Invalid veterans dissatisfied with veteran associations' work

Invalid veterans of the 1992 war accuse the chairman of the National Union of Independence War Veterans Eduard Maican of enriching himself by appropriating the financial assistance provided by a number of organizations and persons for members of the Union. For his part, Eduard Maican denied the accusations, saying it is a calculated denigration, Info-Prim Neo reports. “None of the existing veteran associations helps the veterans. The officials of these organizations take care of themselves. They went to the City Hall and the Government, made statements in the name of the members and obtained money for them. But this money was misused,” independence war veteran Arslan Safarmatov said at a news conference on Thursday. Valeriu Ciobanu, the secretary of the 1992 War Veterans Association, said that Maican was favored by the Voronin regime, but this cooperation will come to an end. In this connection, the Chisinau invalid veterans and members of the families of those who were killed in the war decided to found a new association. On September 20, they agreed to create the municipal association “Heroes of the Independence” and name the invalid veteran Sergiu Tataru as its chairman. Safarmatov said he hopes the new Government will provide the veterans with larger benefits and will formulate a law that would protect veterans' interests. Asked to comment on the accusations made by the Union's members, Eduard Maicana said: “These persons, who campaigned for the Communists not long ago, have denigrated me for many years. What they say is not true. The Union has no money intended for the invalids. All the Union's funds have been distributed by social assistants from districts in a transparent way.”