The simple motion submitted by the Party of Socialists against the internal policy in the transport sector pursued by Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure Iurie Chirinciuc hasn’t been adopted in the March 17 sitting of Parliament, IPN reports.

Minister of Transport Iurie Chirinciuc noted it is evident that the Ministry’s administration became inconvenient to those who pursue the goal of appropriating funds and making state-owned companies insolvent. As to the accusations about the situation at the state-run company Moldova’s Railways, the minister said the leaders of the current Socialists headed the Government in 2001-2009, when this company had the largest revenues. However, in that period during which there were enough financial resources, no new locomotive was bought and no investment was made in purchasing rolling stock. Moreover, the company was taken over with debts of millions of lei, including salary arrears of over 100 million lei.

The minister stated that an immediate action plan and a plan for restructuring the railway sector were worked out and these are to be approved by the Government. As to the activity of the National Auto Transport Agency that was criticized by the Socialists, Chirinciuc said this body fights illegal transportation activities and this does not suit some.

According to the authors of the motion, the situation in the transport sector is now disastrous. No progress is made in this sector, while the minister makes mistakes in his work. The salary arrears of Moldova’s Railways are estimated at over 130 million lei. The National Auto Transport Agency should be reformed as a lot of money is spent on its maintaining. The salary of an employee of the Agency amounts to 20,000 lei, but efficiency there is equal to zero.

A number of 35 votes in favor were needed for dismissing the minister, with the attendance being of only 69 MPs. The number of votes for and against wasn’t announced, but it was underlined that the motion was short of votes.