The privatization of the company "Air Moldova" was an inefficient, non-transparent and illegal exercise, as the goals of the privatization have not been achieved. The statement was made at a press conference held on August 4 by MP Igor Munteanu, chairman of the Inquiry Committee on the privatization and concession of public property.
"In 2017, the state tried to save Air Moldova company, offering help. At today's hearings, we noted that the aid was not even returned and it is not clear what restructuring measures were taken following the state aid,” said Igor Munteanu.
The MP said that the privatization was not done through individual projects, with the involvement of an independent financial consultant, as provided by law, but through a simple commercial competition. "The period of collecting the bids for the commercial competition was only of 39 calendar days, while professional evaluators recommended nine months for putting up for privatization and marketing of Air Moldova, "said Igor Munteanu.
According to the MP, the buyers of Air Moldova did not fulfil their contract duties to pay the debts of the company. "Moreover, Blue Air has publicly declared that it does not intend to invest financial resources for debt settlement and Air Moldova development," said Igor Munteanu.
The Chairman of the Inquiry Committee concluded that, based on the analysed documents, the authorities that initiated the privatization of Air Moldova did not make any efforts to monitor the compliance with the post-privatization obligations. “One year after the privatization, the national air operator is in the same state of economic uncertainty as before privatization. The Public Property Agency was obligated to coordinate the appointment of an auditor to determine its financial situation for 2018. This did not happen,” said the MP.
According to Igor Munteanu, the privatization of Air Moldova was done through a series of non-compliances, negligence and abuses. "We can see that, a year after the privatization, its goals have not been reached and the privatization method was illegal," said the chairman of the Inquiry Committee.
Igor Munteanu states that there are several reasons for the Ministry of Economy to carry out a complex audit to verify the status of the funds invested through this contract and the fulfilment of the contract obligations by Blue Air and the two individuals who have entered into the privatization agreement.
Igor Munteanu also stated that a full report on the privatization of Air Moldova will be submitted in the next 15 days.
In 2018, Air Moldova became the tenth base of Blue Air. The value of the privatization transaction constituted 1.2 billion lei, of which 50 million lei were paid into the state budget of the Republic of Moldova, the rest to be used to clear the debts accumulated by Air Moldova.
