Roman Guneavyi, an expert in development, said the decisions taken by the Chisinau Municipal Council and the inaction of the Ministry of Culture and the Prosecutor’s Office lead to the continuation of the practice of erecting illegal constructions in the historic part of Chisinau.

In a news conference hosted by IPN, Roman Guneavyi said that together with the replacement of the country’s administration, long-awaited actions were taken to conserve the historic heritage. First of all, the composition of the National Council of Historic Monuments was modified. The administration of the Agency for Monument Inspection and Restoration was changed. The legislation by which monument protection areas were defined was supplemented.

Roman Guneavyi noted that the Chisinau City Hall’s announcement of the introduction of a moratorium on constructions in the center of the city was as surprising. However, besides all these positive aspects, strange actions started to be taken, including by the Ministry of Culture. An audit of the documents issued earlier and of the state of architectural monuments wasn’t conducted. The minutes of the meetings of the National Council of Historic Monuments are no longer published, as aren’t the draft designs. “Yes, the meetings are broadcast online, but the designs cannot be seen. Despite the multiple requests to publish the draft designs at least partially, this hasn’t been done,” stated Roman Guneavyi.

According to the expert, the Ministry of Culture didn’t react to the Council’s attempts to legalize illegal multistory buildings, for example on Teatrală St. Also, in some of the cases, the Ministry of Culture showed inaction, while the Chisinau City Hall continued to issue permissive documents. The erecting of a multistory apartment building at 109/2 Mateevici St is one of the most scandalous projects. Even if the Agency for Technical Surveillance identified a number of irregularities that confirm the illegality of the construction, the Prosecutor’s Office didn’t react to this case.

“The law on monument projection of 1993 became an impediment to the destruction of the cultural heritage. But this law was ignored or its non-implementation was overlooked for corruption or political reasons,” stated Roman Guneavyi.

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