Bill on discrimination is declarative, considers president of Ukrainians’ Union “Barvinoc”

“The idea of approving a law on combating discrimination is very good, but the existent bill lacks a very important element – the penalty. In the present version, the bill is declarative,” considers Svetlana Maslitski, the president of Ukrainians’ Union “Barvinoc” based in the municipality of Chisinau. The statement was made at a roundtable meeting held to consult the national minorities about the bill on discrimination. According to Svetlana Maslitski, the law should stipulate that the discrimination-related disputes should be examined by a non-judicial institution like the Citizens Chamber of Russia, if the sides agree, because the courts are overloaded and the examination of cases is delayed. “The law is welcome. Almost all the discrimination forms provided in the bill are met in the daily life,” said Alexei Elizarov, the president of the Center of Russian Culture located in the municipality of Chisinau. The participants in the roundtable meeting expressed interest in the economic discrimination of the pensioners and budget-paid employees rather than in the ethnic aspects of the bill. “We are discriminated because the salaries and pensions do not cover the minimum subsistence level. In the EU countries for instance, the salaries and pensions are raised every 3-4 months,” said Iurii Maksimov, the president of MIR Association. The bill on the prevention and combating of discrimination was drafted by a number of NGOs. The adoption of the law is stipulated in the EU-Moldova Plan of Action.