Igor Dodon: “New, progressive life will start in Chisinau, full of accomplishments”

[Info-Prim Neo interview with the Communist Party’s candidate for mayor general of Chisinau municipality Igor Dodon, at the end of the election campaign] [ - What will Chisinau and its residents gain if they choose you mayor general?] - After four years of talk at the City Hall, Chisinau will ultimately benefit from a good economy. In other words, the capital city will have a mayor who knows how to deal with things in a professional way. Currently, there are serious shortcomings in the mechanism for managing the institutions of the City Hall. The resources are used incorrectly. There is a communication crisis between the mayor and the civil servants, between the mayor and the businesses, between the mayor and the Government. As to the management of public money, an expert economist will be astonished by the financial disorder existing at the City Hall. If I’m elected mayor general, Chisinau will overcome the administrative chaos and the financial disaster and will start to develop stably with the help of investments from the West and the East. There will be order in the management of the institutions and public money. Good relations will be established with representatives of the power and the business environment. I intend to effectively administer the city, not to become involved in improper politics and shows. [ - What will they lose if they choose your opponent?] -I think the Chisinau inhabitants do no more want to lose and thus will not elect the current mayor. Electing him again would mean perpetuating degradation in the capital city. I realize that some of the people vote according to political criteria, but this is not fully logical. A political vote is justified when we elect the legislative body or, maybe, the President. But when we elect a mayor, we must make a choice according to professional criteria. Chisinau does not need a ‘speaking head’ that would radicalize society and make it hysterical. Chisinau now needs a good manager, an economy and management expert. On June 19, we will see if the residents of Chisinau understand this. [ - What changes will you make in the local public administration, which the people would consider for their benefit, if you win the elections?] - As a mayor general, I will first of all convene a meeting with the personnel of the municipal administration and will revise the way the employees must fulfill their duties. I will set a number of objectives and will monitor what the functionaries do to achieve them. With the current mayor in office, many people forgot what it is like to work efficiently and responsibly. I will make the necessary changes and will deal with the bureaucratic system established meanwhile, which is one of the factors of inefficiency and corruptibility at the Chisinau City Hall. I will not be an infantile mayor who can be misled, as it happened during the last four years at the City Hall. I know how to impose myself and make the people work. Secondly, I will have a number of meetings with all the heads of municipal companies to familiarize them with my requirements and to identify together ways of easing the tariff burden imposed on the people and of developing the given enterprises. [ - What resources and instruments will you use to fulfill the electoral promises?] - I cannot give a short answer to this question as I risk looking superficial. The people do not want superficiality anymore. Therefore, I will detail my strategy below. The fulfillment of the electoral promises depends directly on the revenues collected into the municipal budget. The structure of revenues has been modified insignificantly. The salary income tax, deductions from regulated incomes and money transferred from the state budget remain the main components. In order to find solutions to increase the budgetary revenues, we must identify the existing reserves: 1) even if the nominal pay incomes of the employees have permanently increased, the revenues from the salary income tax do not rise correspondingly (855 million lei in 2007; 950m in 2008; 939m in 2009; 983m in 2010; 1.111bn projected this year); 2) the incomes from the property tax and local taxes remain at a low level (these taxes represented 6.3% of the total revenues in 2007; 8.6% in 2008, 9.8% in 2009, 11.2% in 2010, 12.8% is planned for 2011); 3) the incomes collected from renting out public land and facilities are very low. The given incomes vary from year to year between 17 and 35 million lei, which is only 1-1.8% of the revenues of the municipal budget; 4) there are practically no incomes in the form of dividends from joint stock companies in which the Chisinau administration owns holdings and of deductions from the revenues of the municipal enterprises. The sums collected in 2007-2010 totaled 3.1 million lei. 1.0 million lei is projected for 2011; 5) Taxpayer’s arrears influence directly the amounts collected into the municipal budget. In 2011, they exceeded 78 million lei, which is by 42% more than on January 1, 2008. During the last four years, when the municipal officials discussed the reasons why the most pressing problems faced by the municipality are not solved, accusations were made against the central Government because it did not provide the necessary financing to Chisinau. Such accusations reveal the rigid character of the City Hall’s subdivisions, which continue to work on the basis of the principle of ‘maintained person,’ and the current local public administration’s inability to look for and create reserves and internal sources of finance without waiting for ‘donations’ from the state budget. How can the necessary financial resources be identified so to cover the current costs of the municipality and make investments in the sustainable development of the city? This is a logical question formulated by every citizen when they hear the promises and commitments made by the candidates for the mayoralty of the capital city of Moldova. I believe that the city’s economic potential, which constitutes about 60% of the country’s GDP according to estimates, and the existing municipal patrimony allow identifying additional sources for increasing the budgetary revenues and attracting long-term investments to the public and private sectors of Chisinau. A number of steps should be taken in this respect. They will be divided into measures with quick effect and long-term strategic measures: 1. Rooting out of corruption at the level of municipal property administration, improvement of the administration of public affairs, ensuring of transparency in issuing authorizations, permits and licenses, and in leasing out public property, distributing plots on which to build houses, signing of contracts for the procurement of works, services and goods with budgetary resources, signing of contracts for the administration of municipal public transport routes, etc. 2. Assessment of the real estate property in the municipality according to the market value in order to create a real tax base that could be used to determine the property tax. 3. Differentiated application of taxes depending on the profitability of the economic entity and social advantages offered to the residents of the city. In order to increase incomes from the market tax and tax for locating commercial outlets, the tax base – commercial outlets and selling places in markets - will be inventoried. More effective cooperation with the police is needed so as to remove unauthorized street trading and concentrate trade exclusively in authorized places. 