ACUM bloc MP, Igor Munteanu, chairman of the Committee of Inquiry for analysis of organization and conduct of the privatization and concession of public property (2013-2019), says that there are certain actions to be taken in order to declare null and void the contract on the concession of Chisinau International Airport. According to him, first of all, there must be good cooperation between state institutions. The Prosecutor's Office must set up a group of prosecutors to identify the frauds committed during the preparation of the contract and during the concession of the airport. That was stated by Igor Munteanu on "Time of Expertise", Jurnal TV show, IPN reports.
"We have identified several offences, such as falsification of public documents, abuse of power or abuse in office in the interest of an organized criminal group. This refers also to those who, possibly, promoted certain interests at the stage of contract preparation,” says the MP.
According to him, the Government must initiate legal proceedings to declare the concession contract null and void. "Evidence is collected, but there must be good cooperation between the state institutions because the Moldovan justice system should also understand that it is not an issue to be postponed for next spring. This is an emergency issue that requires immediate intervention. And since the notification comes from the Government, it must be addressed urgently,” explained the MP.
Columnist Alexandru Petcov argues that the government’s rhetoric that the airport belongs to the state and is only leased is false. In his opinion, citizens need to understand that the airport does not belong to the people because it is managed by completely different persons. "What country do we live in?! The Government should either state clearly that it will bring back the airport into state ownership, or better not talk of wanting to get it back,”, said the columnist.
Columnist Victor Ciobanu believes that previous governments did not intervene in the airport issue because they had no interest. According to him, from the very beginning the concession contract was concluded not for the purpose of managing the airport, and that was "just another obscure scheme of the ruling Democratic Party to squeeze money out of this state asset -Chisinau International Airport". "I want to remind you that in 2013, before signing the concession contract, the Republic of Moldova fully reimbursed the EBRD credit that was taken for the modernization of the airport, therefore the modernization fee had to disappear, but as it was designed by sly ones for sly ones, the 9-euro fee is still imposed”, said the columnist.
NR Investments Ltd, a real estate investment firm, founded in 2007, has confirmed the acquisition of 95% of Avia Invest company, the concessionaire of Chisinau International Airport. The contract was ratified on August 19 by Avia Invest representatives and the sole beneficiary of NR Investments, Nat Rothschild.
