Following searches on April 25, National Anticorruption Center officers and anticorruption prosecutors arrested seven persons in a criminal case concerning the selection of companies that were to build pay parking lots in Chisinau. Two days later, deputy mayor Nistor Grozavu was placed under house arrest for 30 days, while the head of the Public Transport Division Igor Gamretski was remanded in custody and will be held at Penitentiary No. 13 for 30 days. Businessman Alexander Pinchevsky, who is suspected of managing from behind a number of companies that took part in the tender contest, including the winning one, will be in remand detention for 25 days. Former municipal councilor Gennady Ivashchenko, who was responsible for choosing the company for building the pay parking lots, was placed under arrest for 30 days, while three parking company directors will be held on remand for 20 to 25 days. Another four persons are investigated as suspects outside the remand.

The Constitutional Court on April 25 validated the seats of MP of two substitute candidates who entered Parliament on the Liberal-Democratic ticket. These are Eugen Bodarev and Iurie Chiorescu. On April 28, the latter announced that he defected from the Liberal-Democratic group to the Democratic one.

An ancillary worker of primary school No. 90 of Chisinau was crushed to death by a falling tree. The incident occurred on April 25, when the man was clearing the yard of the education institution of branches broken during the heavy snowstorms of April 22.

On April 27, the day the constitutional authorities of Moldova celebrate the National Flag Day, the leader of Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselski signed a document that defines the procedure for raising the national flag of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Transnistrian region as a symbol of Transnistria’s joining to Russia. Thus, the flag of Russia will be hoisted near the Transnistrian flag on all the administrative buildings as well as on courts of law, conference halls and on the buildings of the bodies of local public authorities.

The most recent Public Opinion Barometer that was presented on April 27 shows that only two political parties would enter Parliament if legislative elections were held next Sunday. These are the Party of Socialists and the Party “Action and Solidarity” with 33.6% of the vote and 24.8% respectively. The rest of the parties, including those that are now in power, would not pass the election threshold of 6%.

The Chisinau Appeals Court on April 27 quashed the decision of the Buiucani-based Chisinau Court and accepted the Party of Socialists’ request to register the initiative group for collecting signatures in favor of holding a local referendum on the dismissal of Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca. By the same decision, the question for the referendum was formulated as follows: “Are you for removing Mayor General of Chisinau municipality Dorin Chirtoaca from post?”. The Appeals Court set a 60-day period for collecting signatures since the Central Election Commission issues permits to the members of the initiative group.

On April 27, prosecutors charged Grigore Caramalac with the orchestration of the attempted murder of the president of the Democratic Party Vlad Plahotniuc. Grigore Caramalac, who is known as a criminal authority, is investigated in a number of cases, being accused of serious and very serious crimes. According to the Prosecutor’s Office for Crime and Special Cases, namely these criminal cases are among the reasons for which Caramalac ordered to eliminate the Democratic leader, whom he blames for the starting of these cases. This derives from the statements made by one of the main organizers of the failed assassination. Among those arrested in this case are persons close to Caramalac, including a man who was arrested together with him in the 1990s.

The same day, Minister of Transport and Road Infrastructure Iurie Chirinciuc, acting director general of the State Road Administration Veaceslav Teleman and the heads of two building companies were arrested on suspicion that they organized an illegal scheme to gain large sums of money. According to prosecutors, Minister Iurie Chirinciuc, in collusion with the other suspects, exerted pressure on a company that won a tender contest to implement a project financed by the European Investment Bank so that this conceded a part of the workload. On April 28, the court of law accepted the prosecutors’ request to place the two officials under arrest for 30 days. The investigation is based on three counts. The minister was for now charged with passive corruption only. The other two counts are being probed, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office said.

Deputy Speaker Parliament Liliana Palihovich on April 28 announced that she decided to leave politics and vacated her seat of MP and the public post of Deputy Speaker, which she had held for the past seven years. In her speech in Parliament, Liliana Palihovich said it is for the first time she feels she is unable to cope with things, for which she received the people’s vote, owing to political cruising. She also said that politics in Moldova is based not on principles and values, as some say, but on narrow interests.

Selection by Maria Procopciuc