4. Solving the problems of municipal markets and trade in general. In order to raise the incomes from the market tax and tax for locating commercial outlets, there will be inventoried the commercial outlets and selling places in markets, eliminated the unauthorized street trading, increased the potential of the authorized markets so as all the sellers have access to them, and imposed differentiated local taxes. 5. Increasing the incomes from the parking tax. There will be assessed the capacity of the authorized municipal parking lots, and created new parking places for money, especially in the center of Chisinau. In parallel, in order to obtain an increased effect from the parking tax, we will demand that the vehicle owners comply with the parking rules and that the traffic police make effort to prevent parking in authorized places. 6. Increasing the efficiency of the municipal enterprises and joint stock companies in which the Chisinau City Hall owns shares. They should be competitive economic entities that, besides providing services, should generate incomes into the local budget. Individual work contracts should be signed with the managers of the given companies, laying down the performance criteria, especially as regards the profit made and the dividends that will be paid to the founder. The inefficient managers will be replaced with more experienced persons. 7. Improving fiscal administration. Constraining the underground economy that does not generate incomes into the budget and puts the companies that honestly fulfill their fiscal obligations in conditions of disloyal competition. Solving the problem of arrears to the municipal budget, which exceeded 78 million lei, by using different methods of cooperation with the economic entities. 8. Creating five investment platforms – by one in every district of Chisinau. Promoting individual projects to attract investments to the municipal economy, including by establishing public-private partnerships to develop infrastructure. Drawing up the investment map of the municipality after inventorying the municipal patrimony, ensuring thus attraction of investments and transparency and offering opportunities for starting and developing businesses in the municipality. 9. In order to attract long-term investments and encourage the development of the private goods and services sector, the “0” income tax for economic entities should be maintained at least until 2015. 10. Taking of a series of measures to combat payment of ‘salaries in envelopes’ and increasing thus the revenues from the incomes tax paid by private individuals. Immediately after I’m invested as mayor, I will be able to better study the subtleties of the management and circulation of the public money so as to identify solutions to improve the general financial situation of the municipality. [ - Do you think that society in Chisinau municipality needs a higher level of social cohesion and less polarization? If yes, how will you promote these changes of mentality within the community of the capital city and what results do you expect to achieve?] - Every election campaign in Moldova radicalizes society and this is regrettable. It is sad that even the battle for the post of mayor general divides the city community according to ideological criteria. This is a serious aspect. Instead of addressing the problems of the municipality and proposing development strategies, we were involved in political and ideological confrontations and debates full of demagogy that centered more on history and the past than on topical and future matters. Such an approach points to the incompetence of Dorin Chirtoaca. He is good at employing ideological populism and demagogy, but hysterically avoids the discussions on the problems confronting Chisinau. I hope that a constructive, optimistic and comfortable atmosphere will be established in the municipality of Chisinau after the second round of elections. Our society is too politicized and split. I think that the City Hall should be headed by a professional and technocratic mayor. And it will be so. [ - What role will you play in the process of managing the affairs in the capital city if you are supported by a majority of councilors in the Municipal Council and if you do not have this support?] - Even if the seats of municipal councilors have not been yet validated officially, it is known that the Communist faction in the Municipal Council will have a majority of seats. Thus, as mayor general, I will enjoy the full support of the Council. This is an additional reason why the voters should choose me on June 19. If I’m elected mayor general, there will be stability, responsibility and efficiency at the City Hall. A new, progressive life will start in Chisinau, full of accomplishments. [ - What made your election campaign and the campaign of your opponent, preceding the second round of voting, different?] - I continue the strategic line of the campaign launched on Holy Thursday – I have a constructive message centering on problems and solutions. I tried to devise a technocratic program for these elections and to avoid scandals, provocations and shows. But my opponent cannot abandon the shows, demagogy and populism. Moreover, at the end of the campaign he became virulent. He suffers from the ‘Ghimpu syndrome’ that consists in conveying aggressive, extremist and brutal messages. What earlier seemed an oratorical talent developed into a disease at Chirtoaca. He came closer to Mihai Ghimpu and this fact had serious consequences for him. Today, Chirtoaca is not even a politician. He, as Ghimpu, became a political patient. A political patient cannot be elected, but should be treated. However, it seems to me that their political disease called radicalism is incurable. [Valeriu Vasilica, Info-Prim Neo]