MP of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” Kiril Moțpan said the way in which the agreement to raise a loan of €200 million from Russia was drafted, negotiated and adopted has the signs of a new Laundromat, but this time based on a different scheme. The MP stated his position in a post on Facebook that is quoted by IPN.
“The lending agreement was signed non-transparently. The Government didn’t start the official procedure for holding negotiations with the Russian side. It is not clear in what conditions the loan will be repaired and who is responsible for its repayment. Another problematic point of the agreement is the one that provides that the private debts could be unilaterally converted by the Russian Federation into the public debt of the Republic of Moldova, but the agreement does not regulate the settlement of disputes through court or arbitration and does not specify the legislation of the state that will be used to resolve the disputes. Such provisions are a direct threat to the economic security of the Republic of Moldova. Moreover, the given agreement wasn’t drafted and subject to negotiations with the involvement of skilled specialists and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, as Law No. 595 of 24-09-1999 on the international treaties signed by the Republic of Moldova provides. We are witnessing a new Laundromat, but this time this is based on a different scheme,” wrote the MP.
Kiril Moțpan does not agree with the fact that the Republic of Moldova should assume Moldovan private companies’ debts to Russian banks. “What was the reason and necessity of allowing the Russian Federation to unilaterally consolidate the private debts, according to provisions of Articles 7 and 8 of the agreement (private loans, interest rates, exaggerated penalties related to this loan), converting them into Moldova’s public debt and even calculating interest on interest, contrary to the imperative norms of the legislation of the Republic of Moldova?”.
The MP believes that the goal is to actually appropriate public funds through the agency of business entities whose final beneficiaries are ruling politicians. “These business entities will take out loans from commercial banks of the Russian Federation and will not repay them. The private debts will be unilaterally converted by the Russian Federation into Moldova’s external public debt that will have to be ultimately paid by us, the citizens, no matter who will later be in power.”
On April 23, the MPs of the PSRM-PDM ruling alliance adopted the law to ratify the lending agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of the Russian Federation for the provision of a state financial loan of €200 million to Moldova, which was criticized by the parliamentary opposition. Later the same day, the CC suspended the legal effect of this law.
