European Action Movement will plead the case of Moldovans that contributed money to gasifying Moldova

The European Action Movement (MAE) intends to bring the case of the Moldovans that contributed financially to Moldova’s gasification to court because only Moldova-Gaz is obliged to make investment in the gas pipelines of Moldova under the constitution agreement. MAE president Anatol Petrencu told a news conference on Tuesday that the Movement will initially carry out a study concerning the financial involvement of the citizens in building gas pipelines that will cover the entire territory of Moldova. He said with absolute certitude that they will find people who paid by 7,000-15,000 lei for gasification out of their own pockets in every gasified settlement. According to the cited source, some mayors and some agitators came up with the idea of building the branches connecting the gas main and the middle of the village from the resources of the people. In such a way, the authorities robbed the people because this money will not be returned. Moreover, the more ignorant people did not even ask the receipt when the money was collected. Even so, the people remained without gas because they have to pay new sums of money to be connected to the gas pipeline, Petrencu said. In such a situation, the MAE considers that the state must make the people shareholders of Moldova-Gaz or supply them with gas from the money they invested. Sure that the questioning of the population will reveal a number of illegalities committed by the authorities, Petrencu says that the MAE will sue the present administration. If this case is not solved in the Moldovan courts, the Movement is ready to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. The MAE also says that the present government of Moldova lost control over the gas industry, which is the most important sector of the national economy, and does not even want to make efforts to rectify the situation. Anatol Petrencu says that the authorities also ignored the recent study by the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul”, which ascertained illegalities in the constitution of “Moldova-Gaz” as the transfer of properties to Gazprom was not done by direct investment, but by converting some arterially created debts. A 2001 report by the Court of Accounts says that these actions caused damage of 2 bln lei to the Republic of Moldova, including by selling the gas mains at prices that were 20 times lower than the real ones, by fixing economically unjustified tariffs, by unilaterally paying the artificial debts created on the left bank of the Nistru with the aim to subsidise the consumers from Transnistria.