Liberal lawmakers asked that the first plenary sitting of Parliament of the autumn-winter session be convened immediately, at the start of next week, not on September 26, as the Standing Bureau decided. In a news conference at IPN, MP Valeriu Munteanu said the MPs must pronounce on the situation at Banca de Economii (BEM) and on the leasing out of the Chisinau International Airport to a Russian company.

The Liberal Party demands creating a commission of inquiry into the two cases that would include representatives of civil society. According to Valeriu Munteanu, the two transactions are dubious and were intentionally performed at the end of August, when most of the functionaries are on vacation. The Liberal MPs are consulting jurists and will make an approach to the Prosecutor General’s Office over the BEM. “It is inadmissible for three functionaries to deprive the state of this bank. This is misuse of power,” stated the MP.

His colleague Gheorghe Brega said the two deals were nontransparent. The tender contest to lease out the airport was very dubious as there weren’t accepted European companies and a Russian company won it ultimately. The shares of the additional issue at the BEM were bought by a company based in Moscow. Economists estimated that the two transactions caused damage of 20 billion lei to the state.

Liberal MP Boris Vieru said the two deals are ‘highway robberies’ and the Liberal Party was removed from power because it prevented them form stealing. The minister of economy and the minister of finance look ridiculous when they say that the two ‘privatization acts’ will produce many benefits. The Liberal Party will notify the Constitutional Court if they identify violations of the constitutional norms.

The Liberal lawmakers consider that the first Parliament sitting was set for the end September deliberately so as to finish all the privatization procedures by then and the process becomes irreversible. The Liberals said more state-run companies will be privatized and the agreements involve Communists as they keep silent and do not pronounce on the two issues.

The Liberals do not have the number of votes needed to summon a plenary sitting (one third). Therefore, they called upon the Speaker to detach himself from the political agreements and to convene a meeting.