Government doesn't need state papers, State Minister says

The suspension of liquidation proceedings with regards to the official periodicals “Moldova Suverana” and “Nezavisimaia Moldova” doesn't mean the government wants them back under its subordination, State Minister Victor Bodiu told an interview with Radio Moldova, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “We think it is an anachronism for a government to have media outlets under its subordination and dictate their editorial policies, and this fact was ascertained by the Council of Europe as well, when in 2005 it recommended the then (Communist) government to denationalize those periodicals. The problem is that that denationalization didn't happen to be a privatization deal, but was a free-of-charge cession in favor of some private business entities. Moreover, the government paid more than 1 million lei from the budget to settle the liabilities of those papers. That means that, instead of obtaining some benefit from the privatization, the government paid 1 million lei”, said the State Minister. Victor Bodiu said the decision to suspend liquidation proceedings aims to restore the legality of the denationalization. “The current government (...) will take over the property that was illegitimately transmitted to certain private business entities. This is particularly the case of the brands Moldova Suverana and Nezavisimaia Moldova”, said Victor Bodiu. “I would like to underline that the current government has absolutely no intention of interfering in Moldova's media market, by publishing papers or in any other way. The mass media have demonstrated that they are good, that they have discernment and, since recently, they can even influence the dismissal of officials with improper conducts. After legality is restored and the illegitimately taken property is returned to the government, the papers in question will be sold or let to some private entities for a fee. It could happen that those entities will be the current managers of the papers, if they win the auction to be announced by the government, meaning if their bid is the most attractive one”, said Bodiu. Denationalization proceedings for the periodicals “Moldova Suverana” and “Nezavisimaia Moldova” were initiated in 2005 and were suspended in February 2010.