President Igor Dodon, in a meeting with U.S. Ambassador in Chisinau James Pettit, expressed his concern about the contract for the exploration of hydrocarbons in southern Moldova and their subsequent exploitation that was signed by the Government with the American company Frontera Resources International LLC, IPN reports.
According to the official website of the presidential administration, the Head of State informed the U.S. diplomat that he requested the Government to immediately present details about the given contract. The President’s main objections refer to the fact that the state can lease out only publicly owned land. As the contract covers also land owned by territorial-administrative units and private plots, special agreement procedures are required.
In this connection, Igor Dodon said given that the contact covers a large part of the territory of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia, this couldn’t have been signed without the consent of the region’s executive bodies. Even if only works were conceded, the consent of different bodies should have been obtained, first of all of the local public authorities and private individuals and legal entities on whose territory exploration works will be performed.
There are also questions about the transparency in the bidding and contract signing procedures. In this regard, multiple violations of the national legislation are invoked. Igor Dodon said that numerous questions about the institutional and financial capacity of the American company to carry out the works in accordance with the contractual obligations appear based on publicly available information.
