Andrei Usatyi: I will not resign

Minister of Health Andrei Usatyi said he will not resign and the accusations made against the institution he heads are part of a political game. As regards the criminal cases started by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anticorruption Center, the minister said he bears no relation to them, Info-Prim Neo reports. Andrei Usatyi told a press briefing that there were discovered a number of applications from the health minister addressed to the Licensing Chamber. They in fact were aimed at ensuring the people’s access to cheap drugs of a high quality and at bringing the pharmaceutical services closer to the people. The reaction comes after the minister was accused of signing an illegal order to transmit areas intended for drugstores from family doctors centers to the joint stock company SanFarm-Prim “I want to make a statement and hope that those who made different groundless accusations also hear it. I, as a minister, never signed an order concerning the issuing of licenses for pharmaceutical activity. The licenses were issued by the Licensing Chamber, based on definitive court decisions,” said the minister. Andrei Usatyi referred also to the accusations regarding the lack of a national plan for locating drugstores. “This plan was to be approved by Parliament, but this didn’t happen,” he explained. He also said that the public-private partnership established with a view to improving the conditions at the Republican Clinical Hospital was approved of by all the competent state institutions. “I have only one interest – the area to which I devoted most of my life should continue to develop for the Moldovan people’s benefits” stated Andrei Usatyi. The officials of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office contacted by Info-Prim Neo confirmed that they are investigating decision makers of the Health Ministry for exceeding their authority, negligence and use of forgery in documents. Officers of the National Anticorruption Center said a criminal case was started over the mortgaging of areas of the Republican Clinical Hospital, with the involvement of Health Ministry officials, in exchange for four loans of 10 million euros and 97 million lei. The loans were taken out from a bank by several companies with which the authorities established a public-private partnership. According to Bogdan Zumbreanu, of the National Anticorruption Center, conditions were created for certain areas of the hospital to become private property. If the hospital was reorganized, the bank could claim those offices.