Chairman of the Parliament's Economy, Budget and Finance Committee, Igor Munteanu, has filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requesting criminal prosecution against the officials and ex-officials involved in the "land acquisition scheme on Sprâncenoaia str., No. 1 ”, Chisinau municipality, reports IPN.
At a press conference, Igor Munteanu, has specified that the Government's intervention by assuming responsibility for taking over a land plot passed on to Balti Free Economic Zone (ZEL) in 2018, brought damage to ZEL, but also to foreign investors, who expect clear rules and stability necessary for business activities in the Republic of Moldova.
The MP expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the Constitutional Court of September 29, by which the court declared unconstitutional the provisions of the law regarding "Balti" Free Economic Zone, adopted through Government’s commitment to take responsibility. According to Igor Munteanu, the CC decision "puts an end to a totally improper practice of using the concept of assuming responsibility for the trivial purpose of taking over and monetizing some resources and properties in the interest of a group, in flagrant contradiction with the publicly displayed goals and to the detriment of separation of powers in the state.”
Igor Munteanu maintains that in the last ten years, Balti ZEL has become an engine of economic growth in the Republic of Moldova, a platform for attracting foreign investments and a job generator. It attracted about $ 200 million and created over 11,000 jobs. Under the ZEL project, accepted by the country’s Government, it was planned to set up a park of applied engineering and research, which could make the connection between transnational corporations and SMEs in the Republic of Moldova.
According to the MP, the Parliament made amendments to the law on "Balti" ZEL, and ZEL received encouragement from the state that their project was valuable and would be supported. However, four months after the adoption of the law by Parliament, the Government decided to intervene by assuming governmental responsibility, cancelling art.1 paragraph (2) of the law no.26.2010 on Balti ZEL, and taking over the control of the land plot in the centre of the capital. Contrary to the legal provisions, the Government acted "in violation of the procedures established by the legislation when assuming the governmental responsibility and, apparently, in the interest of some groups of freeloaders, supported by the former Filip Government", declared Igor Munteanu.
The MP states that MF, MEI and CNA have expressed negative opinions as regards draft Government Decision no.400. The draft was presented by Vladimir Baldovici, general director of the Public Property Agency, with intense lobbying by Iurie Ciocan, head of the Reform Implementation Centre.
Constitutional Court has emphasized that accepting the idea that the Government can take responsibility for a draft law in a discretionary way, at any time and under any conditions, would be equivalent to transforming this authority into a legislative public authority, competing with the Parliament, and that circumventing the principles and criteria, set out when committing responsibility by the Government, could determine the violation of constitutional norms.
