The head of the NGO “ProChisinau” Marcel Darie considers that the architectural appearance of Chisinau is now horrible and this is the blame of the Architecture and Urbanism Division of the Chisinau City Hall. He developed the issue in an interview for the newspaper Economist, quoted by IPN.

“I personally found a description for this situation – architectural chaos. Kiosks, stalls and stands located casually are present at any intersection, institution or apartment building. The annexes to blocks, which were erected mainly illegally, the different colors of the facades make our city, which was once nice and green, look sober, while the modern glass buildings constructed in the historical center destroyed what every European city is proud of  –  the old center,” said Marcel Darie.

Marcel Darie, who in 2011 took part in the election campaign, said that he then also made accusations of corruption against high-ranking officials of the Architecture and Urbanism Division, but things didn’t change much.

“Namely the Architecture and Urbanism Division is responsible for drafting decisions for selling plots to municipal councilors; illegally issuing construction authorizations for building attic-like apartments, in the absence of regulations; authorizing businessmen who appropriated municipal lands, parks and recreational places; issuing authorizations in breach of the urbanism norms; implementing a scheme to extort money from companies and individuals,” said Marcel Darie.

In the same interview, the head of “ProChisinau” said that the maintaining of the historical buildings is also a serious problem.

“Most of the historical buildings of national importance are privately owned. But this thing cannot prevent the municipal and central authorities from imposing certain standards for these buildings. I think that the Chisinau Municipal Council should have long ago adopted a decision by which to force the owners of historical buildings to maintain and renovate the facades by the authentic architectural model. The reconstruction of buildings by changing the height must be banned, while demolition must be criminalized,” stated Marcel Darie.