergiu Ungureanu, candidate for the post of NAER director, said the press was not allowed to film the contest and there are many questions as to transparency. In the contest, he was asked not about the post for which he applied, but about a petition that he submitted earlier to Parliament.
Expert in international relations Dionis Cenusa wondered how Tudor Copaci, who was chosen as the winner of the contest, could gain a score of 821 points if only eight MPs assessed the candidates and each of these could give by at most 100 points.
Expert Nicolae Raileanu said the points given by the Liberal Party initially favored Victor Parlicov, but after the head of the commission on economy, budget and finance Stefan Creanga intervened, the Liberal leader Mihai Ghimpu instructed the MPs who to give points. The appointment of Copaci as NAER director forms part of the same plan that envisioned the naming of Vasile Botnari as president of the Administration Board of Moldovagaz. Nicolae Raileanu challenges the integrity of Copaci. “When he was director of the Public Property Agency, Copaci sold a plot of land at the price of over 300,000 lei, but in several months the buyer pledged the plot for €1,800,000,” stated Raileanu.
The energy experts asked Parliament to publish the recordings of the interviews of all the candidates and the shorthand reports of the hearings. The second request is to present the list of members of the selection commission who took part in the questioning of each of the candidates. They also asked to publish the assessment forms for all the candidates and the notes of the commission members to these.
The Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance chose Tudor Copaci as the winner of the contest and will propose him to Parliament for confirmation.
