Cricova mayor accuses businessman of attempting to dispossess town of land

The mayor of Cricova Valentin Gutan said a company wants to dispossess the town of 11 hectares of land situated on Dubasari St. He told a news conference that this case was examined in court, but all the courts passed illegal and incorrect decisions. Valentin Gutan said that if the wrongdoings do not stop, the townspeople may stage protests, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the mayor, the plot of 11 hectares in 2004 was leased out to Venustas-Prim Ltd., which afterward became Ecotehlider. A shop was to be built on this plot initially. In 2005, the Cricova Town Council decided to terminate the lease so that they could sell the plot. As a result of this decision, the company appealed to court, asking that it is offered the land at a normative price. Valentin Gutan said that after long trials the local authorities in 2009 were obliged to sell the plot for 200,000 lei at a time when the market price was 22 million lei. “It seemed that the problems came to an end, but the lessee appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice, which obliged the mayor’s office to sell the 11 hectares for 112,000 lei,” he stated. After the Chisinau Cadastre Office gave the company ownership rights, this economic entity signed a sale-purchase contract for the land with SRL AMG-ANGRO Management Group, which, according to the mayor, forms part of the same holding and belongs to businessman Nicolae Chernyi. After the contract was concluded, the land was pledged at Moldova Agroindbank for US$12 million. Valentin Gutan informed that the company also appealed to the Chisinau District Economic Court, demanding damages for alleged damage caused to it. The court ruled that the local administration must pay 8 million lei. The mayor’s office appealed this decision to the Chisinau Court of Appeals. The mayor said it is an exaggerated sum, with the local budget being of only 13 million lei. He voiced hope that the head of state will want to have a meeting with him to discuss this issue.