The secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integrations Dumitru Socolan said Moldova’s assets and properties situated on the territory of Ukraine should be inventoried and a professional team of lawyers should be hired to defend the country’s interests at the highest level, IPN reports.

In the hearings staged by the Parliament’s commission on public finance control, the commission’s head Igor Munteanu said a unified policy is needed for protecting the public property, while the state institutions should address the issue not fragmentarily, as they did until now, but by the common effort of those who are obliged to defend the country’s property.

According to the information provided by the Public Property Agency, protocols to recognize Moldova’s ownership rights over 47 properties situated in the neighboring country were signed in 2002-2006. Later, the process was stopped owing to a number of problems and was resumed in 2011, when it was agreed to recognize “altogether” the ownership rights of one side over properties situated on the territory of the other side. Now, 25 properties of those agreed then are not recognized by Ukraine, while 20 properties were registered as Moldova’s assets in the neighboring country.

The head of the General Audit Division of the Court of Auditors Vasile Moșoi said they identified a series of problems that led to the degradation of properties, including the improper management of these. This year, the Court plans to carry out an audit covering all the possessions of Moldova in Ukraine so as to determine the real state of affairs and to formulate recommendations.